Oak Ridge War Eagle football pounces on Conroe Tigers, 56-15

SHENANDOAH, Texas- The Oak Ridge War Eagles (5-1, 2-0) continue to look like a threat for the District 16-6A crown as they dispatched the Conroe Tigers, 56-15, at Woodforest Bank Stadium Friday evening. Oak Ridge Head Coach Dereck Rush was pleased with the effort, but expects more to come.

“One thing we’ve been working on is coming out focused. We wanted to come out and execute for all four quarters. We hadn’t done that all year, so it was good to see the focus,” said Coach Rush.

Leaders in the contest for Oak Ridge were Kwame Etwi, who rushed for 151 yards on six carries and a touchdown, and caught a 35-yard pass for another score. He didn’t play in the second half. Quarterback Braden Letney also had a strong showing, throwing for 182 yards and four touchdowns. Riley McKnight, Jimmie Moore, Lamar Handy, Justin Edwards, and Contrell Green-Warren all had scores for Oak Ridge. The War Eagles finished with 318 yards on the ground and 182 through the air, for a total of 500 yards for the contest.

For Conroe, tailback Darrell Mimms had a big second half, finishing with 150 yards rushing on 20 carries. Quarterback Colby Kizzie threw for 95 yards and two scores in the game. Conroe finished with 291 yards in the game, most of it coming in the second half.

“I worked all summer to get here, so it’s great to be back,” said Letney. “It’s all mental. My ankle is 100 percent right now, but running the ball is all mental, and my passing is developing.”

Conroe (3-3, 0-2) received the first-half kick but went three-and-out following a sack by Oak Ridge linebacker Andrew Burke. The War Eagles took little time getting down the field as Etwi got free down the sideline for a 39-yard gain, taking the ball to the Tiger 22-yd line. A big stop on 3rd-and-5 saw the War Eagles facing a 4th-and-1 and they decided to attempt a 30-yd field goal. The attempt had the distance but sailed wide right, and the score remained locked at 0-0 with 6:52 left in the first quarter.

Another three-and-out by the Tigers offense resulted in a punt that netted 12-yards, and just like that, the War Eagles had the ball at the Conroe 38-yard line with 5:44 left in the first quarter. This time they were able to capitalize on the short field, as Letney threw a beautiful 25-yard spiral to wide receiver Riley McKnight, who had beaten his man to the end zone, to take a 7-0 lead with 4:40 left to play in the first quarter.

The third series for Conroe gained some traction, but a big loss of 13 yards on a bubble screen on second down at the War Eagle 44-yard line forced a punt. The War Eagles took possession at their own 21-yard line with 57 seconds left in the first quarter, looking to distance themselves from the Tigers even further.

The second play of the drive for Oak Ridge was a handoff to Etwi, who traversed the field for a 28-yard gain and flipped field position, getting the ball to the War Eagle 48-yard line as the first quarter came to an end. However, during the drive, a big sack by Conroe on a third down pass attempt stalled the drive. Oak Ridge punted to the Tigers, who took over at their own 18-yard line, trailing 7-0, with 10:23 left in the second quarter.

Oak Ridge got the ball back from Conroe after another three-and-out, this time at the Tigers 48-yard line. Etwi would get the first crack on the series, and he slashed outside for a 45-yard gallop to the Tigers 3-yard line. He had a healthy stat line of five carries for 125 yards at this point in the half. The second play of the series ended with running back Justin Edwards slamming the ball three yards up the middle for a War Eagle touchdown, and it was 14-0 Oak Ridge with 8:48 left in the second quarter.

The next Conroe drive resulted in a fumble on 3rd-and-8, recovered by Oak Ridge linebacker Tyler Tullos, and the War Eagles were set up at the Tigers 20-yard line. After a penalty pushed Oak Ridge back, Etwi got loose again. This time he used his speed to outrun the defense to the corner of the end zone, and after a 26-yard scamper the score was 21-0 Oak Ridge with 7:40 left in the second quarter. Etwi had amassed six carries for 151 yards and a touchdown in the half.

The next Conroe drive resulted in another fumble, this time picked up by Oak Ridge defensive lineman Sergio Munoz at the Tigers 35-yd line with 6:32 left in the half. The War Eagles struck immediately, as Etwi became a receiver and caught a ball down the middle of the field for a 35-yard score to make the score 28-0 with 6:26 left in the second quarter.

A blocked punt and recovery by Munoz got the ball back into Tiger territory at the 16-yard line, and the War Eagles knew what to do. Edwards took the first carry for nine yards, and the second from six yards for his second touchdown of the game to make the score 35-0 War Eagles with 4:12 left in the half.

“That’s something we’ve challenged the defense on the last couple of weeks (getting turnovers),” said Rush. “They showed up tonight.”

Conroe would make a 41-yard field goal just before the second quarter was complete, with the kick having room to spare by Cordell Vogel, to make the score 35-3 at half.

“We definitely handled our business in the first half, and throughout the game, really,” said Letney.

The second half started with similar results to the first, and after a Lamar Handy run of 23-yards and three yard scamper by Contrell Green-Warren, the lead widened to 42-3 Oak Ridge with 10:20 left in the third quarter.

The next series for Oak Ridge saw a screen pass on 3rd-and-14 hit sophomore running back Jimmie Moore for a 46-yard touchdown, and the scoreboard read 49-3 War Eagles with 7:07 left in the third quarter.

The next drive for Oak Ridge was short. On a 3rd and 6 on their first series, Letney hit Handy for a 75-yard post route that went to the end zone, making the score quickly 56-3 with 2:43 left in the third quarter.

The start of the fourth quarter led to some positive moments for Conroe. Mimms ran for 20-yards to the Oak Ridge 2-yard line, and a pass to fullback Hayden Brown made the score 56-9 Oak Ridge (PAT blocked) with 10:55 left in the game. Conroe would get on the board one more time with a nice jump-ball touchdown grab in the back of the end zone by Darrian Dock for 25-yards (two-point conversion failed), to end the scoring for the night with the scoreboard reading 56-15 War Eagles.

“We’ll take it one game at a time,” said Rush. “We’ve only won two games (in district), so we have to remain focused.”

Oak Ridge will be back on the field next Friday, October 10th at 7:30pm, at Turner Stadium against the Atascocita Eagles.