OAK HILL — Turnovers can decide a football game.

For Oak Hill, a third-quarter fumble proved fatal in its loss to Fayette County rival Mount Hope.

“The fumble was big,” Mustangs coach Eddie Souk said. “It was a big momentum swing after we scored to come back and pick that ball up and then take it down and score again.”

The Mustangs jumped on the miscue and turned it into a 28-6 advantage that the Red Devils couldn’t overcome as Mount Hope won the annual battle for the Little Brown Jug 28-20 Friday night at John P. Duda Stadium.

“We gave them great field position on that,” Oak Hill coach Casey Crane said. “That hurt. We’ve been stung by the turnover bug two weeks in a row. Fayetteville did a good job of capitalizing on it last week and Mount Hope did a great job tonight.

“Give them guys all the credit. They came out and they whipped us. They played hard and wanted it more. I think our guys took them for granted.”

Mount Hope’s Da’Von Marion rushed for 165 yards and two touchdowns and returned a kickoff 90 yards for a third score to bolster the Mustangs’ effort.

But Marion wasn’t the whole show for the Mustangs as Josh Criss found the end zone first on a 10-yard run and fullback Joe Thornquest accounted for 81 yards on 18 carries.

“Josh Criss did an excellent job for us,” Souk said. “I think Joe Thornquest did a great job. They all did a great job blocking for each other. That’s something that we didn’t have last year.”

Criss’ score capped a 9-play, 64-yard drive at the 2:12 mark of the first quarter. Marion’s two-point conversion run gave Mount Hope the early 8-0 lead.

Oak Hill fired right back, though.

After DeAndre Leonard returned the kick 55 yards, the Red Devils marched 37 yards in eight plays. Quarterback Marcellas McFarland connected with Leonard on a 30-yard strike and the Devils trailed 8-6.

The score didn’t faze Marion or Mount Hope. The senior took the ensuing kick and sped 90 yards to paydirt.

Marion added two third-quarter TD runs of 18 and 13 yards, the latter coming after Chris Thompson scooped up the Red Devils’ fumble, to give the Mustangs a comfortable margin.

McFarland and Leonard would strike again for Oak Hill, though, connecting for a 32-yard TD pass with 8:32 remaining.

“It was a physical game,” Souk said. “I thought our defense stepped up and did a great job for us. They’ve got a tremendous athlete in the Leonard kid. He’s tough and we knew he was going to be tough to stop. They beat us on a couple of big plays, but defensively, I think we did a pretty good overall against them.”

The Devils battled down to the end with McFarland punching the ball into the end zone with 12 ticks left on the clock. Oak Hill recovered the onside kick, but an interception by the Mustangs’ Kyle James ended the comeback attempt.

McFarland went 7-for-10 passing for 118 yards, but the Devils struggled with pass protection in the first half.

“The problem we’re struggling with right now is pass protection,” Crane said. “We can throw the ball on any team in the state if we can protect. We did a better job in the fourth quarter. When we had time, we picked them apart.”

Oak Hill (0-2) hosts James Monroe next Friday, while Mount Hope (2-0) hosts Iaeger in its home opener.

— E-mail:

rjett@register-herald.com



Mount Hope 28, Oak Hill 20

MH (2-0) 8 6 14 0 — 28

OH (0-2) 0 6 0 14 — 20

First Quarter

MH — Josh Criss 10 run (Da’Von Marion run) 2:12

Second Quarter

OH — DeAndre Leonard 30 pass from Marcellas McFarland (run failed) 10:31

MH — Marion 90 kick return (pass fail) 10:17

Third Quarter

MH — Marion 18 run (Marion pass from Kyle James) 7:24

MH — Marion 13 run (run fail) 5:04

Fourth Quarter

OH — Leonard 32 pass from McFarland (pass fail) 8:32

OH — McFarland 1 run (McFarland run) 0:12

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — MH: Marion 20-165-2, Joe Thornquest 18-81, Criss 6-38-1, James 2-(-9), Team 1-(-2). OH: Chris Lawson 13-58, Marcellas McFarland 16-36-1, Dwayne Hopkins 3-6, Leonard 2-18, Derrick McGuffin 1-(-2), Team 1-(-3).

PASSING — MH: James 1-2-0-5-0. OH: Marcellas McFarland 7-10-1-118-2.

RECEIVING — MH: Eric Canaday 1-5. OH: Leonard 4-80-2, Marcus McFarland 3-38.

TURNOVERS — MH: Chris Thompson (fr), James (int). OH: Marcus McFarland (fr).