Oakdale football's Big 3 shine in win over Allegany
Sep. 9—Tired of simply terrorizing opposing offenses, like he did throughout Oakdale football's 41-24 victory over visiting Allegany on a hot and steamy Saturday afternoon, star defensive end Dom Nichols asked coach Kurt Stein when he was going to start running some trick plays for him on offense.
"I teased him that he couldn't throw," Stein said. "He picked up a football and threw it 50 yards. I was like, 'Alright, we'll put something in for ya.'"
In the first minute of the second quarter, with the Bears already leading by two touchdowns, the moment arrived for the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Nichols to come across the formation, take a handoff from quarterback Evan Austin and then heave a pass deep for 6-foot-3, 205-pound star receiver Hunter Thompson.
"We've been practicing it all week," Nichols, a Michigan recruit, said. "I was ready for it."
The pass was high and deep. It was mostly a spiral.
And Thompson coasted under it comfortably in the end zone for a 37-yard touchdown, stretching the Oakdale lead to 21-0.
"I was a little nervous," Nichols said of his pass. "But, wherever I threw it, I knew Hunter was going to go get it."
Though it may not have been an absolutely perfect pass and Thompson had to wait a moment or two for it, Stein said, "For a defensive end ... "
The Bears (2-0) may begin to incorporate more wrinkles like that over the course of the season.
They arguably have the top defensive end (Nichols), top receiver (Thompson) and a top five quarterback (Austin) in the state this season.
All three players are seniors. All three are verbally committed to Division I colleges — Thompson is going to Ohio, and the 6-foot-1, 180-pound Austin is going to Charlotte to play receiver. And all three had huge games Saturday to propel Oakdale to victory over a formidable Class 1A opponent.
Austin tossed five touchdown passes and didn't even have to run that much, which is a part of his game that often makes a big impact.
Thompson caught eight passes for 174 yards and four touchdowns.
And Nichols had two sacks and batted down a pair of passes while lining up all over the defensive line, including inside. Allegany (1-1) spent the game trying to run plays away from him and still couldn't limit his impact.
"Every team is doing that," Nichols said of running offense away from his side. "Got to get used to it and find a way to make plays."
Allegany jumped on the board on a 1-yard quarterback sneak on the final play of the first half, then possessed the ball for nearly the duration of the third quarter.
When Blake Powell's 33-yard field goal went through the uprights for the Campers to cap the opening possession of the second half, there were four seconds left in the third quarter.
At one point, the score got close enough — 34-24 with 3:19 left in the game — that Oakdale decided to put its starters back in the game.
The Bears wasted no time in getting back into the end zone.
Thompson lined up in the slot and ran a seam route straight down the field. Austin hit him, basically in stride, for a 55-yard touchdown with 2:17 to go that ended any realistic comeback hopes Allegany was harboring.
Oakdale ran just seven plays in the second half, and two of them went for touchdowns of 71 and 55 yards.
This game was supposed to be played Friday night, but was postponed due to stormy weather. Allegany drove all the way back to the Cumberland area, only to return Saturday for what was scheduled to be a noon kickoff. The game didn't start till closer to 12:30 p.m.
The sun was shining this time. But it was very hot and humid.
"It was a pretty good game," Austin said. "Obviously, it got kind of rough here at the end. They started scoring a few, and they wasted the whole third quarter. We had no third-quarter time.
"It was a little more rough that we wanted it to be. But, offensively, I thought we played very well. ... Overall, was a good win. I am happy with our passing and everything."
Follow Greg Swatek on Twitter: @greg_swatek
