Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

OAK HILL — Talk about an omen.

The first series of the game by each team was a premonition of what was to come as the Oak Hill Oaks beat the Symmes Valley Vikings 33-6 on Friday in the Southern Ohio Conference opener for both teams.

The Vikings held the Oaks on a fourth down play to start the game, but they fumbled the ball right back on the ensuing play.

The Oaks then went 46 yards in four plays with Matt Gilliland going the final 3 yards for the score. Ramsey Sites conversion kick made it 7-0.

“It was just one of those nights,” said Vikings’ coach Rusty Webb.

“Oak Hill played well and we just made one mistake after another. We turned the ball over, we blew some coverages and we missed assignments. You’re going to have those kind of games now and then and tonight was that kind of game for us.”

On the Vikings’ next possession, Willy Harris intercepted a pass on second-and-6 and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown and it was 14-0.

The Oaks (1-3, 1-0) went 47 yards in seven plays as Lane Burdine hit Cody Swann with a 35-yard touchdown pass and it was 20-0.

Burdine and Swann hooked up on a 57-yard scoring pass in the third quarter to make it 26-0 at the 4:56 mark.

The Vikings (1-3, 0-1) scored with 10:12 to play as Derrek Smith hit Brandon Craft on a 64-yard scoring pass play and it was 26-6.

But the Oaks went 57 yards in nine plays capped by Matt Gilliland’s 2-yard run. The key play was a 26-yard pass from Burdine to Swann.

For the game, Burdine was 3-of-5 for 118 yards and two touchdowns, all to Swann.

The Oaks ran 51 times for 192 yards with Harris getting 99 yards on 22 carries and Gilliland 64 yards on 19 attempts.

The Vikings were limited to 54 yards rushing while Smith was 5-of-17 passing for 118 yards and a touchdown.

“We’ll learn from out mistakes and put this game behind us and get ready for next week,” said Webb.

The Vikings host Green next Friday.

Symmes Valley 0 0 0 6 = 6

Oak Hill 14 6 6 7 = 33

First Quarter

OH — Matt Gilland 3 run (Ramsey Sites kick) 5:56

OH —Willy Harris 40 interception return (Ramsey Sites kick) 4:24

Second Quarter

OH — Cody Swann 35 pass from Lane Burdine (kick blocked) 4:48

Third Quarter

OH — Cody Swann 57 pass from Lane Burdine (run failed) 4:56

Fourth Quarter

SV — Brandon Craft 64 pass from Derrek Smith (kick failed) 10:12

OH — Matt Gilliland 2 run (Ramsey Sites kick) 5:24

——

SV OH

First downs 6 13

Rushes-yards 28-54 51-192

Passing yards 118 118

Total yards 172 310

Cmp-Att-Int 5-17-3 3-5-0

Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-2

Penalties-yards 4-27 1-123

Punts-average 4-39.2 4-30.0

——

Individual Leaders

RUSHING —Symmes Valley: Smith 7-6, Levi Cade 3-5, Collin Webb 11-30, Cameron Meadows 5-13, Brandon Craft 2-0; Oak Hill: Willy Harris 22-99, Matt Gilliland 19-64, Zach Fisher 3-48, Lane Burdine 5-minus 25, Walker Smith 1-2, Tyler Trisch 1-4.

PASSING — Symmes Valley: Smith 5-17-3 118 TD; Oak Hill: Lane Burdine 3-5-0 118 2-TD.

RECEIVING — Symmes Valley: Cameron Meadows 2-9, Curtis Lybrand 2-45, Brandon Craft 1-64 TD; Oak Hill: Cody Swann 3-118 2-TD.