EVERETT — The Oak Harbor football team managed just 7 yards passing against Kamiak on Thursday, but the Wildcats more than made up for it with nearly 620 yards rushing in a 55-21 victory.
The Wildcats are known for running the ball a lot, but even head coach Jay Turner admits he was a little surprised his team amassed so many yards.
“That’s a lot,” Turner said. “We haven’t done that in a while. The kids blocked hard and ran hard. We were a lot sharper this week than last week. It was just a great overall team effort.”
Kamiak, which shutout week one opponent Bishop Blanchet, had trouble stopping the Oak Harbor offense all night.
“We didn’t tackle that well tonight,” Kamiak head coach Dan Mack said. “We had some kids get their first varsity start tonight and face a (running) back like (Princeton) Lollar. We just didn’t tackle that well and missed some gap assignments. I give credit to Oak Harbor, they came out and played well.”
Senior Princeton Lollar rushed nearly half of the Wildcats’ yards, finishing with 275 yards on 26 carries and scoring three touchdowns.
“We were working this whole week,” Lollar said. “Coming back from last week, we had a real tough week with a bunch of errors, but in the first quarter there was just something about the team. We just went to work.”
The Wildcats have a lot of weapons, but there is no question Lollar is the workhorse.
“He’s a beast,” Turner said. “He’s who we give the ball in the middle. He’s a big, strong kid. He runs hard and he runs over people. He’s fairly shifty for being over 240 pounds. He’s our horse and we’re going to give him the rock.”
After an interception by Oak Harbor junior defensive back Mac Carr on the first offensive play for Kamiak, Lollar wasted little time getting in the end zone. His 50-yard touchdown run on Oak Harbor’s second offensive play gave the Wildcats a 7-0 lead.
Kamiak answered with a long touchdown drive capped off by a 5-yard pass from sophomore Matt Merk to junior running back Ben Barton, tying the game at 7-7.
Oak Harbor dominated the rest of the way.
Junior running back Taeson Hardin broke a 28-yard touchdown run on the Wildcats’ next drive, giving the Wildcats a 14-7 lead.
Lollar provided the power, but Hardin, who finished with 124 yards and three rushing touchdowns on nine carries, provided the speed. His ability to get outside the Kamiak defense was on display throughout the first half.
“You stack the box to try to take away Lollar and then all of the sudden Hardin comes around the end,” Mack said. “He’s so quick and so fast. We really had a hard time matching up with him.”
Hardin provided the speed for Oak Harbor in the first half, junior running back Tamarik Hollins-Passmore provided it in the second half. Hollins-Passmore rushed for 77 of his 119 yards in the second half, including a 45-yard touchdown run.
Sophomore running back Ty Eck also had a 77-yard touchdown run late in the second half.
The game was delayed for nearly 30 minutes in the second quarter when Kamiak junior defensive back Hiram Grayson injured his neck. He was taken in an ambulance to the hospital for further evaluation. Mack did not know the status of his injury after the game.
At Goddard Stadium
Oak Harbor 14 14 13 14 — 55
Kamiak 7 0 7 7 — 21
OH—Princeton Lollar 50 run (Ty Eck kick)
K—Ben Barton 5 pass from Matt Merk (Trevor Vallins kick)
OH—Taeson Hardin 28 run (Eck kick)
OH—Lollar 16 run (Eck kick)
OH—Hardin 32 run (Eck kick)
OH—Hardin 3 run (kick failed)
K—Travis Rucker 26 pass from Merk (Vallins kick)
OH—Lollar 2 run (Eck kick)
OH—Tamarik Hollins-Passmore 45 run (Eck kick)
K—Rucker 4 pass from TJ Britton (Vallins kick)
OH—Ty Eck 77 run (Eck kick)
Records—Oak Harbor 2-0, Kamiak 1-1.
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