SHS (0-1) took on the highly skilled Oak Ridge (0-1) Friday, 9/1, at Woodforest Stadium.

The Spartans offense started off on fire jumping out to a 14-0 lead after just a few minutes into the first quarter.

SHS’s first offensive possession was spurred by Jackson Miller’s 35-yard gain on a 10-yard curl pattern thrown from Aaron Deleon. The drive concluded with Deleon’s 20-yard TD pass to Derrik McGee on a 5-yard out pass.

SHS immediately regained offensive possession by Mac Greene recovering the perfectly placed pooch kick from Andrew Lumpkin.

On the next play, Coach Harvey pulled out the trick plays resulting in a perfectly placed 40-yard TD pass from Miller to Jack Stewart,  making it 14-0.

Unfortunately, OAHS’s offense also came out clicking and scored on their first possession with a 70-yard drive on a few run plays and a short TD pass.

SHS responded making it 21-7 with a 50-yard TD pass on a post route from Deleon to Luke Rives.

OAHS continued to fight back, and the first quarter ended with a score of 21-21.

An additional SHS highlight of the first quarter was the protection of the offensive line which included Armando Castro, Leo Herrera, Clayton Nonhof, Ryan Griggs, and Zachary Prudhomme.

SHS’s defense appeared to make some adjustments in the second quarter after making their first stop with several key plays including Parker Johnson and Johnny Crawford being all over the field. The drive was stopped on a fourth down attempt, resulting in Cooper Kemp swatting the pass down.

OAHS offense continued to move the ball, giving them a 35-21 lead at halftime.

After OAHS went up 41-21 on their first drive of the second half, SHS’s defense continued to improve. Cooper Kemp and Carson Davidson were strong in the trenches to help force a three-and-out. Then, the defense forced a turnover on downs with strong plays by Crawford and Blake Barry.

SHS’s offense found a spark with 5:52 left in the game with first-down passes to Stewart and Anderson Dinh. Braxton Wakefield picked up a 28-yard TD reception from Deleon making it 41-28. This was a drive highlighted by good protection by SHS’s offensive line.

SHS’s defense forced a punt, giving the Spartans continued life. SHS capitalized on the opportunity. Deleon found Stewart for several contested key catches on the drive and then quickly scored with a deep-post TD to Wakefield.

With only 2:09 left in the game and down 41-34, SHS tried but was not successful on recovering an onside kick.

OAHS offense ran out the clock to seal the OAHS victory, 41-34.

Next up: Thursday, 9/7, vs Hastings at Tully Stadium.