Published: October 13, 2007 12:48 am      

Devils declaw Panthers

OAK HILL — It finally felt like football outside, and Oak Hill finally put solid efforts back-to-back.

The Red Devils had success with both the run and the pass during a 26-0 blanking of co-Class AA No. 17 Clay County Friday night at John P. Duda Stadium. The shutout, which came on the heels of a 20-6 conquest of Webster County a week ago, hiked the double-A Red Devils’ record to 3-5. (Note: Oak Hill Thursday lost an appeal of its forfeit to Fayetteville, but principal Tim Payton indicated plans to seek redress for that decision in circuit court.)

The Panthers started the season 4-1 but lost a two-way tackle to injury this week in practice and saw their quarterback and a top running back depart last night’s contest with first-half injuries.

“That hurt us,” coach Frank Kleman said of the player injuries, “but Oak Hill’s just too quick.

“And they came out in that power-I and came after us, and we backed down.”

Oak Hill coach Toby Harris said his team’s resurgence “started last week against Webster County. We started playing together well, and the defense was strong against Webster and played well again tonight.”

The OHHS prevent unit, powered by the likes of Alex Ashley, Tyler Weis and Douglas Grubb, allowed the Panthers in Oak Hill territory only three times. The deepest penetration was to the 29 in the first half, but a 5-yard loss was followed by a Weis sack of Joseph Johnson that forced a punt at the 43.

While Clay couldn’t locate the end zone, the hosts put up a score in each quarter. Chris Lawson crossed the goal line from three yards out to cap Oak Hill’s first possession, an 11-play, 57-yard drive which featured steady doses of Lawson and Ashley alternating in pounding away at the Clay line.

The second scoring drive didn’t take near as long to develop as Oak Hill took possession following a second-quarter Clay punt. On the first play, quarterback B.J. Wallace stepped up and lofted a pretty 59-yard aerial which flanker Josh Murray hauled in at about the 3-yard line and coasted into the end zone.

Wallace wound up 5-of-7 for 120 yards, including a second score, a 15-yard strike to receiver Rmykal McDowell that made it 20-0 with 55 seconds left in the third.

“We try to balance the offense out,” Harris said. “We’ve been effective with the pass all year.

“Tonight, everybody stepped up on offense. Chris Lawson made some good runs, Josh Murray made that nice catch, Alex Ashley ran hard, B.J. threw some good balls, even our sophomore back, Dwayne Hopkins (26 yards on five tries) ran well. It was a full team effort.”

The Devils closed the scoring with a 1-yard plunge by Ashley with 1:47 left. The senior fullback had set up his score by chugging 43 yards down the right sideline on the previous play.

Lawson wound up with 108 yards on 16 carries, and Ashley had eight attempts for 81 yards.

“I thought they could throw like that,” Kleman said. “I was disappointed we didn’t play more aggressively in the first half.”

Jared Kleman paced the Clay offense with 76 yards on 16 totes. He also had a fumble recovery for the defensive unit.

“It’s been a pretty good October for us,” Harris said. “Our goal now is to get the next two.”

— E-mail:

skeenan@register-herald.com



Oak Hill 26, Clay 0

Clay (4-4) 0 0 0 0 — 0

Oak Hill (3-5) 7 7 6 6 — 26

First Quarter

OH: Chris Lawson 3 run (Deandre Leonard kick), 6:46

Second Quarter

OH: Josh Murray 59 pass from B.J. Wallace (Leonard kick), 4:50

Third Quarter

OH: Rmykal McDowell 15 pass from Wallace (kick fail), 0:55

Fourth Quarter

OH: Alex Ashley 1 run (kick fail), 1:47

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — C: Jordan Adkins 4-32, Jared Kleman 16-76, Allen Tanner 8-12, Eric Dawson 2-5, Jonas Jelich 1-0, Joseph Johnson 3-(minus-9), Sean Duffield 2-(minus-3). OH: Lawson 16-108-1, Murray 5-23, Ashley 8-81-1, Wallace 6-(minus-26), Dwayne Hopkins 5-26, Tim Patterson 2-2.

PASSING — C: Johnson 3-6-0-25-0. OH: Wallace 5-7-0-120-2.

RECEIVING — C: Kleman 3-25. OH: McDowell 1-15-1, Ashley 1-18, Murray 1-59-1, Lawson 2-28.

TURNOVERS — C: Kleman (fr). OH: Marcellas McFarland (fr).