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Oak Harbor goes to Peninsula High School for the state football playoffs at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014 • Whidbey News-Times
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Page A9
Wildcats reel in state football playoff berth By JIM WALLER Sport editor
The Oak Harbor High School football team will return to the state playoffs for the first time since 2007 after defeating visiting Kennedy Catholic 34-14 Friday, Nov. 7, in a quad-district game. The Wildcats head to Peninsula High School at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14, to meet the Seahawks in the round of 16. Sophomore Princeton Lollar gutted Lancer defense for 214 yards and three touchdowns to lead Oak Harbor into the big win over Kennedy Catholic. Lollar, who carried the ball 30 times, pounded the heart of the Lancer defense while running mate Dejon Devroe attacked the outside for 137 yards on 15 carries. In all, Oak Harbor piled up 426 yards of total offense while limiting Kennedy Catholic to 215. Jr. Ngauamo led the Lancers with 106 yards on 18 carries. Seventh-ranked and undefeated Kennedy Catholic, the Seamount League champions, entered the game averaging 45 points a game while giving up only 5. After the teams traded punts, Devroe set up Oak Harbor’s first score with a 39-yard run. Lollar finished the drive with a 4-yard rush. Kennedy Catholic went 65 yards in six plays to even the game; then after recovering a Wildcat fumble at the Oak Harbor 34-yard line, took the lead with a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter.
Oak Harbor then blunted the Kennedy running attack and ran off 27 unanswered points. First Lollar scored from the 5, then after a Lancer punt, quarterback Clay Doughty connected with Dyllan Harris for a 19-yard score, giving the Wildcats a 21-14 lead at the break. Doughty finished the game 5-for-11 for 52 yards. Early in the fourth quarter, Devroe scored from 4 yards out. Kennedy threatened to get back into the game but fumbled inside the Oak Harbor 20 with six minutes left. The Wildcats put the game away with a 10-play, 85-yard march capped by Lollar’s third score, this one from the 7. The Lancers (8-1) committed four turnovers in their final five possessions, two coming on Harris interceptions. The Wildcats also shut down the Lancer rushing attack that moved the ball in chunks early in the game. Oak Harbor went to its “contingency plan,” coach Jay Turner said, switching to a three-man front with the nose tackle playing on his feet. He said the three-man front was also a result of the Wildcats losing three lineman to injuries early in the game. The Wildcat offense was a heavy dose of the 225-pound Lollar, who Turner labeled a “work horse.” Lollar called the win a team effort, adding “we work hard every week; do whatever it takes to get the ‘W.’”
One of those stumbles was 36-12 to Peninsula in 2012.
Peninsula
Photo by John Fisken
Oak Harbor’s Dyllan Harris (22) out jumps Kennedy’s Jared Thurber on a touchdwon pass from Clay Doughty. Harris also had two interceptions as the Wildcats tripped the Lancers 34-14. Turner said, “We did a good job against a very physical Kennedy team.”
Oak Harbor (7-1) has stumbled in the quad-district games in recent years.
Turner said, “It is nice to get the money off our back. It’s nice for these kids.”
Sixth-ranked Peninsula, the South Puget Sound League 3A champion, is led by quarterback Robert Kvinsland and a corps of talented receivers. Through the first nine games this season, Kvinsland completed 70 percent of his passes for 2,140 yards and 23 touchdowns with only three interceptions. Kyle Olson-Urbon caught 50 passes for 693 yards, while Matt Shirley snared 31 for 549; each has scored six times. The two top receivers are also dangerous return men. Shirley averages 22 yards per kickoff return and 30 yards per punt return. OlsonUrbon has a 23-yard punt return average. Major Ali leads the rushing attack with 672 yards on 128 carries. The 9-1 Seahawks’ only loss this year came in the season-opener to cross-town rival Gig Harbor 30-29. Gig Harbor went on to win the 4A Narrows League title and is ranked sixth in the state poll. In each of the past two seasons, the Seahawks reached the state quarterfinals, winning in the round of 16 then losing to powerhouse Bellevue. Bellevue could be the next opponent again this year. The winner of the Oak Harbor-Peninsula game will play the winner of BellevueSumner next weekend.
Rodeheffer, Horn shine in state 3A meet
Photo by Pat Horn
John Rodeheffer finishes fourth.
Seniors John Rodeheffer and Jonalynn Horn made Oak Harbor High School cross country history with their performances at the state 3A meet at the Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco Saturday, Nov. 8. Rodeheffer finished fourth, tying for the best finish ever by a Wildcat boy in the state meet; Gary Lineburg also placed fourth in 1965. Horn ran 12th and, coupled with her eighth-place finish last year, is the only Oak Harbor girl to record two top-12 finishes at state. Sophomore Laura Rodeheffer, John’s sister, also took part, placing
131st out of 144 in 21:59.39. John Rodeheffer, who placed 11th last year, ran a 15:15.39 over the 5,000-meter course in what turned out to be the day’s fastest race. Tanner Anderson of North Central won the 3A boys race out of a field of 143 in 14:31.7. Rodeheffer’s time would have won the B, 1A and 2A races and was just .19 of a second off the winning 4A time. Horn posted an 18:57.32. Lakeside’s Andrea Masterson was the girls 3A individual champion in 17:40.9.
“Overall, we are really happy with how the kids ran in Pasco,” Oak Harbor head coach Eric Peterson said. “John dropped another 15 seconds off his time and ran a great PR. “Jonalynn had some goals on the day, and she was able to achieve them.” John Rodeheffer and Horn also earned invitations to compete in BorderClash 2014, a meet pitting the best high school runners from Washington against those from Oregon, Sunday, Nov. 18, in Beaverton, Ore.
Photo by Pat Horn
Jonalynn Horn runs to 12th.