Oakdale Overcomes Turnover-Plagued Woodland
Last updated Thursday, September 28, 2006 10:32 PM CDT in Sports
By Sean Saunders
Special to The Morning News
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FAYETTEVILLE — Six turnovers plagued Fayetteville Woodland on a chilly Thursday night as the Cowboys fell to Rogers Oakdale 14-6 in Harmon Field.
The Cowboys quarterback tandem of J.T. McCormick and Brandon Allen combined to throw four interceptions while tailback Drake Harrison fumbled twice while trying to fill in for injured starter Michael Heintzman. Heintzman injured his ankle during a tackling drill after scoring three touchdowns last week.
“We did a lot of stuff that we haven’t done this year,” Woodland coach Bobby Crockett said. “Obviously Oakdale is a good club and they did a great job. I don’t want to take anything away from him, his club had a great game plan tonight, but turnovers will kill you.”
The Patriots (4-1, 3-1 in NWAC) had three turnovers. McCormick recorded his fifth and sixth interceptions of the year, and Oakdale had one fumble lost.
Oakdale won the eighth-grade game 8-6.
Ramsey began the game with a 61-yard keeper that made it all the way down to the 3. He later scored on the next play.
Woodland (3-2, 2-2) had a chance to come back against Oakdale early in the second quarter when the Cowboys marched the ball deep into Oakdale territory. But Drake Harrison fumbled the ball at the goal line, and the Patriots recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchback.
The Cowboys finally scored with 2:06 left. McCormick hit Doug Wolf for a 21-yard pass and Harrison broke off a 20-yard run before McCormick scored on a 1-yard sneak on fourth down.
Will Rostek’s PAT attempt sailed wide right to leave the Cowboys one point behind.
Woodland had another opportunity on the next series when Jordan Snoderly fumbled the kickoff and Gareth Booth recovered for the Cowboys. But McCormick threw an interception to Marshall Krupka, one of Krupka’s two on the night, to end the drive.
Casey Caton and David Smart also recorded interceptions.
“The defense stepped up,” Oakdale coach Ray Keller said. “We asked the defense that if we didn’t let them score, we still had a chance to win this thing. And they did. We had some picks and we forced some turnovers and there were some great hustle plays by the defense.”
Woodland let Ramsey score the final touchdown to get the ball back with 1:13 left. Another McCormick interception sealed the game.
Woodland steps out of the conference next to play at Siloam Springs while Oakdale travels to Bentonville Gold.
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