OCS holds off Sterlington

Down by five in a hostile environment against the No. 1 2A team in the state, Ouachita Christian found a great time to hit the rest button.

After scoring 14 unanswered points in the first quarter to take the lead, Sterlington responded with 19 unanswered points in the second quarter to put the Eagles against the wall.

“That was a great time to take a deep breath,” Ouachita Christian coach Steven Fitzhugh said. “We needed to relax, don’t hit the panic button yet.”

The Eagles did just that, holding the Panthers scoreless in the second half and using James Anderson’s first touchdown of the season to beat Sterlington 21-19 in the District 2-2A debut for both teams.

Anderson’s touchdown came late in the third quarter and was the only score of the second half, coming on a fourth-and-goal on the 1-yard line.

After that touchdown, the Ouachita Christian defense rose to the occasion, holding the Panthers to a turnover on downs, a punt and an interception in their final three possessions of the game.

“I thought the defense was the difference maker in the second half,” Fitzhugh said. “They made some big plays in the second half.”

The turnover on downs came by stopping a fullback run on fourth-and-one on the Ouachita Christian 5-yard line. The punt came after a 3-and-out and the interception came with less than a minute to go in the game, ending Sterlington’s last chance at a game-winning score.

The Eagles started the game with 14 unanswered points, starting the game with four-play touchdown drive, all of them runs by Josh Pennebacker: 16 yards, 55 yards, 6 yards and the 2-yard touchdown run. The Eagles recovered a Sterlington fumble and led a 14-play, 76-yard touchdown drive in which they converted on a third-and-25 and a third-and-9 before Pennebaker’s 3-yard touchdown run.

Pennebaker ended the game with 26 carries for 146 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Grant Fitzhugh threw for 109 yards and ran for 16 yards despite being sacked three times for a loss of 34 yards.

Sterlington nearly erased the 14-point deficit in a matter of 22 seconds. Devon Murphy’s 2-yard touchdown run capped a 10-play touchdown drive and on the first play of the ensuing Ouachita Christian possession, defensive end Spencer Davis intercepted a pass to give the Panthers the ball back on the 17-yard line.

Jeffrey Griffin ran in the touchdown on the first play of the possession to pull the Panthers within two points.

Sterlington's overall offensive workload was balanced: Griffin ran eight times for 52 yards, followed by 34 yards from Tyler Muse, 29 yards DeVante Douglas and 25 yards from Jaylon King. Carson Flowers caught four passes for 56 yards.

Two holding penalties and a sack by Davis forced the Eagles to punt on fourth-and-43 and King returned it to the 17-yard line. King took a reverse on the first play of the possession for the touchdown, taking the 19-14 lead that would hold until halftime.

The Eagles threatened that score, getting the ball back with 1 minute, 35 seconds left in the first half and driving down to the red zone before King intercepted a pass on the goal line to end the scoring threat.

Pennebaker and Fitzhugh show early: Sterlington coach Jason Thompson pointed out that Ouachita Christian is good about getting the ball to its primary playmakers, which he identified as Pennebaker and Grant Fitzhugh. That proved to be correct, as the Eagles' first 11 plays had one of the two ending the play with the ball: 10 of them run plays, one of them a pass from Fitzhugh to Pennebaker.

Panthers 'D' settling in: Pennebaker's stat line -- 26 carries, 146 yards and two touchdowns -- stands out, but there's more to that story. In the second, third and fourth quarters, Sterlington held Pennebaker to 27 yards on 14 carries. The lone touchdown of the second half, scored by OCS, came when the Eagles got the ball on the Sterlington 20-yard line and it still took the Eagles seven plays to score from there, ending the drive on a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line.

Sack party: After the game, Thompson agreed that his defense gave his team the chance to win this game and sacks played no small part in that. The Panthers sacked Grant Fitzhugh three times, the first by Semaj Colvin in the first quarter. That forced the Eagles into a third-and-25 (the Eagles converted and scored six plays later). The second was the sack by Davis mentioned about four paragraphs above that forced the OCS punt on fourth-and-43. The final sack came in the final seconds of the first half courtesy of Dawson Snell. The sack forced the Eagles back from the 11-yard line to the 23-yard line, and the Eagles threw a first half-ending interception on the next play.

Follow Brett on Twitter, @BHudsonTNS.