Fiery Fourth Quarter Ends in Oak Hall Win Against St. Joseph Academy

A three-quarter chess match turned into a fourth-quarter thriller Friday for Oak Hall in its 21-14 victory against St. Augustine St. Joseph Academy. 

The Eagles’ seniors stood on the field with an aggressive SJA parent/student section perched on the fence chirping at Oak Hall. 

Oak Hall (5-2) started the game with a run-oriented offense, with its first seven plays being on the ground. The Eagles drove the ball to the SJA 30-yard line, but failed to convert on fourth down. 

SJA (4-5) opened the scoring with the first touchdown of the night. Senior running back Asher Glisson found the end zone on the Flashes’ first drive.

Oak Hall wasted no time answering the bell. With the ball on their own 26, the Eagles had plenty of yardage to make up. 

The SJA faithful brought the noise in an attempt to stifle the Eagles’ offense. Cowbells and plastic horns immediately made Oak Hall Stadium feel like a road game for the Eagles.

Oak Hall coach RJ Fuhr had the SJA fans silence any noise coming from artificial noisemakers, which are prohibited under FHSAA guidelines. The Flash fans wasted no time making noise, instead stomping their feet and slamming their fists on the metal bleachers, ringing out onto the gridiron.

The Eagles drove down the field thanks to quarterback BJ Johnson and running back Darius Medley. The half-brother duo used a mix of passing and rushing plays to take the ball all the way to the SJA 5-yard line.

In the same moment, a parent dressed head-to-toe in Flash regalia was ejected from the game for spewing insults at the referees, Oak Hall coaches and players. 

The drama fueled Medley, who took a handoff to the right side of the field and plowed into the end zone to give the Eagles the touchdown they needed to tie the game with 3:10 remaining in the first quarter.

Following the touchdown, the Medley-Johnson duo skipped joyously up the field, meeting their teammates in celebration of the upcoming edge. 

Medley said emotional discipline was what carried the Eagles through the chippy meeting. 

“Before we came into the game, we already knew that they were going to start chirping,” Medley said. “We were prepared for it. We had to get our mindset straight and keep pushing hard.” 

The rest of the second half proved to be a stalemate, with the Eagles and Flashes trading punts and turnovers. 

It wouldn’t be until the beginning of the fourth quarter that either team scored.

Medley once again took a handoff to the end zone, this time from the 1-yard line with 11:56 to go in the game. A blocked PAT left the Eagles with a 13-7 lead.

Eagles regained possession on the Oak Hall 47 following an interception. Johnson showed his elusiveness, spinning out of a tackle on third-and-8 for a first down.

“I mean you just can’t coach that, right? I mean that’s just a kid that wants it and is a leader. He puts the team on his back,”  Fuhr said of Johnson’s performance.

Johnson took a QB keeper to the house from the 11-yard line later in the drive. The Eagles converted on a 2-point conversion to take a 21-7 lead.

SJA put a flash of life into the game, returning the Oak Hall kickoff all the way back for a touchdown to make it a 21-14 score with 1:05 remaining in the game.

Oak Hall then recovered the onside kick and lined up in victory formation to close out the game.

With the Eagles’ victory sealed, Medley and Johnson backflipped in the end zone as the assistant coaches hoisted players into the air under the Friday night lights. The cheerleaders spun and shimmered in close celebration with their team, bringing the night to a fitting close. 

The Eagles next play at Monticello Aucilla Christian (4-5) at 7 p.m. Friday.

Category: Football, High School Sports, Oak Hall High School