By Fred Kroner
Brevin Wells tossed his second touchdown pass on a fourth-down play with 15 seconds remaining to snap a 22-22 deadlock and lift Oakwood to a Vermilion Valley Conference football victory at Salt Fork.
Josh Young hauled in the 5-yard scoring strike from Wells, sending Oakwood ahead 28-22 after the two-point conversion was unsuccessful.
Salt Fork, which had won its previous two games, drove to the Comets’ 8-yard line with four seconds to play before the game ended – after an officials’ meeting – on an illegal forward pass call.
“It was a great football game and both teams played well,” Oakwood coach Al Craig said. “We converted a couple big fourth-down plays.”
In a game where Craig said, “our running game was never able to get going,” a pass play was a natural call for the game-winner.
“Josh is a heck of an athlete and I like him in a jump-ball type of situation,” Craig said. “Brevin has a gunslinger mentality. He’s scrambling, looking for something and makes the right decisions.”
The Comets were penalized for excessive celebration after taking the lead, and the penalty was marked off on the ensuing kickoff, helping the Storm get excellent field position near midfield.
A pass play moved Salt Fork to the Oakwood 8-yard line, but the team was unable to score in its final two plays.
“Our kids have a spirit, never too high, never too low, never quit,” Craig said. “They ride the wave.”
Wells completed 16 of 21 passes for 186 yards and two TDs. He also hooked up with Brady Howard on a 44-yard scoring play. Howard caught four balls for 68 yards.
Young had six receptions for 55 yards.
Gaven Clouse scored two touchdowns and accounted for 34 yards rushing. A 9-yard scoring run by Clouse gave Oakwood its only six first-half points.
Howard and Wells each had two-point conversion plays.
Defensively, the Oakwood leaders were Landon Nixon with nine tackles and Griffin Trees with eight stops.
Staying strong in the waning seconds helped alleviate some of the frustration of a loss the previous week, when the Comets threw an interception after reaching the Westville 3-yard line in the game’s final seconds.
Oakwood (3-1) plays its final two games at home, starting on Friday (April 16) against Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin (3-1).
This week’s game will mark Senior Night for the six Oakwood seniors, all of whom are starters.
“This has been a special year, getting some games for them,” Craig said. “This will be a nice sendoff for them.”
