Oak Hall’s Season Ends With Loss to Panama City Bozeman in Region Semifinals
Long story short, it’s over.
Oak Hall’s 2026 football season ended Thursday against Panama City Bozeman in a 47-14 loss in the region semifinals of the FHSAA Independent League 2 State Championships.
The Eagles came out of the locker room with a fiery start to the game at Oak Hall Stadium
Oak Hall (6-4) wasted no time getting points on the board. After an Eagle kick return to the Bozeman 40, Oak Hall capped the drive with a 14-yard rushing touchdown by senior Amari Ray.
Bozeman (4-7) struggled to answer the score. After a lackluster opening drive, Oak Hall forced a turnover on downs and got the ball back on the 35-yard line.
Neither offense saw much success during the remainder of the first quarter. Following an Oak Hall punt, Bozeman put together what looked like the makings of a successful drive.
The Bucks fumbled the ball, giving the Eagles possession on their own 29. After back-to-back plays resulting in a loss of yardage, Oak Hall failed to convert on a third-and-long.
On the Eagle punt, a facemask was called on Oak Hall, giving Bozeman possession at the Oak Hall 42. It didn’t take many plays for the Bucks to take advantage of their field position.
Senior quarterback Hayden Gay found junior receiver Riley McNeil for a 36-yard touchdown to make it 7-7 with 8:36 to go in the half.
Oak Hall attempted to answer, driving into Bucks territory.
Oak Hall quarterback BJ Johnson fumbled the snap, leading to a recovery by Bozeman’s Justin Harper.
Successfully moved the ball down the field before it was capped by Gay on a 4-yard rushing TD.
The Bucks failed to make the PAT after a bad snap and hold for a 13-7 lead.
Oak Hall answered with a long and meticulous drive, which ended with the Eagles failing to convert on fourth down to leave the score 13-7 at the half.
Things wouldn’t get any better for the Eagles in the second half. Oak Hall only found the end zone one more time on a rushing touchdown by Johnson.
Bozeman put up 34 points the rest of the way to end Oak Hall’s season.
“We got to get bigger,” Oak Hall coach RJ Fuhr said. “In all of our four losses, we’ve lost the battle up front”
Bozeman will travel to top seed Mount Dora Christian Academy (9-1) in the regional finals. Mount Dora ousted The Master’s Academy 52-27 in the other semifinal.
As for Oak Hall, the Eagles will enter the off-season, needing to replace a handful of starters.
“We’re going to have to definitely figure out who’s going to be a quarterback,” Fuhr said. “That’ll probably be a bit of a battle going into the spring.”
“Resilient,” Fuhr said in describing the Eagles following a season of ups and downs. Fuhr hopes the team will remember this loss and use it as motivation going into the offseason.
Category: High School Sports, Oak Hall High School
