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Story Archives: OCS falls 32-20 in Class 1A title game
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OCS falls 32-20 in Class 1A title game
NEW ORLEANS - The Ouachita Christian School Eagles (11-4) saw their dreams of claiming the 2010 Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class 1A championship come crashing down turnover after turnover Saturday afternoon in the Superdome in New Orleans.
OCS turned the ball over 10 times, five on interceptions, allowing White Castle to claim its first football state title in school history, 32-20.
Though he threw those five interceptions, OCS quarterback Paul Michael Garner put up impressive statistics otherwise, completing 21-of-48 passes for 342 yards and three touchdowns.
"When we did execute on our passes we did move the ball pretty well," Garner said. "They really didn't have an answer for our passing game."
"Obviously we turned the ball over," Garner said. "I was making some misreads and I didn't play my best ball game tonight."
The OCS defense struggled to contain White Castle and running back Tyree Bracken, who picked up the Most Outstanding Player award in the 1A title bout.
Bracken rushed for 235 yards and two touchdowns in leading WCHS. White Castle managed 243 yards rushing as a team on the afternoon.
OCS pressured LSU commitment Ronald Martin, the Bulldog quarterback, throughout the contest. Martin rushed for just 22 yards and completed just 1-of-6 passes for 25 yards. Martin threw one pick and was sacked four times. OCS defensive lineman Jon Michael Livingston recorded three sacks in the game.
"I am proud of my guys," said OCS head coach Steven Fitzhugh.
"We said that these are guys that work through adversity," Fitzhugh said. "They never quit. They fight. They showed again tonight. We had plenty of adversity and they kept coming back, they kept fighting all the way down to the final kick."
Save for the six turnovers, the Eagles were in the game for much of the afternoon.
OCS took a 7-6 lead on an 8-yard touchdown pass by Garner after White Castle's Bracken put WCHS on the board with a 51-yard romp down the sideline. Luke Albritton added the PAT to give OCS a 7-6 lead because WCHS had missed its PAT kick moments earlier.
"It was a good ball game," Fitzhugh said. "There is one statistic that matters and that is the turnover ratio. That is what I said coming into the game and that is the statistic that is the biggest in the ball game and we didn't win that one tonight."
Turnovers at crucial points in the game crippled the OCS offense from start to finish. Four OCS drives in the first half alone ended in a change of possession by either fumble or interceptions.
WCHS head coach Farante Dominique was not pleased with what he felt should have been a more productive afternoon for his offense.
"With a potent offense like we got," Dominique said. "We should have had at least 35 points in the first half but it doesn't matter how much you win by. A win is a win."
OCS again got a solid effort from junior Mark Laird. Laird hauled in 8 catches for 204 yards including a 64-yard snag in traffic that saw him bounce off two defenders en route to the end zone to pull OCS to within six, 20-14, before halftime.
OCS tied the game at 20-20 early in third on a 21-yard run by running back Shawn Key. Key finished with 46 yards rushing.
A fumble recovery in the end zone by Shaquille Armstead of WCHS following an errant snap on the next OCS possession gave White Castle the lead for good.
WCHS then pulled out its bag of tricks with an onside kick that the Bulldogs recovered and turned into points on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Martin to Quincy Jones.
The onside kick call was something Dominique had patiently waited all night to spring on the Eagles.
"All my coaches looked at me crazy," Dominique said. "I wanted to open up the game with it but you know I was talked out of it. But this time we were kicking an onside kick. We kind of sucked the life out of them."
Dominque gave credit to the stingy OCS defense that carried the team to some big road victories throughout the Class 1A playoffs.
"We wanted to spread them out," Dominque said. "We wanted to try and throw the ball. It had been a while since Ronald (Martin) had thrown the football dealing with his ankle injury."
"Their defense is pretty solid," Dominque continued. "We just wanted to get them in a situation where we could start running the football. We knew they couldn't stop us running the football."
Despite the loss, OCS's future is bright. The Eagles return 17 starters next season, including running back Josh Greer and Laird. Laird is now the school's all-time leader in interceptions and touchdown receptions. He added one to each total Saturday afternoon. |
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