The Oak Hill Academy Raiders were narrowly defeated in their 2021 spring game Thursday at Winston Academy, 21-20. Oak Hill had a chance to win with a game-winning field goal attempt with 10 seconds left, but the kick was pushed wide right.
Thursday night’s game was a nail biter, with the Raiders and Patriots scoring back and forth throughout. Oak Hill got on the board first, when a long drive led by quarterback Cameron Dill was capped off by a rushing touchdown by Jake Glusenkamp to make it 6-0 after the two-point conversion failed. Winston Academy answered with a long touchdown in the second quarter to make it 7-6. The Patriots got a stop on the ensuing drive, then drove deep in Oak Hill territory and were looking to add to their lead before halftime. Oak Hill’s Connor Freeman stepped in front of a pass and secured an interception to keep Winston Academy off the board before halftime.
The first half was an extremely physical one, causing a few Raiders to go down after suffering injuries.
“Going into spring, we wanted to be more physical on both sides of the ball.” Oak Hill head coach Bill Rosenthal said. “We’re not very deep, we only had 21 kids here, everyone stepped up.”
Rosenthal also said he had two receivers that Oak Hill relies on heavily in its offense leave the game with injury. He added he had three eighth graders step up and see the field and played admirably.
In the second half, both teams appeared a little more focused and a little more energized than they looked in the first half. Oak Hill once again got the half’s scoring started, with Dill calling his own number and taking it into the endzone. After the two point conversion failed again, the Raiders were on top, 12-7. Winston Academy quarterback Brylee Wall answered, leading the Patriots down the field for a touchdown, making it a 14-12 game. The back-and-forth affair continued then Dill took the ball in again on a QB keeper, and Oak Hill then converted on the two-point attempt, to regain the lead, 20-14.
“Cameron is gonna be Cameron, he’s gonna give you everything that he’s got, he’s a really smart player,” said Rosenthal.
The Patriots needed only one play to answer this time, as Max Fulcher took a short pass all the way to the endzone. With the extra point attempt good, the Patriots regained the lead, 21-20.
The Winston Academy defense assured that the score held, getting a stop in the red zone to put the game on ice. Despite the loss, Rosenthal said he saw improvement in the young Raider team.
“(Winston Academy) beat us 33-0 last year, and had their JV playing at halftime, so we’ve made some strides, but we need to get in the weight room and continue to get better,” Rosenthal said.
The Oak Hill coach saw the issues that his team had in an in-game environment which he said is incredibly beneficial, because he feels some issues are not as easy to see in a practice setting. Rosenthal noted that tackling, turnovers, and penalties are some points of emphasis as the team shifts its focus on the fall.
Hodge is the former sports editor for The Dispatch.
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