WEST POINT — The Oak Hill Academy football team went into halftime with an 11-point lead. That lead dissipated less than 4 minutes into the third quarter.
Benton Academy outscored Oak Hill 35-6 in the second half to win 59-41, despite a terrific outing from OHA quarterback Cameron Dill. The senior finished 28 of 60 for 472 yards and five touchdowns. He tacked on a 26-yard rush touchdown late in the second quarter. Kye Tate and Jake Glusenkamp had two touchdown receptions apiece, and Brian Buchannon had one.
The game opened on a 39 yard kickoff return by Glusenkamp to set up the Raiders at their 44 yard line. A few plays later, he caught a 4-yard touchdown pass to give Oak Hill an early 6-0 lead. The defense forced Benton to go three and out, and on the next drive, Dill threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Tate to make it 12-0. Dill and Tate connected again on a 2-point conversion to stretch the lead to 14.
Benton Academy finally broke through late with 1:49 left in the first quarter on a 46-yard pass from quarterback JB Middleton to Austin Moore to make the score 14-6. Oak Hill quickly extended their lead again on a 68 yard touchdown pass from Dill to Glusenkamp.
The teams traded blows throughout the second quarter. Dill threw a touchdown pass to Tate and added one more on the ground. For Benton, Middleton threw two to Ben Boggan, and senior Caden Stevens scored his first on a 22-yard rush. Heading into halftime, Oak Hill was on top 35-24 and seemed unstoppable on offense.
With only a few minutes remaining until the teams took the field to warm up for the third quarter, however, the stadium suddenly went dark. An overheated breaker extended halftime by nearly 20 minutes. When the lights finally lit up, so did Benton’s offense.
With 11:43 to go in the third quarter, Stevens ran 63 yards to the end zone, cutting Oak Hill’s lead to five. Oak Hill was quickly stopped on the following drive and committed a costly error on their punt attempt. A botched snap flew over the head of punter Nathan Harrington and placed Benton at Oak Hill’s 39 yard line.
Middleton used the field position to his advantage and ran 21 yards for a touchdown. Benton took its first lead on a successful 2-point conversion. Oak Hill answered on an 80 yard touchdown pass from Dill to Buchannon, reclaiming the lead at 41-38.
From there, it was all Benton Academy. Middleton completed a 23 yard touchdown pass to Boggan to retake the lead heading into the fourth quarter.
A 51 yard touchdown pass from Middleton to Boggan and a successful 2 point conversion gave Benton the 52-41 lead and a 40 yard run by Stevens less than a minute later capped the scoring.
Oak Hill plays their next game on the road against Winona Christian.
Benton Academy 59, Oak Hill Academy 41
Benton Academy (1-0) 12 13 18 16 — 59
Oak Hill Academy (0-1) 21 14 6 0 — 41
First quarter
OHA — Jake Glusenkamp 4 pass from Cameron Dill (kick failed), 9:49
OHA — Kye Tate 17 pass from Cameron Dill (run good), 4:29
BA — Austin Moore 46 pass from JB Middleton (kick failed), 1:49
OHA — Jake Glusenkamp 68 pass from Cameron Dill (kick good) 1:20
BA — Ben Boggan 32 pass from JB Middleton (kick failed), :11
Second quarter
OHA — Kye Tate 22 pass from Cameron Dill (kick good), 11:42
BA — Caden Stevens 22 run (run failed), 7:39
OHA — Cameron Dill 26 run (kick good), 3:27
BA — Ben Boggan 21 pass from JB Middleton (pass failed), :23
Third quarter
BA — Caden Stevens 63 run (run failed), 11:43
BA — JB Middleton 21 run (kick failed), 8:25
OHA — Brian Buchanan 80 pass from Cameron Dill (kick failed), 7:49
BA — Ben Boggan 23 pass from JB Middleton (kick failed), 5:49
Fourth quarter
BA — Ben Boggan 51 pass from JB Middleton (pass good), 2:27
BA — Caden Stevens 40 run (pass good), 1:49
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