Golden Bears are headed to St. Mary’s
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ST. MARYS -- There were certainly some positives for the Oak Glen football team last week, and the Golden Bears are looking to build off those this week.
Unfortunately, there were also some negatives and those negatives proved costly against Weir.
The Golden Bears ran for 322 yards and three touchdowns, however, they committed four turnovers, and the Red Riders turned all of them into points en route to a 40-21 victory last Thursday night up at the Bears Den.
"I can remember the last time as an offensive coordinator or as a head coach that we rushed for more than 300 yards and lost," Oak Glen (0-1) head coach Doug Taylor said. "The key was the turnovers. Weir forced a couple, and a couple were unforced. We had 300 yards rushing, and you have to like that."
The Golden Bears are looking to continue their success on the ground this week as Oak Glen is set to play St. Marys at 7:30 p.m. Friday night on the road. Both teams will be looking to pick up its first win of the season.
St. Marys enters this week's game coming off a 41-0 loss to Doddridge County last Friday night at home.
"Doddridge County got some transfers from Ritchie County and from Liberty Harrison which is in its last year," Taylor said. "They are a good solid team. They did a good job offensively and defensively up front. They were able to match St. Marys' size.
"I watched film, and St. Marys is traditionally what they are. They put seven or eight guys in the box to stop the run. Doddridge County was able to run the ball, and they were able to match their size."
The Blue Devils struggled offensively against the Bulldogs as St. Marys was only able to muster 40 yards of offense.
"They do a little bit of a mix," Taylor said about the Blue Devils offense. "They will spread you out. They will run some Wing-T. They will run some counter trey. They're versatile. They can throw, and they can run the football. They have a returning quarterback. They like to use play-action, and they can run the ball too."
Defensively, St. Marys allowed 359 total yards to Doddridge County. The Bulldogs rushed for 292 yards and three touchdowns, while throwing for 67 yards and two more scores.
"They'll run a six-man front," Taylor said. "They'll have everyone near the line of scrimmage. It is going to be a challenge for us to run the football. We are going to have to pull our guards and get creative so we can get to the edge and so we can run the ball on the inside."
The Golden Bears did the vast majority of their damage against their Hancock County rivals last week on the ground as Oak Glen only threw for 24 yards in the loss.
"We are who we are," Taylor said. "This is our second year running the Wing-T. We know our blocking schemes. We are able to make adjustments if we have to.
"This is our second year running this double wing. We have five returning guys up front. They know our blocking schemes. They know their reads."
The Golden Bears wanted to control the ball and chew up the clock against the Red Riders, and Oak Glen was able to do just that.
"I thought our best chance was to have good ball control, possess the football, have long drives and keep the game close in the fourth quarter," Taylor said. "We were able to do that. We need to be able to do the same thing this week."
Oak Glen will need to avoid turning the ball over if it wants to have success against St. Marys.
"We can't have turnovers," Taylor said. "Turnover killed us last week."
The Blue Devils have some good size up front led by sophomore Deion Mosely (6-3, 357).
"We are going to have to give our small center some help against him," Taylor said. "He moves well. He gets after it. He pursues well. He runs to the ball. He gets to the football."
The Golden Bears are dealing with some injuries heading into this week's game, but the players are day-to-day.
St. Marys defeated Oak Glen, 45-13, last year on the road.