Quick take
SPRING — Larry DeBose could not watch.
As Dekaney lined up for a potential game-winning 51-yard field goal with less than 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Oak Ridge’s senior running back, who had engineered an incredible War Eagles rally, turned his back toward the field and looked at the stands.
“I couldn’t look at the game,” DeBose said. “No way.”
All DeBose heard was a rabid spray of cheers from his own sideline once senior defensive end Favour Awodoyin blocked the kick and the ball fell helplessly toward the turf.
Oak Ridge kneeled out the remaining 21 seconds to finish off a comeback win from 11 points down to upend Dekaney 29-28 in their Region II-6A Division II playoff game at Planet Ford Stadium on Saturday evening.
“They put my guy (senior defensive end) Joseph (Jonah-Ajonye) on the other edge,” said Awodoyin, who also had a fumble recovery. “We don’t usually line up like that, but they went heavy to his side. They put a skinny receiver on my side, and it was a chance for me to go get it. I saw the position where the ball was on the field. That’s a long kick. I just had to go get there. Big time players make big time plays.”
Oak Ridge is 8-3 heading into next week’s area playoff game against Tomball. Dekaney, which beat Oak Ridge 45-20 in the bi-district round last year, ended its season 8-3 and its five-game win streak snapped.
“In the course of a football game, there’s going to be some ebbs and flows and some bad things that happen and good things that happen,” Oak Ridge coach Mark Schmid said. “How you handle both of those things will determine how you end up.
“I thought the wheels looked like they were falling off, and our kids had great resolve. They kept fighting and they kept believing. It shows how this team has matured.”
Highlights
Dekaney led 28-17 with 10:55 left in the game following the third touchdown run from sophomore Samaritan Cunningham.
Dekaney trailed 17-14 at the half. But its defense forced two Oak Ridge turnovers to take the lead for the first time in the game.
It would not stand.
DeBose scored on a 7-yard run on a Wildcat play with 8:04 left. After the War Eagle defense forced a Dekaney punt, DeBose struck again on a 15-yard run to the outside with 5:22 left.
“We ran a lot of outside zone, a lot of Wildcat,” DeBose said. “I’m just following my lead blocker, trusting my teammates. Making the cut off them.”
Each team exchanged punts afterward, setting up Dekaney’s last-gasp attempt starting on its own 48-yard line and resulting in Awodoyin’s game-winning block.
“It’s not what we figured out. It’s what we already knew,” Awodoyin said of what he learned about his team Saturday. “We just had to put it out there on the field. This is Oak Ridge football. We fought through the doubts.”
Oak Ridge got the scoring started when senior running back Frankie Arthur took a swing pass from Jack Emerson 55 yards for a touchdown midway through the first quarter.
The 7-0 lead remained into the second quarter. Junior receiver Tanook Hines got Dekaney on the board. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Hines, a dynamic talent, high-pointed the throw from Quinten Foster in Oak Ridge territory, eluded a pair of War Eagle defenders and sprinted the rest of the 35-plus yards for a 75-yard score.
Arthur answered on the next drive on an 83-yard run for a 14-6 Oak Ridge lead.
Junior kicker Marcus Erstad made it 17-6 in Oak Ridge’s favor on a 41-yard field goal. Cunningham’s punishing 11-yard run with 2:24 left in the first half cut Oak Ridge’s advantage to three points at halftime.
What it means
Oak Ridge, making its third postseason appearance in four years, won a playoff game for the first time since 2020.
Dekaney was making its fifth consecutive playoff appearance and hoping to build on last year’s 9-4 season, its best campaign since 2011.
Quotable
“We leaned on each other,” said senior linebacker Justin Williams, a dominant force all night and a gnat in Oak Ridge’s offensive backfield early and often. “We’ve been doing this since middle school. We knew what we had to do. It feels good to bring something back to the community. We worked really hard for this. It feels amazing.”
Game balls
Oak Ridge outgained Dekaney 307-207 in total yards.
DeBose had 44 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Arthur had 136 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns on 13 touches.
Hines led Dekaney’s offense with eight catches for 136 yards and a touchdown.
Cunningham had 23 yards on 13 carries for his three touchdowns. Foster completed 12 of 19 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown for Dekaney.
Up next
Oak Ridge advanced to play Tomball in next week’s area round.
Tomball beat Cypress Falls 32-6 in their bi-district game Friday.
Oak Ridge is 2-1 all-time against Tomball. They last played two years ago, a 38-13 Tomball win in the regular season.
