HOLLY POND, Ala. — After winning their first two games by a combined score of 84-0, the Holly Pond Broncos looked to keep it going when they hosted Oakman in their region opener on Friday night. Unfortunately for the Holly Pond faithful, the Broncos were on the wrong end of a shutout this time, falling 45-0 to the Wildcats.
On Holly Pond’s opening possession, they had some success running the ball behind Landon Perkins and Andy Light. The Broncos were looking at a fourth-and-two from the 45 and they tried a fake punt, but Austin Marsh got stuffed for no gain, giving the ball to Oakman. Holly Pond, though, forced a quick three-and-out and looked for more success on their second possession. Perkins picked up 17 yards and a first down on the Broncos’ first play, but a chop block on the next play backed Holly Pond up 15 yards and were later forced to punt. That was the scene for most of the first quarter as both teams kept the game scoreless.
After a Bronco punt, the Wildcats found the end zone on just three plays as a 16-yard touchdown pass gave them a 6-0 lead with 1:29 remaining in the opening quarter. 20 seconds later, Oakman returned a Perkins interception 31 yards for the score as that made it 12-0. It was penalties galore on the next series. The Wildcats got called for a personal foul on a second-and-six play from the 36-yard line, but the Broncos then got called for a false start on the next play. The first play of the second quarter saw the Wildcats get called for a horse collar tackle and Perkins picked up a huge first down on a fourth down play, then later on, Oakman got called for a face mask, which put the Broncos at the 30-yard line. But they couldn’t take advantage as Light got stopped short of the first down on fourth down.
After an Oakman punt, the Broncos coughed the ball up and the Wildcats recovered. Oakman quickly took advantage of the turnover as they scored on a 25-yard touchdown pass and Holly Pond found themselves down 18-0. Another Holly Pond fumble saw the Wildcats find the end zone once again as a six-yard touchdown pass made it 26-0. Neither team found the end zone after that as the Broncos went into the locker room down, 26-0.
Hunter Farr recovered an Oakman fumble on the kickoff to start out the second half for Holly Pond and they found themselves in excellent field position at the 30-yard line. But they quickly went backwards after that and were forced to punt. Oakman found the end zone on a 17-yard touchdown pass and later returned a 65-yard punt for a touchdown. They added the final score of the game in the fourth quarter on a one-yard touchdown run. Holly Pond kept battling throughout the whole night, but in the end, the Wildcats proved to be too much for the Broncos as Holly Pond was on the wrong end of a 45-0 shutout at the hands of Oakman.
Perkins finished with 26 yards rushing on the night for Holly Pond (2-1, 0-1) and Light added 23 yards on the ground. Farr recovered a fumble for the Bronco defense and Kadin Suryono picked up a pair of sacks on the night. The Broncos will look to bounce back next Friday night on the road as they will take on J.B. Pennington in a huge region game.
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