By Fred Kroner
A 7-2 football record is pretty good for a season. A 2-7 record is much less impressive.
For the Oakwood Comets, their 2-7 record came with the knowledge that five of the losses were by no more than one touchdown and came by a total of 17 points.
All seven of the team’s losses came to opponents that made the playoffs.
The Week 9 game was symbolic of the season. Oakwood dropped a 6-2 decision to playoff-bound Salt Fork in Catlin.
“It’s super-frustrating when you look back and see how close we were,” Oakwood coach Al Craig said. “Realistically, we don’t make the playoffs, but we are as good as a lot of playoff teams.
“They played their tails off in every game and didn’t leave anything in the tank.”
Oakwood held a 2-0 halftime lead at Salt Fork, thanks to a first-quarter safety.
The Storm scored on a third-period passing play for the game’s lone touchdown.
In each of its final two games, the Comes’ defense yielded just one TD.
“We had a few drives where we’d get things going, then something would happen and we couldn’t sustain it,” Craig said. “Our defense was pretty good from about Week 4 on. I can’t applaud them enough.”
Gaven Clouse led the Comets’ offense, rushing for a team-high 97 yards in 21 carries. Defensively, Griffin Trees led the way with 10 tackles.
“Gaven has been a rock, and in big moments, we trusted him with things,” Craig said. “He was definitely a guy we could count on.”
Oakwood had a total of 35 players in its program this year. There will be enough returnees, Craig said, that “the core can be successful.”
