ALMA COLLEGE - Sep. 20, 2008 - The Oscoda football team has suffered more than its share of defeats in the past several years, but they haven't experienced much like Saturday's 27-22 loss to Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian.
This was a game the Owls felt they could have and maybe should have won. Oscoda held a two-touchdown lead until the final seconds of the first half, came from behind to take a one-point lead in the fourth quarter, but ended up on the short end of the stick in an entertaining, topsy-turvy contest that between two schools trying to find their footing on the football field.
It was a tough finish to an otherwise fulfilling day for the Owls, who were treated to watching much of the preceding Alma College game from the sidelines, then playing on the Alma field where Oscoda coach Chris Davis played as a collegian.
The Owls' 22 points was their top output in three seasons; the 14-0 lead was their largest lead in the same period; and the 22-21 lead Oscoda held briefly in the fourth quarter was the latest they've been ahead since their last victory.
Dylan Kachur rushed for 112 yards on 20 carries and quarterback Justin Cain added 101 on 25 carries before being injured early in the fourth quarter to give the Owls two 100-yard rushers for the first time in years.
But all that wasn't quite enough for that elusive win. Incredibly untimely penalties and turnovers, as well as NorthPointe's big-play passing attack, denied the Owls that hope.
"We've got to learn to finish before we can learn to win," Davis said. "We got off to such a great start. We had a chance to go up three scores, but we fumbled and it kind of let them back into the game."
The Owls opened the game with an eight-play, 67-yard drive that ended with Cain's 18-yard touchdown pass to Justin Cain. A 12-yard drive in the second quarter that looked like it would end in a score ended up going the other way when Kachur was stripped of the ball by NorthPointe's Johnny DeLong after a 12-yard gain and returned 25 yards the other way.
North Pointe didn't score on that possession, but it did cost the Owls what looked to be a sure touchdown, and when Oscoda scored on Cain's 14-yard run with 4:45 left in the first half, the Owls' 14-0 lead coulda / shoulda been a three-score advantage.
The Mustangs got back in the game with a last-gasp drive in the first half that covered 82 yards and featured passes of 25 yards from quarterback Tommy Tresh to DeLong and Robbie Hein, who proved to be a thorn in the Owls' side all day.
Oscoda seemed to have the drive stopped after Kachur sacked Tresh on 3-and-10 with about 30 seconds left in the half, but a penalty against the Owls gave NorthPointe a first down, and a second penalty one play later stopped the clock with 10 seconds left, which gave NorthPointe a chance to get off one more play despite being out of time outs.
Tresh hit DeLong with an 8-yard score with 6.6 seconds left in the half to make it 14-6.
Moments into the second half, the lead was gone altogether as Tresh hit Heim with a 60-yard touchdown pass and ran in for the two-pointer to tie it up.
"It was a game of inches," Davis said. "It seemed they were one step faster, jumped a bit higher, and were able to make plays on the ball."
The Oscoda offense struggled to move the ball in the second half as NorthPointe took away the Owls' runs up the middle that had worked well in the first half. Heim again made a nuisance of himself with a one-handed interception late in the third quarter that he returned 42 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.
Minutes later, when Cain was injured while being sacked, it looked like the Owls would have no chance to get back in the game. But that was when Kachur gave Oscoda new life when he sacked Tresh, knocked the ball free and took it 70 yards the other way for the score.
"That's the first break I can remember this team getting in the three years I've been here," Davis said. "You've got to earn those breaks, too, though, and those come with an attacking mentality. That's when you make positive things happen.
"Dylan brought life back to us (on that play)."
Thomas York, replacing Cain at quarterback, pushed in the 2-pointer for a 22-21 lead, but there was still 7;45 left, which proved to be too much time.
NorthPointe got a big kick return from Brandon Johnson to the Oscoda 33, and Tresh hit DeLong with a 29-yard pass ont he first play from scrimmage to the 4-yard line. Oscoda held the Mustangs out for two plays, but on 3rd-and-inches, Tresh dove in for the go-ahead score with 5:45 left.
The Owls went three-and-out on their final possession and NorthPointe was able to run out the clock.
The Owls held NorthPointe to 75 yards rushing, but Tresh completed 9-of-22 passes for 186 yards, including 97 yards to Hein and 62 to DeLong.
Oscoda (0-4) gets ready to face Manton in a home contest on Friday, Sept. 25. Between now and then, Davis hopes to purge the 'what-if's' from his team's system.
"We have a ritual we go through where we bury things we have no control over," he said. "(To beat Manton) we need to play to our potential. We can't wait for breaks to happen."
