By Alex Chaney
On Sept. 18, Hokes Bluff and Oneonta High Schools faced off against one another in a tense football game. Ultimately, however, the night belonged to Oneonta, and Hokes Bluff took home a clear-cut loss. Oneonta’s passing attack gave the young Hokes Bluff defensive backs trouble throughout the entire game, and their defense kept Hokes Bluff bottled up for most of the night as well.
Oneonta took the opening kickoff and scored with 10:35 left in the first quarter, starting the game off strong with a 7-0 score.
Oneonta scored again with 7:12 left in the first quarter, adding to the team’s total for a 14-0 score.
Oneonta tacked on another touchdown just as the first quarter was about to expire, stretching its lead to 21-0 and setting the tone for the rest of the game.
Early into the second quarter, Oneonta wasted no time scoring again, further gaining ground against Hokes Bluff 28-0.
With 6:11 left in the second quarter, Hokes Bluff finally established a good drive and added 7 points to the scoreboard with a run from quarterback Dean Morgan.
Less than two minutes later, however, Oneonta answered with another score, bringing its lead back to 28 points, or 35-7.
Just as Oneonta did at the end of the first quarter, they scored another touchdown with 0:26 left on the clock, but the point after touchdown failed. By halftime, the score was Oneonta 41 to Hokes Bluff’s 7.
Hokes Bluff took the kickoff at the opening of the second half and drove the ball deep into Oneonta territory. However, the Eagles’ fourth down attempt failed in the end, and the ball went over to Oneonta on downs.
After getting the ball again, Oneonta quickly scored their final touchdown of the night with 5;49 left in the third quarter. The point after touchdown was good, pushing their score up to 48-7.
Hokes Bluff’s bright spot of the night happened in the third quarter as its running back Brenton Hale took Oneonta’s kickoff and ran it back for a Hokes Bluff touchdown. Hokes Bluff’s point after touchdown was also good, and the score ran up to 48-14.
Ultimately, however, it proved to be an inadequate measure to turn the game around. Neither team scored afterwards, not even when both teams began playing their substitutes late in the third quarter. With Oneonta so far ahead of Hokes Bluff, the game ended in a black-and-white 48-14 victory for the Blount County team.
