The 2023 Oakman Wildcat football season is underway with plenty of reason for optimism. However, Friday night, the early deficit was too much to overcome for the Wildcats as they fell to the Class 2A Sulligent Blue Devils 27-16.
The Blue Devils came out of the gate swinging with multiple big plays in route to a 21-0 first quarter lead. After the initial push, Oakman came up with multiple stops in a row. The Wildcats’ offense followed their lead and found the end zone when Sophmore quarterback Caedon Aaron called his own number from one yard out. After a Brady Johnson extra point, Oakman cut the lead to 21-7 with just five minutes remaining in the first half.
To begin the second half, Senoir Rick Johnson took the kickoff right up the gut with a 39 yard return into Blue Devil territory. However, Oakman was not able to capitalize. The OHS special teams unit had a big night with two big kickoff returns, a tipped punt block, a blocked extra point, a fumble recovery as well as an efficient night of extra points and punting. The ‘Cats continued to fight back forcing two consecutive turnovers when Senoir Peyton Mclemore busted through the offensive line and attacked the ball carrier, causing a fumble (recovered by 8th Grader Ledger Martin). The Defense was led by Junior linebacker Trace Cagle, Mclemore, and Martin. A few plays later, Kaysen Dickerson plowed through defender to reach pay dirt for the first time this season from five yards out to cut the lead to 21-14 late in the third quarter.
It looked as if OHS were coming out of the deep dug hole when Sulligent answered with another big play with a 59 yard touchdown run to take the wind out of Oakman. Mclemore blocked the the ensuing extra point to make it 27-14 with 3:18 remaining in the third.
The ‘Cats would not go easy into the night. The Oakman defense stood strong with three tackles for a loss, forcing the Devils to punt out of their own end zone. The snap was mishandled in the end-zone, resulting in a safety courtesy of junior Jayden Moore to cut the lead to 27-16. The defense continued to hold, but the offense could not find a rhythm to overcome the early deficit.
“I thought our players fought for 48 minutes,” Oakman coach Ryan Hall said. “We dug ourselves too big of a hole early to climb out of. It’s a learning process and there was a lot for us to take from the game and learn from. It is time to flush the results and get our focus on Cordova.”
Oakman (0-1) will travel to face county rival Cordova (0-1) on Friday night.
Key Players for OHS
Offense
#14 Caedon Aaron was 16 of 33 for 136 yds with 1 rushing TD & 2 INTs
#4 Kaysen Dickerson rushed for 41 yds with 1 Touchdown
#6 Luke Martin finished with with 7 catches for 67 yards.
Defense
#8 Ledger Martin burst onto the scene with 5 tackles, 2 assists, & a fumble recovery
#44 Peyton Mclemore had 5 tackles, 2 assists, a forced fumble, a sack, & a blocked extra point.
#9 Trace Cagle picked up where he left off last season with 9 tackles, 4 assists, & a pass break up.
