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TORONTO – The Toronto football team has been led by its defense so far this season, and the defense led the way once again Friday night against Oak Glen.
In the first half, the Red Knights’ defense forced the Golden Bears to punt four times, turn the ball over on downs twice and fumble once, while the Toronto offense turned three of its drives into touchdowns en route to a 28-7 victory on Homecoming at Clarke Hinkle Field.
The visitors picked up a first down on their first possession of the game, however, the drive stalled after that, and 30-yard punt gave the hosts the ball at their own 35.
The Red Knights ended up turning the ball back over to the Golden Bears following an interception by Jacob Everett with the boys in white taking over at the Toronto 38. The boys from Hancock County appeared to be in business, however, they fumbled the ball back to the boys in gray.
This time, the victors took over at their own 38, and the Red Knights marched 62 yards for the first points of the night.
Keyed by a pair of receptions to tight end Brody Close, Toronto moved down to the Oak Glen 1 where Drake Bouscher capped the drive with a 1-yard run to give Toronto a 6-0 lead. The snap on the extra point was bobbled forcing quarterback Max Rebich, who is the holder – to try and throw for the conversion. His pass fell incomplete, however, Oak Glen was called for pass interference on the play, and the Red Knights opted to go for 2 once again. This time, Bouscher ran it for the conversion giving the boys from Jefferson County an 8-0 lead with 3:06 left to play in the first quarter.
Close caught passes for gains of 11 and 20 yards on the drive with the 20-yard bringing the ball down to the 1 setting up Bouscher’s first score.
The Red-and-White forced the Golden Bears to punt on their third possession, and the home team took over at their own 43 following a 27-yard boot.
A 13-yard completion from Rebich to Colt Joynson got the drive started. The drive ended when Bouscher scored for the second time with this run coming for 18-yards out. DJ Manley kicked the extra point to put the hosts in front, 15-0, with 11:15 left to play in the first half.
Toronto’s defense forced Oak Glen to turn the ball over on downs on its next possession, but the boys from Jefferson County were not able to take advantage of good field position as they were forced to punt the ball back to the Golden Bears.
Once again, the boys from the Gem City rose to the occasion and forced another Oak Glen punt. The punt only traveled 21 yards giving the Red Knights the ball at the Golden Bears’ 35. After a holding penalty, Kenny Jett snagged a 13-yard reception to jumpstart the Toronto drive, and the Red Knights were able to cap it off when Rebich hooked up with Joynson on a 10-yard to extend Toronto’s advantage out to 21-0 with 4:51 still to play in the first half. The extra point was no good.
The Toronto defense shut down Oak Glen’s next offensive possession as the Golden Bears were forced to punt for the fourth time.
The Red Knights started their next drive at their own 44, but they were unable to do anything positive with it. A holding call wiped a nice-gain on a pass play to Close, and the drive came to a close when Everett intercepted a pass for the second time – with this one coming off a deflection.
Oak Glen began its next drive at the Toronto 28, but the Red Knights’ defense answered the challenge and the forced the Golden Bears to turn the ball over on downs at the 20.
The Red Knights attempted to put together one final scoring drive, however, a desperation pass fell incomplete as the first half came to a close.
Toronto received the ball to start the third quarter, and thanks to a 35-yard completion to Matt Radvansky the Red Knights drove down to the Golden Bears 10, however, the drive would fall apart from that point. First, Toronto fumbled on the ensuing play, however, the Red Knights were able to recover it at the 10. Then, a run resulted in a 4-yard loss, while a sack moved the ball back another 4 yards setting up 4th-and-goal from the 18. On fourth down, Radvansky caught a 3-yard pass, but he was stopped well short of the endzone giving the ball to Oak Glen.
The Golden Bears took over on downs at their own 15, and they were able to move the ball. Quarterback Maddox Bowen broke loose for a 7-yard scamper before firing a 15-yard completion to Cam Carter and a 13-yarder to Chase Hartung. The promising drive did not result in any points as Jett intercepted a pass at the Toronto 23.
The Red Knights then went three-and-out and punted the ball back to the Golden Bears.
On the ensuing drive, an 11-yard completion from Bowen to Xavier Sell resulted in a 11-yard gain for Oak Glen, and a 10-yard scramble by Bowen resulted in another first down. Two short completions moved the ball farther down the field, however, the Golden Bears were not able to finish off the drive as they ended up turning the ball over on downs for the third time giving the ball back to the Red Knights.
Toronto took over at its own 27, and the Red Knights marched 63 yards for their fourth touchdown of the night as Bouscher found the endzone for the third time as he broke free for a 40-yard scoring scamper to increase Toronto’s advantage to 27-0 before Manley split the uprights with his PAT to make it a 28-0 ballgame with 9:23 left to play in the game.
The Golden Bears answered right back on their ensuing drive. A 15-yard penalty moved the ball to the Toronto 49, and Oak Glen reach paydirt three plays later. First, Bowen hooked up with Daniel Ginier for a 10-yard completion. Then, Bowen ran for 122 yards down to the 27 before hooking up with Ginier on a 27-yard touchdown to put his team on the scoreboard. Chase Hartung came on and drilled the extra point making the score, 28-7, with 8:42 remaining to be played in the game.
Oak Glen attempted on an onside kick, however, the ball rolled out of bounds giving the ball to Toronto at the Golden Bears’ 42. The Red Knights ran the ball down the field as the home team got down to the 8, however, the Oak Glen defense held and forced a turnover on down at its 22.
Everett ran the ball on the ensuing play, however, Toronto was called for a 15-yard penalty for a facemask. The Golden Bears had time for one final play, and Everett lumbered his way into Red Knight territory before being stopped as the game came to an end.
Toronto is scheduled to play Jefferson County rival Edison at 7 p.m. Friday night at home. The Red Knights defeated the Wildcats, 48-34, in a shootout last season out at the Edison Unified Sports Complex in Richmond.
Oak Glen is slated to play Buckeye Local at 7 p.m. Friday night at home up at the Bears’ Den. The Golden Bears shut out the Panthers, 17-0, last season down at World War II Memorial Stadium in Yorkville.