Oakville wins at Vianney
It was supposed to be a battle of scoreboard busting offenses.
Instead it was a game of field position and defense.
Oakville scored an 18-7 win over Vianney Friday night on the road. It’s the first time in the last three tries the Tigers were able to topple the Golden Griffins. The visitors were fired up as they sauntered off to the locker room with a season opening victory.
“It feels pretty good,” senior Oakville linebacker and running back Zach Melber said. “The past two years they took it to us.”
Oakville (1-0) spent Friday night taking it to Vianney (0-1).
The Tigers unleashed a vicious blitz attack that had Golden Griffin senior quarterback Dalton Hewitt scrambling out of trouble all night. On the first play of the game Melber blasted through the offensive line and sacked the Vianney signal caller.
With Melber setting the tone the Oakville defense was hot on Hewitt’s tail all night. Even when he wasn’t sacked he was scrambling, moving out of the pocket and taking his share of hits.
“With a quarterback that smart and good he’ll pick you apart back there,” Oakville coach Arlee Conners said.
Hewitt completed nine of the 28 passes he attempted for 103 yards and a touchdown. He also was credited with 26 yards rushing, most of which came as he eluded the first wave of defenders and was able to get into the second level of the Oakville defense.
Not helping Hewitt’s cause was 11 dropped passes by an inexperienced batch of receivers. Hewitt and the wideouts spent the offseason working together at camps to get a rhythm to try and avoid nights like these.
“The drops are something we’ll have to live with,” Vianney coach Gene Gladstone said.
While Oakville unleashed an aggressive defense, Vianney laid back in coverage, preferring to give Tiger quarterback Joe Plassmeyer time, which, for the most part, was effective. Plassmeyer did throw for over 100 yards but no touchdowns.
Instead the offense came from riding the backs of running backs Darrion Moore and Paul Taylor.
Moore, a junior, was the workhorse who bulled his way to 105 yards, a touchdown and kept the clock and the chains moving.
Taylor, a senior, is speedy and shifty. He put up 58 yards including a 14-yard run that left a Vianney cornerback flat on his back.
Melber rushed for 19 yards and punched in the first touchdown of the game.
The Tigers were able to gash the Golden Griffins throughout the night with the run game and convert several fourth downs to keep scoring drives alive.
“Clearly we need to improve our run defense,” Gladstone said.
Junior kicker Andrew Messmer knocked through a 33-yard and a 29 yard field goal for the Tigers.
Oakville hosts rival Mehlville (0-1) at 7 p.m. on Friday. Vianney hosts Francis Howell Central (0-1) also at 7 p.m. on Friday.
