Oakton Heats Up In 2nd Half To Beat Herndon
The Oakton Cougars get their first Concorde District win this season as they dispatch of the Herndon Hornets 38-13 on Monday evening...
Photo By: Oakton Football
Junior wide receiver Charley Dixon takes off downfield after a pass reception from QB Jimmy Boone in their Monday night victory over Herndon 38-13...
Photo By: Oakton Football
Senior Devon Thompson from the Herndon Hornets in action Monday night against the Oakton Cougars...
Photo By: Oakton Football
HERNDON, VA - The Oakton Cougars regained some of their 2008 brilliance, scoring 31 points in a decisive 2nd half to defeat the Herndon Hornets 38-13. Junior QB Jimmy Boone led a balanced attack and scored the opening touchdown of the game with a 9 yard scamper. Slot back Luke Willis scored two touchdowns, and Andrew Leonard had two interceptions to frustrate the Herndon offense, which had trouble finishing their drives all night.
Herndon played without their starting QB, senior Zack Ozycz, who was in street clothes with a sprained knee. Junior Peter Rivera filled in as the signal caller but was not able to keep drives going in the first quarter. In fact, neither team scored until 4:30 to go in the half, when Boone capped off a 91 yard drive with his touchdown run. Herndon answered in 2 plays as sophomore RB Josh Schow broke a brilliant 70 yard touchdown run. After the PAT failed, the teams went to the locker room separated by one point.
Oakton came out with the edge in the second half, scoring 17 straight points in the third starting with the opening kick as Akil Jones returned it 95 yards for a touchdown. Oakton began to dominate the game with its bigger offensive line. The Hornets tried to counter by stacking 6 men on the defensive line, but the Cougars soon found plenty of open field where the linebackers should have been and began eating up yards in big gulps. After Leonard returned his first interception to the Herndon 25, the Hornet defense stiffened and allowed only a Ray Goins field goal to make the score 17-6.
It would be the last time the Hornet's defense would be able to deny the Cougars, who scored on their next three possessions with 16 and 1 yard runs by Willis and a 10 yard TD pass by Boone to Bryan Flanagan.
Senior RB Austin Moore was a workhorse all night for the Hornets and kept them in the game in the 3rd with a 59 TD run where he broke several tackles. Leonard effectively ended Rivera's passing night with a second interception in the 4th, and the Cougars cruised to their first Concorde district victory and improved their overall record to 4-3. Oakton hosts Centreville on Friday. Herndon dropped to 4-3, 1-2 and missed a chance to move into a first place tie with the Robinson Rams, who lost in overtime to surging Westfield. Instead, they dropped to 5th due to a three way tie for second between 1-1 teams Westfield, Oakton and Chantilly, who all trail Robinson by ½ game.
SCORING SUMMARY
2Q 4:30 Cougars Boone 9 yard TD run (Goins kick), Oakton 7-0
2Q 3:27 Hornets Schow 70 yard TD run (Stopa kick failed), Oakton 7-6
3Q 11:45 Cougars A. Jones 95 yard kickoff return (Goins kick), Oakton 14-6
3Q 10:15 Cougars R. Goins 34 yard FG, Oakton 17-6
3Q 3:11 Cougars Willis 16 yard TD run (Goins kick), Oakton 24-6
3Q 1:46 Hornets Moore 59 yard TD run (Stopa kick), Oakton 24-13
4Q 8:19 Cougars Willis 1 yard TD run (Goins kick), Oakton 31-13
4Q 3:26 Cougars Boone 10 yard TD pass to Flanagan (Goins kick), Oakton 38-13
PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
Herndon: RB Austin Moore
Oakton: QB Jimmy Boone
