Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

OAK HILL — They say offense sells tickets but defense wins championships.

The Chesapeake Panthers didn’t win a championship in Friday’s season opener, but they did win the game thanks to a stellar defensive effort as they beat the Oak Hill Oaks 40-14.

“Given a choice between playing good defensively or good offensively, I’ll take defense,” said Panthers’ coach Andy Clark. “Defensively we played pretty well. We did a good job overall stopping the run.”

Chesapeake ran only 37 plays to 47 for the Oaks, but the Panthers’ defense produced two touchdowns.

The Oaks had 180 yards offense with 51 coming in the air late.

Chesapeake had 184 yards on offense but didn’t have as many opportunities on offense because of the defensive scores.

“Offensively we played well early, but then we got tired with the heat and humidity and we had to get guys in and out. Offensively we’ve got work to do. But credit Oak Hill. Their inside seven were pretty good,” said Clark.

The Panthers’ offense had 163 yards rushing led by Will Scott who ran 12 times for 79 yards and scored four touchdowns.

Casey McComas had a big game on defense. He returned a fumble and an interception for touchdowns.

Chesapeake scored on its first possession as Scott ran 1-yard at the 8:08 mark. Dalton Nida kicked the conversion.

The Panthers recovered a fumble on the Oaks’ first play following their touchdown and they turned it into another 1-yard scoring plunge by Scott. Austin Browning picked up the bad snap on the conversion kick and ran for two points to make it 15-0 at the 4:28 mark.

Oak Hill took advantage of a Chesapeake fumble as Todd Moore return the ball 36 yards and it was 15-6 with 1:14 left in the first quarter.

After a scoreless second quarter, Chesapeake wasted no time as Scott bolted 55 yards on the first play of the third quarter to put the Panthers up 22-6.

Oak Hill fumbled again and McComas did a “scoop and score” by returning the ball 54 yards for a touchdown and the lead was 28-6 with 8:46 on the clock.

The Panthers drove for another score with Scott going the final 14 yards for the touchdown and it was 34-6.

The Oaks finally put together a drive and scored on an 11-yard run by Caleb Johnson with 7:21 left. Troy Moore caught the deflected conversion pass and it was 34-14.

But McComas sealed the outcome with a 36-yard Pick Six interception return less than three minutes later to set the final score.

The Panthers visit Alexander next Friday.

Chesapeake 15 0 19 6 = 40

Oak Hill 6 0 0 8 = 14

First Quarter

Ch — Will Scott 1 run (Dalton Nida kick) 8:08

Ch — Will Scott 1 run (Austin Browning run) 4:28

OH — Todd Moore 36 fumble recovery (kick blocked) 1:14.

Third Quarter

Ch — Will Scott 55 run (Dalton Nida kick) 11:44

Ch — Casey McComas 54 fumble recovery (kick failed 8:46

Ch — Will Scott 14 run (pass failed) 1:28

Fourth Quarter

OH — Caleb Johnson 11 run (Troy Moore pass from Caleb Johnson) 7:21

Ch — Casey McComas 36 interception return (kick failed) 4:28

Ch OH

First Downs 7 10

Rushes-Yards 29-163 37-129

Passing Yards 21 51

Total Yards 184 180

Cmp-Att-Int 3-8-0 6-10-2

Fumbles-Lost 3-2 5-4

Penalties-Yards 5-37 5-36

Punts-Average 4-45.5 4-32.3

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INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING—Chesapeake: Casey McComas 7-1, Ty Wilcoxon 3-6, Cecil Fletcher 4-43, J.W. Bartrum 3-31, Scott 12-79, Carson Nida 1-3; Oak Hill: Fisher 8-18, Bayley Clutters 3-3, Caleb Johnson 6-6, Todd Moore 5-26, Walker Smith 13-67, Dakota Duhl 2-9.

PASSING—Chesapeake: Casey McComas 3-8-0 21; Oak Hill: Caleb Johnson 6-10-1 51.

RECEIVING—Chesapeake: Austin Browning 1-9, J.W. Bartrum 1-3, Wes Malavenda 1-9: Oak Hill: Wes Mullett 4-38, Troy Moore 1-3, Daniel Stewart 1-10.