Opening statement: Oakwood football rolls past BHRA
· Yahoo Sports
Aug. 23—BISMARCK — The end goal for the Oakwood football team in the 2026 season isn't just a dominating season-opening victory at Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin.
Of course, the Comets relished what they accomplished on Saturday night by defeating the host Blue Devils 61-14 in the season opener for both teams.
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Celebrated on the sideline numerous times thanks to chunk play after chunk play after chunk play.
Celebrated with its fans after. Celebrated in the visiting locker room and on the short bus ride home after the Vermilion Valley Conference victory.
"It says that we're no joke," Oakwood senior quarterback Alex Wallace said. "People knew that we were going to be pretty good, and we proved them right."
Wallace and junior wide receiver Nathan Young had a big say in why the Comets (1-0, 1-0 VVC) could enjoy their Saturday night much more than the Blue Devils (0-1, 0-1).
The pair connected on three touchdown passes, including two on the Comets' first four plays of the season. The first play run by Oakwood saw Wallace hit Young on a 67-yard touchdown pass, giving the Comets a 6-0 lead just 10 seconds into the season.
"I knew it was coming," Young said. "Through the whole day, I was thinking about it. We got it done."
So did Oakwood's defense. Junior Jaethan Perez intercepted a pass from BHRA freshman Cruz Brown on a trick play, giving the Oakwood offense another possession in the first minute of the game.
This time, senior running back Kyler Johnson burst through the middle and ran into the end zone untouched for a 57-yard touchdown run. Two plays, two touchdowns and a 12-0 lead with 11:03 still remaining in the first quarter.
"We knew where our shots were going to be, and where we could take them," Oakwood coach Cameron Lee said. "We got off to the start we were looking for."
Did they ever. And the Comets weren't done with their early blitz of BHRA. After a fumble on the Blue Devils' second possession, Wallace threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Young again. So with 9:24 still left in the first quarter, Oakwood was already ahead 19-0.
"We got shell-shocked, obviously," BHRA coach Mark Dodd said. "I think it was a mix of kids getting their eyes a little big on the moment and some of our experienced guys thinking they had to try too hard and do too much. That's not a good combination."
BHRA never led, but did manage keep it respectable until early in the fourth quarter. A 49-yard touchdown pass from junior Braxton Schmit to junior Connor Benjamin cut the Oakwood lead to 27-14 with 10:35 left in the third quarter.
Schmit finished 17 of 31 for 214 yards and two touchdowns.
"He did a great job," Dodd said. "He's come a long way from last year. He really takes it seriously, and he's worked really hard. We've just got to do a better job around him. Our running game did nothing around him. That just keeps a lot of pressure on the QB."
Dodd wasn't wrong about the lack of a run game by the Blue Devils. The Oakwood defense, led by senior linebacker Cooper Lappin, limited BHRA to negative 2 rushing yards. Lappin made 10 tackles for the Comets, recovered a fumble and was a constant presence in the BHRA backfield.
"We've been preparing for weeks and weeks for a wing-T team, and we show up, and they're playing spread," Lappin said. "But it shows the message that we can hang with whatever teams throw at us. To do this against a good team, I'm very happy."
Lappin also had to like his view from the offensive line of how the Oakwood offense operated.
Wallace completed 12 of 22 passes for 266 yards and four touchdowns while throwing one interception.
Young caught five passes for 135 yards and three touchdowns, while senior Collin Furry came up with two important catches for 88 yards and one touchdown. A 44-yard touchdown pass from Wallace to Furry came with 3:49 left in the third quarter and put Oakwood up 39-14, with Furry outrunning the BHRA defense for about the last 20 yards of the score.
He nearly did the same at the end of the first half, too. Furry caught an inside screen pass from Wallace in the final minute of the second quarter, with Oakwood only leading 19-7, and maneuvered around the BHRA defense for a 44-yard gain down to the 1-yard line.
Two plays later, Johnson bulled his way into the end zone for his second touchdown and after a successful two-point conversion pass from Wallace to Young, Oakwood led 27-7 with 17.2 seconds before halftime. Made all the more important since BHRA scored on the first possession of the second half.
"Collin is a great player," Lee said. "He is someone who has really, really progressed. I'm so happy for him because he's never been the top dog in our program or the one who gets the most shine, but he's always there in the clutch moments. This is something we've seen in him before. He always steps up. He always tries to do the right thing. He's a selfless, team player."
With the passing game clicking, the Oakwood run game had its moments, too. Johnson rushed for 98 yards on 15 carries, while junior Frankie Resendez added 78 rushing yards on five carries and two second-half touchdown runs. Weston Frazier also got in on the run when the junior sprinted for a 65-yard touchdown run on his first carry. A successful two-point conversion run by Johnson after Frazier's touchdown increased Oakwood's lead to 54-14 and put a running clock in effect with 10:23 left in the fourth quarter.
While Lee was pleased with the win, the Oakwood coach knew his team left plays out there. Especially when the Comets committed three turnovers in the first half — one on a Wallace interception with the Comets inside the BHRA 5-yard line and two fumbles.
"It's the weirdest thing," Lee said. "I don't think if you would have ever told me that the scoreboard is going to look like this against a team of that caliber, that I was going to feel this way. That's in no way a discredit to Bismarck. I respect the heck out of that program, but I'm not thrilled with the way that we played. I thought they did a really good job of keying in on our run game and taking away the things that plagued them last year in our matchup. We had to make adjustments. I give them credit. They made running the ball very, very difficult at times."
Oakwood still managed a balanced offensive approach with 253 rushing yards to complement the 266 passing yards from Wallace.
Add it all up, and the performance by the Comets showed what this team is capable of before they host Momence next Friday night in their home opener at Marty McFarland Field.
"Tonight, we're going to live it up and have fun," Wallace said. "Tomorrow we'll probably even have some more fun. When we come back Monday, we'll get focused in on Momence. New opportunity and new team. Another chance to go 1-0."