By Fred Kroner
The Comets dropped a heartbreaking 33-32 loss in overtime to unbeaten Iroquois West in their home-opener on Friday (Sept. 3).
Iroquois West nailed a 42-yard field goal with 16 seconds to play in regulation to force the extra session.
Dalton Hobick scored his second touchdown for Oakwood in OT, but the Comets were unable to make the two-point conversion.
The Raiders scored on a pass play and then nailed the extra-point placement to salvage the one-point triumph.
“It was a heck of a high school game, but we came up short,” Oakwood coach Al Craig said. “Iroquois West made big plays when they needed them most.”
Hobick completed 10 of 13 passes for 159 yards. He fired second-half scoring strikes of 6 and 28 yards to Josh Young, who caught seven passes for 109 yards.
Gaven Clouse was the top Oakwood rusher, gaining 77 yards on 12 carries. Clouse scored a fourth-quarter TD on a 17-yard run.
Hobick’s 48-yard scoring romp in the second quarter was the team’s longest scoring play. It also accounted for Oakwood’s only points before halftime.
“We got better as the game went on,” Craig said. “Basically it was Week 1 for us (because 16 players sat out the opener due to COVID-19 tracing).
“We only had two starters play the week before and one of them was out of position.
“We hoped to get momentum going in the second half, and we broke out and built an 11-point lead. I was impressed with how they battled and handled adversity. We missed two weeks of practice and our conditioning was not the best.”
The Comets scored five TDs, but only made one conversion try, a run by Hobick in the second half.
Austin McDaniel led Oakwood defensively with 10 tackles.
Oakwood (0-2) returns to action on Friday (Sept. 10) against Clifton Central.
