OAK HARBOR – No disrespect to Oak Harbor’s upper classmen, but a youngster nearly stole the show on Senior Night.
In the biggest game of his young prep career, Oak Harbor High sophomore fullback Chris Valencia rushed 19 times for 135 yards and three touchdowns – all game highs – and the Wildcats held off a short-handed but persistent Arlington Eagles team for a 42-26 Western Conference North Division football victory Friday night at Memorial Stadium. Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Senior running back/linebacker Gabe Vest (113 rushing yards and 1 TD; two interceptions) also starred for Oak Harbor (6-1 Wesco North, 7-1 overall), which pulled away with two touchdowns in the final four minutes, 20 seconds. The victory gave the Wildcats a head-to-head tiebreaker over previously undefeated Arlington (6-1, 7-1) and put Oak Harbor in the driver’s seat to snare the division’s No. 1 seed in the quad-district playoffs.
Valencia, a gritty 5-foot-7, 165-pounder, helped Oak Harbor clinch a playoff berth for the fourth consecutive season.
“He really came to play,” Oak Harbor coach Dave Ward said of Valencia, who had scoring runs of 34, 1 and 4 yards. “He’s been wanting to start really bad, and this was his opportunity.” Valencia played a bigger role due to the recent injury of Sean O’Brien, Oak Harbor’s second leading rusher.
“He’s tough. Once he gets in the open field, he’s shifty,” Ward added.
Arlington, which still will qualify for the playoffs as the North No. 2 or No. 3 seed, stormed back in the fourth quarter. Eagles quarterback Brett Smith (358 yards passing, three TDs and three interceptions) threw two touchdown passes in the span of just over a minute to get Arlington within 28-26 with 4:20 to play.
But Arlington’s second-consecutive onside-kick didn’t go the required 10 yards, and Oak Harbor slammed the door. Vest and Josh Yoder tacked on the final two TD runs for the Wildcats, who complete the regular season next Friday at Marysville-Pilchuck.
Tim Acker (eight catches for 116 yards and one TD), Thomas Payne (five receptions for 93 yards, 2 TDs) and Andy Cohoon (10 catches, 82 yards) spearheaded an outstanding receiving core for Arlington, which plays host to Cascade (5-2, 6-2) next Friday. The Eagles and the Bruins are both in the playoffs but will fight for seeding.
Arlington coach John Boitano refused to make excuses for his team’s performance, but one glaring absence clearly hurt the Eagles, who are ranked No. 6 in this week’s Washington Preps.com Class 4A poll.
Senior running back Jake Webb, who entered the game with 1,001 yards and 14 TDs, did not attend the game. According to Boitano, Webb, also a dominant linebacker, has been in the hospital all week with a staph infection. Boitano did not have any further details, other than the fact that Webb is in stable condition. It’s not clear if Webb will play next week.
Even with Webb on the field, Arlington would have had a tough time slowing Oak Harbor’s excellent ground attack. “God dang,” Boitano said. “They were tough to stop.” The teams entered the game with the most balanced offenses in the Wesco North, but Oak Harbor did nearly all its damage with the run. The Wildcats had several long drives, including scoring marches of 14 and 17 plays in the first half.
Defensively, Oak Harbor stopped the run well and made Arlington turn to the pass more often than it wanted, resulting in two late interceptions. Linebackers Vest and Blake Bebee and tackle Will Hunter led the suffocation job.
At Oak Harbor (Memorial Stadium)
Arlington07613-26
Oak Harbor714714-42
Oak Harbor-C. Kays 2 run (Lokkins kick)
Oak Harbor-Valencia 34 run (Lokkins kick) Arlington-Payne 17 pass from Smith (Browk kick) Oak Harbor-Valencia 1 run (Lokkins kick) Arlington-Brown 8 run (Brown kick failed) Oak Harbor-Valencia 4 run (Lokkins kick) Arlington-Acker 1 pass from Smith (pass failed) Arlington-Payne 24 pass from Smith (Brown kick) Oak Harbor-Vest 11 run (Lokkins kick) Oak Harbor-Yoder 9 run (Lokkins kick) Records-Arlington 6-1 in league, 7-1 overall. Oak Harbor 6-1, 7-1.
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