Golden Bears look to get their first win
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NEW MANCHESTER -- The Oak Glen football team is looking to get off the schneid this week against Berkeley Springs.
The Golden Bears are looking to tally their first win of the season as they take on the Indians at 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon up at the Bears' Den.
Oak Glen enters this week's game with a record of 0-4, while Berkeley Springs is 1-3 on the season.
Last week, Oak Glen fell to Toronto by a score of 53-13, last Thursday night at Clarke Hinkle Field. The Golden Bears rushed for 204 yards and two touchdowns in their loss to the Red Knights on the road.
"We knew going into the game that our backs were going to be against the wall because of their talent and their speed," Oak Glen head coach Doug Taylor said. "We have gone back and watched the film. We did some good things. We missed some blocks and things, but we did do some good things. It's one of those where you stick it in the vault and move on."
On the other side, Berkeley Springs comes to town fresh off a 55-14 loss to Keyser last week at home. The Indians are not as talented as the Red Knights, however, Berkeley Spring do have their share of good players.
"They still have some talented kids," Taylor said. "They have a good quarterback. He's 6-2 or 6-3. He has a good arm. He can throw he ball. They have got some good receivers. They want to throw the football.
"For us, our passing defense has been our Achilles' heel. We have had some injuries. We have had to rotate some guys in. We are working hard to change that."
So far this season, Oak Glen has lost to Hancock County rival Weir, 40-21, St. Marys, 28-0, and Edison, 51-6.
"We want to run the football," Taylor said. "We are going to have to be able to put pressure on their quarterback. Teams you see struggle against the pass, and they want to throw it even more. People see the film. We are going to have to be able to stop it a couple of weeks in a row."
The Indians have lost two straight games. Berkeley Springs opened the season with a 48-28 loss to Petersburg before bouncing back and defeating Trinity Christian, 38-0, in Week 2 before dropping back-to-back games against Clear Spring, 42-14, and Keyser.
"Defensively, they run an odd front, but we have to be prepared for both," Taylor said. "They can switch it up. We are going to work on an odd front and an even front. We are going to have to stay on our blocks.
"The last two teams they have played have run the Wing-T, so they are going to be used to our offense."
Wes Eddy -- the head coach at Berkeley Springs -- is a Brooke graduate. Eddy, who is in his second season as the head man of the Indians replaced Big Red graduate Terry Rea, who left after the 2022 season to take the head coaching job at Washington High School.
"Wes is a good guy," Taylor said. "We text each other, and I see him at clinics and stuff. He's a good guy."
The Golden Bears shut out the Indians, 42-0, last season on a rainy Saturday afternoon over at Morgan Field. The win was Oak Glen's lone victory of the season.
"Last year, we played in a monsoon," Taylor said. "It was the remnants of a hurricane. They play on a natural surface. There is a hurricane again, but the remnants are supposed to move on by Saturday afternoon, so the weather should be good.
"They have a bus ride of three-and-a-half to four hours. We had to make that trip last year.
"It's a Saturday afternoon game. That's different for us. That changes some things. The kids are excited. It is going to be a different atmosphere."