Oakleaf- The Oakleaf Junior High football team is set to face the Bradford Middle Tornadoes after defeating Wilkinson Junior High in the playoffs 22-12 last week.
For the Yellow Jackets, quarterback #11 Brandon Wallace contributed to all their scoring with two rushing touchdowns and one passing touchdown on the night. One of his passing touchdowns was to wide receiver #7 James Kitchen who out raced the defender for the touchdown.
The Wilkinson Eagles came out on a mission scoring on their first drive of the game. They set the tone early in the game with a methodical drive using their running game. Their defense also held Oakleaf in check early on. linebacker #48 was all over the field makign tackles for Wilkinson. Wilkinson would capitalize on busted coverage in Oakleaf’s secondary to go into to halftime leading 12-6.
However, in the second half Coach Merlin Smith settled his team down and Oakleaf took over the contest. From the start of the second half Oakleaf played like a different team. With several tackles for loss and generating turnovers. Said Coach Smith ” We established ourselves on defense. Offense controlled the ball and the clock to close out the win”. Oakleaf would score 16 unanswered points in the second half for the win.
The championship game is today at Oakleaf High School featuring a rematch against Bradford. The Tornadoes defeated Baker County Junior High to advance to today’s championship game. Last year Bradford won a close game against Oakleaf but this year the Yellow Jackets are looking to enact a stinging revenge.
