By Fred Kroner
Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin scored three touchdowns in a 4-minute and 11-second span of the first quarter and visiting Oakwood was unable to recover and suffered a 54-16 season-ending football loss to the Blue Devils on Friday (Oct. 20).
Oakwood (4-5 record) needed a win to become playoff-eligible.
Senior middle linebacker Harley Grimm, the state leader in tackles (according to Maxpreps), scored the first eight Oakwood points.
He returned a fumble 57 yards for a TD with 2 minutes and 15 seconds remaining in the first quarter and then recorded a safety at 2:23 before halftime.
“He has put in a lot of work to become the player he is,” Oakwood coach Cameron Lee said. “The talent was always there and I thought he had a lot of potential. He did everything we asked.”
Grimm finished with a school single-season record of 132 tackles after recording eight at PBL.
Team rushing leader Cameron Black tallied the only TD the Comets managed from their offensive unit 28 seconds before halftime and then added the two-point conversion.
Black scored points in all nine of the Oakwood games this season and finished with 118 points.
Black’s score cut the Comets’ deficit to 34-16, but the team was unable to take the momentum into halftime as B-H/R-A returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards for a TD.
Black finished the season with 936 rushing yards.
“When you’re playing a team with so many great athletes, you have to play a clean game,” Lee said. “They had the two best receivers we saw and they made the game hard on us.
“We had to execute at a high level.”
Early on, mistakes and turnovers created a deficit from which Oakwood could not recover.
“Before we knew it (after 6:42 of the first quarter), we were down by three TDs and we’d only ran one play (on offense),” Lee said.
The Comets’ bid to become playoff-eligible was also hindered by an injury to starting quarterback Jackson Dudley, who left on Oakwood’s second possession and did not return.
For the season, Dudley passed for 1,038 yards and 17 TDs. He eclipsed the 100-yard mark in passing in seven games.
Chase Harrison was inserted in as the quarterback.
“We always said if we had an injury, we won’t just lay down,” Lee said. “We’ll put the ball in the hands of our most athletic players and see what happens.”
With Harrison at quarterback, he was used primarily as a runner. He led the Comets with 57 rushing yards on five attempts.
“We ran some wildcat plays,” Lee added, “but it was one more injury than we could take.”
Harrison completed 1 of 5 passes, connecting with Sam Woodard on a 26-yard completion.
Freshman Alex Wallace got some reps at quarterback in the fourth quarter.
With just four healthy seniors by year’s end, Lee anticipated some growing pains this season.
“Coming into the season, knowing we were in a rebuilding state, my goal was to be competitive with teams in our conference on a weekly basis,” he said.
“My expectations were surpassed. The season was more good than bad.”
Oakwood reached the four-win mark in Week 6, but closed the season with three successive losses.
“The good far outweighed the bad,” Lee said.
Besides Grimm, the other Oakwood seniors were Alec Harrison, Zeke Smith and Brayden Williams.
Williams was originally ticketed in more of a utility role as a lineman, but played at right guard against Salt Fork (Week 8) and at left guard (in Week 9).
“He always competes hard and did a great job,” Lee said. “Where he was needed, he filled in.”
Alec Harrison was asked to change positions as a senior.
“He made a transition from defensive back and wide receiver to defensive end and tight end,” Lee said. “He took on the challenge and stepped up in a big way.
“For him to do that was incredible.”
Smith was Grimm’s counterpart at linebacker.
“I told them they would anchor the defense and I wanted them to focus more on being a one-way player,” Lee said. “Those two embraced the idea and did a great job.”
Due to injuries, however, they wound up contributing on offense as well.
