Oak Harbor soars by Seagulls / Football

In a football season when few things went right, little went wrong in Oak Harbor High School’s 48-6 dismantling of Everett Friday, Nov. 1, at Wildcat Memorial Stadium.

Oak Harbor ended a seven-game losing streak with the feel-good win and kept Everett winless in nine games.

The Wildcats also helped the Wesco North sweep their Wesco South counterparts in Friday’s crossover games. The first-place team in the North played the first-place team from the South, and on down the line to Oak Harbor’s seventh-place match-up with Everett. Every North team won by at least 21 points.

The Wildcats close out the season with a home game against Nooksack Valley at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8.

All teams are allowed to play 10 regular season games. Schools that qualify for the postseason begin the first round of the playoffs in week 10. The non-playoff teams, such as Oak Harbor, are free to pick up a 10th game with another team that did not qualify for the postseason.

In District 1, the athletic directors get together and try to match-up non-playoff teams of similar talent.

The Wildcats were paired with Nooksack Valley, which sports the same record as Oak Harbor, 2-7.

Although the Pioneers are a 1A school, they should provide a stiff challenge for 3A Oak Harbor.

Nooksack Valley plays in the ultra-competitive Northwest Conference, 3A/2A/1A league. Four of the Pioneers’ losses came to ranked teams and another was by one point to Sehome, who won their 2A division in the conference.

Oak Harbor 48, Everett 6

This one was all Oak Harbor.

The Wildcats dominated throughout, racing to a 41-0 halftime lead, which triggered the 40-point mercy rule. The second half was played with a running clock.

While the Oak Harbor offense was piling up the points in the first half, its defense was stifling. The Seagulls gained 30 yards and a first down on their first play of the game. The remainder of the half resulted in 16 yards in 18 plays, and 10 of those came on one play and produced the only other Everett first down.

Oak Harbor played its reserves on both offense and defense in the second half.

Everett finished with 136 yards of offense; the Wildcats racked up 418.

Caden Leckelt rushed for 90 yards on only eight carries, and Brenden Andersen added 73 on 13 rushes; both scored twice.

Kaito White hit 10 of 14 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns.

Six different receivers caught passes. Matt Kelley hauled in a 55-yard TD throw, and Will Rankin snared three passes for 34 yards and a touchdown.

All of these stats were produced in just the first two quarters.

Landon Cantrell, who collected two interceptions on defense, scored Oak Harbor’s final touchdown in the third quarter on a 2-yard run.

For the game, 10 Wildcats recorded at least one rush as Oak Harbor ran for 276 yards.

Coach Marcus Hughes praised his troops for their work ethic and improvement.

“We are getting better,” he said. “When you have scores like we have had, it is easy to quit. These kids never quit. It is a testament to the kids and their parents.

“This was a good win for the kids; they worked hard for it and deserved it.”