Oakwood senior Gaven Clouse had a memorable final home game on Friday (Oct. 15).

Clouse scored touchdowns on four of his eight rushing attempts, leading the Comets to a Senior Night victory over Georgetown-Ridge Farm, 47-6.

The home finale also marked the official naming of the field as Marty McFarland Field in recognition of the winningest Oakwood football coach in school history.

“He created a lot of the culture that we still have at Oakwood,” Comets’ coach Al Craig said. “It was good to see where that culture came from.”

Clouse rushed for 97 yards. He scored two first-period touchdowns and a 66-yard run by Dalton Hobick lifted the Comets into a 20-0 lead after one quarter.

Austin McDaniel converted two extra-point kicks in the first frame.

‘We opened the game up and gave the team some confidence,” Craig said. “It was a pretty good team effort.

“In the rain, you need everyone to do that. Our defense was on point, not allowing them to do a whole lot.”

Clouse added his other two TDs in the second quarter. Oakwood headed into the lockerroom with a 32-0 lead and created a running clock in the third period when a 10-yard scoring scamper by Griffin Trees and Hobick’s two-point conversion gave Oakwood a 40-0 advantage.

Trees rushed for 77 yards on three carries.

The team’s final TD was courtesy of the defense. Noah Phillips returned an interception 20 yards for a fourth-quarter TD.

McDaniel had a team-high seven tackles.

The 47 points scored against the Buffaloes were a team-high and the six points allowed were a team-low for the season.

“We started clicking in Week 6 and  have played  pretty well,” Craig said. “We’ve lost some tough games (two consecutive two-point setbacks before the G-RF game).”

Oakwood (2-6) closes its season on Friday (Oct. 22) with a game at Salt Fork (5-3).

“It’s a natural rivalry because we co-op with them in some sports,” Craig said. “It’s always the last game and it always means something.”

For Salt Fork, a sixth win would guarantee a berth in the postseason playoffs. For Oakwood, it’s a chance to close the season with back-to-back wins for the first time this year.

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Oakwood High School endured yet another close football loss on Friday (Oct. 8) when visiting Hoopeston Area/Armstrong-Potomac pulled out a 29-27 triumph in overtime.

The loss was the third of the season for Oakwood by two points, or less.

“It’s like we’re living in ‘Groundhog Day,’” Oakwood coach Al Craig said. “It has been tough.”

The Cornjerkers had the ball first in the extra session. They scored a TD and converted a two-point extra-point attempt.

Oakwood senior Gaven Clouse, who rushed for a team-high 169 yards on 32 carries, scampered 10 yards for a TD, but the Comets’ two-point attempt in overtime was thwarted.

Oakwood scored first, in the second period, on a 4-yard run by Griffin Trees, followed by a placekick from Austin McDaniel.

The Cornjerkers scored twice before halftime and expanded their lead to 21-7 before Oakwood started its comeback.

Craig was pleased by the way his squad responded to the early deficit.

“When you’re behind 21-7 and the playoffs are not on the line, you worry what the kids will do,” Craig said. “They came back and gave us a chance to win.”

Clouse scored a third-quarter TD. Dalton Hobick ran 32 yards for a fourth-period score and added the equalizer on a two-point conversion that sent the game into overtime, tied 21-21.

For the game, Hobick rushed for 61 yards.

Trees led the Comets’ defensive effort with seven tackles.

Oakwood (1-6) returns to action on Friday (Oct. 15) in its home-finale and Senior Night game against Georgetown-Ridge Farm (0-7), a team that Craig said “is making improvements every week.”

Due to COVID-19 concerns, the dedication of the Oakwood football field to former coach Marty McFarland was postponed last week and rescheduled for halftime of the upcoming game against Georgetown-Ridge Farm.

Seven Oakwood seniors will be recognized on Friday in a pre-game ceremony.

They are: Gaven Clouse, Xander Draper, Connor Matson, Auston McDaniel, Devin Sanders, Griffin Trees and Josh Young.

“They are a great bunch of kids who love football and work hard,” Craig said. “They definitely will be missed.

“They have been through some great times and this year, some tough times, but they have handled it in stride.”

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Oakwood came up short on Friday (Oct. 1) in a historic high school football game in Vermilion County.

The Comets dropped a 14-12 decision at Westville in the first game played in Vermilion County on artificial turf. For Westville, it was the first home game since October, 2019. The school’s athletic complex was recently refurbished.

“The field is great, the atmosphere is fantastic and the game lived up to the hype,” Oakwood coach Al Craig said. “We came out on the short end, but we tell them to just keep battling.”

The Comets pulled within 7-6 in the second quarter when Dalton Hobick – who returned from an injury that had sidelined him the previous two games – hooked up with Josh Young on an 85-yard scoring play.

Westville moved its lead to 14-6 at halftime and was scoreless the last two periods.

“As a whole, our defense played well,” Oakwood coach Al Craig said. “Our kids played hard and stuck to the game plan.”

The game was the second since the Comets’ staff shifted Gaven Clouse and Austin McDaniel into the linebacker positions.

The lone second-half TD on a 3-yard run by Hobick in the third quarter.

Hobick completed 9 of 17 passes for 185 yards. Young had four of the receptions and turned them into gains of 125 yards.

Defensively, Griffin Trees had a team-high eight tackles, followed by Clouse with seven tackles.

Oakwood (1-5) returns to action on Friday (Oct. 8) against Hoopeston Area in a game that will mark the formal dedication of the Comets home site as Marty McFarland Field.

“Marty put in a lot of time and is very deserving of this honor,” Craig said.

Besides the two-point setback at Westville, Oakwood also suffered a one-point loss to Iroquois West.

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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.

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