Oak Hall Holds Back Seven Rivers Christian for 3-0 Start

Oak Hall’s student section hollered and heaved throughout the football game Friday night, each wearing a white T-Shirt that read a different claim about themselves. One said, “I’m a scratch golfer.” 

It was “white-lie” night in the student section. A white lie is defined as “a lie about a small or unimportant matter that someone tells,” according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

If the Oak Hall team had a white-lie tee, it would claim, “Never Quit.”  

Oak Hall improved to 3-0 by overcoming a Lecanto Seven Rivers Christian rally for a 30-23 win. 

Although a thunderstorm delayed the start of the game by an hour, things started off quickly for Seven Rivers (1-3). It only took 16 seconds for the Warriors to get on the board when Reshard Widley returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown to give Seven Rivers an 8-0 lead following the two-point conversion. 

Seven Rivers tried to surprise Oak Hall with an onside kick on the ensuing play, but the Eagles were prepared because this is something coach RJ Fuhr noted at practice earlier in the week.  

After recovering the kick, the Eagles wasted no time driving down the field, with quarterback BJ Johnson connecting with Kas Baumstark to tie the game at 8. 

“BJ just makes plays. He just does things you can’t coach,” Fuhr said. 

Johnson had a dominant first quarter for the Eagles by scoring three touchdowns and running for more than 100 yards to help the Eagles build a 22-8 lead. 

A switch flipped for Seven Rivers at the end of the first quarter when it stepped on the gas to score 15 unanswered points to take a 23-22 lead into the fourth quarter. Turnovers and the ability to dominate the line of scrimmage from the beginning of the second quarter through the middle of the fourth played a key role in Seven Rivers coming back into the game. 

Oak Hall then took control late in the game by scoring a touchdown and a conversion for the 30-23 lead. 

“The kids fight; they just never quit,” Fuhr said. “They just gut-checked it after that field goal and had a four-and-a-half-minute drive, then we held them again on that last possession. You know it was just a testament to their toughness.”

Oak Hall plays at Branford (2-2) next Friday night.

Category: High School Sports, Oak Hall High School