Box Score Oakland City, IN - Football made its return to Oakland City University for the first time since the 1940s as the Mighty Oaks Sprint Football team hosted the Knights of Bellarmine University. The game was played at the Edd Roush Field at Wood Memorial High School, a few blocks south of the OCU campus, kicking off at 1:00 following a well-attended GameDay Experience event, hosted by Oakland City University.
Despite a valiant effort against the Knights, in their second season as one of the founding members of the Midwest Sprint Football League, the Mighty Oaks were unable to overcome the running game of Bellarmine University, which featured the MSFL's reigning rushing champion, losing by the final score of 43-23.
Both teams came out with heavy defense in the opening quarter, with neither team able to score until BU's Brenden Reid broke off a 15 yard rushing touchdown with 20 seconds remaining in the period. Ben Valle converted the extra point attempt to leave the score at 7-0 entering the second quarter.
Reid scored again, dodging would-be tacklers, on his way to a 62 yard touchdown run with 11:07 left in the second quarter, followed by another successful Valle extra point, giving BU a 14-0 advantage. However, OCU scored their first touchdown in the history of the sprint football program when
Jacob Lee scrambled in from 59 yards out, with a two-point conversion going to
Deshondrick Thomas to bring the lead down to six points, at 14-8, with 10:09 left until halftime.
It was back to Reid for the next points of the game, when he finished a 39-yard run in the end zone at the 3:03 mark, with a two-point conversion going to Caleb Murray, bringing the halftime score to 22-8 in favor of the visitors.
The third quarter saw just one score, as
Austin Davenport fought his way into the end zone on a 23-yard pass from Lee, followed by another Thomas two-point success, with 3:58 left on the third quarter clock. At that point, OCU trailed 22-16.
With 10:14 left in the game, Lee completed a pass over the middle to Davenport, who turned up field before being hit by a Bellarmine defender. The ball came loose, but bounced into the hands of
Tyler Young, who carried the ball into the end zone from 38 yards out, then converted the point after himself, giving the Oaks their first lead at 23-22 with 10:14 left to play.
Unfortunately for the Oaks, with their large and raucous crowd, the lead was short-lived as Bellarmine reeled off three touchdowns, two tosses to Derrik Gant and another rushing score by Reid, to score the game's final 21 points. The final score was 43-23 in favor of the visiting Knights.
Total offense was 327 to 298 in favor of the Knights, despite the Oaks leading 192-6 in passing yards. Bellarmine, however, showed their prowess in the run game, leading 321-106 in rushing yards for the game.
OCU's
Jacob Lee was 12-38 at the quarterback position, with 192 yards and one touchdown, but was picked off four times. Lee also was OCU's leading rusher, picking up 49 yards on eight attempts, including a touchdown, while
Ke'Wyan Washington added 20 yards on five ruches.
Austin Davenport hauled in six catches for 88 yards and a score, followed by
Deshondrick Thomas, who caught three passes for 56 yards.
For Bellarmine, Luke Worley completed 8-14 passes for six yards, throwing one interception. Brenden Reid has 232 rushing yards on 31 attempts, scoring four touchdowns, while Derrik Gant added 67 yards on nine rushes and two scores. Gant also led the Knights in receiving, picking up 11 yards on three catches.
On defense, the Mighty Oaks were led in tackles by A'Moses Wells with 12, followed by
Kanye Johnson with 10. Wells, Johnson,
Andre Kirkland,
Jaiden Thomas, and
Seth Brewster each had a sack in the game for Oakland City University, while Johnson had an interception and Kirkland recovered a fumble on defense.
The Mighty Oaks will be back in action on Saturday, September 23, when they host the defending MSFL champion Pomeroys of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 on Edd Roush Field at Wood Memorial High School.
