By Ron Rop
LocalSportsJournal.com

EGELSTON TOWNSHIP –The Oakridge Eagles served notice on Friday night that they are more than ready to start the state football playoffs.LSJ Logo incert

The once-defeated Eagles dismantled archrival Orchard View 47-0 on their home field with an explosive offensive attack and a stifling defense.sport-clips-football-2016-b

Oakridge finished the regular season with an 8-1 record. Orchard View finished 2-7.

“Last week, of course, was our conference championship game,” said Oakridge coach Cary Harger. “This week, our rally cry was we wanted home field for the playoffs. We had to do our best in order to make that happen.”

The Eagles will have to wait until the playoff pairings are released on Sunday night to see who they’re playing or where.

Oakridge's No. 33 Blake Masterman rushes past the OV defense. Photo/Leo Valdez

Oakridge’s No. 33 Blake Masterman rushes past the OV defense. Photo/Leo Valdez

On Friday night, the Eagles soared behind an offensive attack led by quarterback Brady Luttrull and running back Blake Masterman.

Luttrull completed 6-of-13 passes for 106 yards while Masterman rushed 11 times for 143 yards for a gaudy 13 yards per carry average.

“Masterman is definitely setting the bar,” Harger said. “He is a physical specimen and Brady does a great job. Everyone operated very, very well tonight.”

Masterman scored on runs of 5 and 10 yards in a first half, when the Eagles raced out to a 37-0 lead.

Greg Garcia opened the scoring with a 29-yard field goal, which was followed by Masterman’s first touchdown and a 25-yard scoring strike from Luttrull to Marcus Stewart.

In the second quarter, the Eagles extended the lead on Masterman’s second touchdown.

OV's No. 12 Anthony Martin looks for the block from No. 52 Andrew Puckett. Photo/Leo Valdez

OV’s No. 12 Anthony Martin looks for the block from No. 52 Andrew Puckett. Photo/Leo Valdez

Then came a strange series of events that started with Luttrull fumbling the ball on a play that started at the 47-yard line. Orchard View picked up the rolling ball and fumbled it. The rolling pigskin wasn’t corralled until Oakridge recovered on its own 1.

Seven plays and 99 yards later, the Eagles were back in the end zone. The final play was a 10-yard pass from Luttrull to Austin Smith with 11 seconds left in the half.

OV’s next possession turned disastrous when a fumble was scooped up by Kaleab Ehnen and returned 29 yards for an Oakridge touchdown on the last play of the first half.

The second half scoring included a 17-yard touchdown run and a 23-yard field goal by Garcia.

The Cardinals were limited to 99 yards of offense. Jayden Day led Orchard View with seven carries for 47 yards.

Oakridge finished with 450 yards, including 344 on the ground.

Julian Crawford had nine tackles to lead the Cardinals. Cole Harger and Alex Shoop each had seven tackles for the Eagles while Stewart had an interception. Three of Harger’s tackles were for losses.

“I thought we had opportunities to make plays in the first half,” OV coach Joe Tanis said. “I think when you have a team like ours, a few plays can make or break our confidence.

“Our kids battled and our kids played with class,” he added. “This is an intense rivalry between the two teams.”