Turnovers doom Woodland to defeat against Oakdale
Posted on Friday, September 29, 2006
Turnovers are generally the key statistic in wins and losses and Thursday night at Harmon Field was no exception. Woodland gave it away six times — twice deep in Rogers Oakdale territory — and never found an offensive rhythm as the Cowboys dropped one to the Patriots 14-6.
Woodland (3-2, 2-2 NWAC ) actually out gained Oakdale (4-1, 3-1 NWAC ) 189 to 162 in total yardage but two fumbles and four interceptions have a way of distorting reality.
“ We did a lot of things uncharacteristic of ourselves tonight, ” Woodland coach Bobby Crockett said. “ We turned the ball over going in to score once and we had two or three interceptions. We did a lot of stuff that we haven’t done this year. I don’t want to take anything away from [Oakdale ], they had a good plan but turnovers will kill you. ”
On Oakdale’s first possession, quarterback Caleb Ramsey ran the first play for 61 yards and followed up with a 3-yard touchdown run. With just over a minute gone, the Patriots had a 7-0 lead.
“ I takes us, I guess, a little time to get our defense going, ” Crockett said. “ We just had a breakdown on that first long run and we can’t have those. In good football games against tough opponents, you can’t have turnovers and mental mistakes and that’s what we’re talking to the kids about. ”
Besides the game’s first two plays, Woodland’s defense turned in another stellar performance, especially considering the turnovers. It limited Oakdale to 55 second-half yards and caused three turnovers but the offense couldn’t capitalize.
Woodland was set to tie the game early in the second quarter but Drake Harrison fumbled into the end zone and Oakdale’s Eathen Ramsey recovered, giving the Patriots the ball at the 20.
After Doug Wolf returned an Oakdale punt 23 yards to Woodland’s 49, the Cowboys put together a tidy, 6-play drive. J. T. McCormick threw 21 yards to Wolf and Harrison rambled for 20 more down to Oakdale’s 10. Four plays later, McCormick pushed in from the 1-yard line. The PAT was wide, however, and Woodland trailed 7-6 at the half.
The Cowboys’ first three possessions of the third quarter ended with an interception, a punt and a fumble. Brandon Allen’s late interception seemed to end all hope for Woodland but Oakdale didn’t take a knee to run out the clock. With no timeouts, the Cowboys’ defense appeared to let Caleb Ramsey go free and run 29 yards, making the score 14-6. With 1: 13 remaining, Woodland had one last shot.
As was the case most of the night, however, the Cowboys turned it over once again. This time, Oakdale took a knee and ended the game.
Caleb Ramsey led Oakdale with 40 yards passing and ran 11 times for 120 yards, including two touchdowns. Jordan Snoderly caught three passes for 38 yards. For Woodland, McCormick threw for 83 yards but had three interceptions. Doug Wolf led the receivers with two catches for 31 yards and Harrison filled in nicely for injured starter Michael Heintzman (broken ankle ), carrying 18 times for 73 yards.
Up next for Woodland is a trip to Siloam Springs while Oakdale has a home date with Bentonville Gold.
In the eighth-grade game, Oakdale edged Woodland 8-6. The Cowboys’ score came on an 11-yard pass from Brandon Allen to Troy Underwood. Eathen Ramsey scored on a 68-yard run for Oakdale and also ran in the 2-point conversion. Both squads are now 3-2 at the season’s midway point.
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