SOUTH PARIS – It took most of two quarters, but once Oxford Hills had both sides of the ball on the same page, the Vikings showed how dangerous they can be with the playoffs looming.
The offense was clicking Friday night for Oxford Hills, but a pair of takeaways by the defense sparked a 28-point surge that started seconds before halftime and carried the Vikings to a 49-27 victory over visiting Mt. Ararat in Pine Tree Conference football.
Junior defensive back Ethan Sutton swiped a long pass put up by Eagle quarterback Joshua DiBattista in the red zone with seconds to play in the second quarter and returned it 41 yards deep into Mt. Ararat territory. On the next play, quarterback Ben Ryerson hit Sutton on the offensive side of the ball for a 34-yard touchdown pass with 9.1 seconds to play in the half, giving Oxford Hills (5-2) a lead that it never relinquished.
“I saw that I had a play on the ball, and it came right through (the receiver’s) fingers and into my hands,” said Sutton of the interception. “Then, Ben hit me with a perfect pass on the next play.”
Sutton struck again minutes into the third quarter, stepping in front of DiBattista’s pass intended for Aaron Tardiff and took it 36 yards to paydirt, and the Vikings kept the pressure on with a two more touchdowns in the third frame.
Oxford Hills co-captain Jim Bower amassed 212 yards on 13 carries with bruising downhill runs. Brower scored a pair of touchdowns, including a 63-yard jaunt in the third quarter before giving way to Brian Trudeau.
Fullback Alex Waite picked up 40 yards on seven carries and scored a pair of touchdowns. Trudeau racked up 107 yards in mop-up duty, and scored a 56-yard rush down the left sideline on a sweep with only 17.6 seconds remaining in the game.
The Eagles stayed with Oxford Hills in the early going, thanks to their dynamic backfield of speedy signal-caller DiBattista and halfback Brad Sturgeon. DiBattista took advantage of the aggressive Vikings’ pass rush early in the game with some well-executed screen passes, including a 20-yard touchdown pass to Sturgeon, and scrambled for 48 yards. He finished the game with 87 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but also tossed three interceptions.
Sturgeon was a workhorse with 31 carries for 176 yards as Mt. Ararat fed the Vikings a steady diet of the shifty junior tailback.
The Vikings’ defense made adjustments as the game wore on, however, bottling up Sturgeon and taking advantage of the Eagles’ need to throw the ball. The steady production of the offense didn’t hurt either, as Oxford Hills quietly wore away their opponent.
“We underestimated the quickness of those two players,” said Vikings head coach Bob Austin. “(Assistant coach) Bickford talked to our guys and told them that we needed solid tackling. Nothing fancy, just good fundamental tackling, and that made a difference.”
Mt. Ararat scored a pair of touchdowns late in the fourth quarter, as DiBattista found receivers open in the flat to move the chains and roll out on third and goal to hit Curtis Cochran.
Sturgeon then recovered the ball on the ensuing kickoff in Viking territory, and scored his lone rushing touchdown of the game with 46.2 remaining.
Comments are no longer available on this story