On October, Friday the 13th, the OLSH Football Team (5-2) took on the Union Scotties (5-1), in a matchup between the top two teams in the section. The winner would most likely win the Big Seven Conference. The previous week, OLSH had a big upset win over the then number one ranked team, Rochester. The Chargers offense has been on a roll since and the defense has been playing lights out football, holding Rochester’s explosive offense to only 13 points. It’s important to note that OLSH’s starting Center Jacen Young was out due to an illness. Jacen was a very dependable and reliable Center for the Chargers and would be extremely tough to replace.

OLSH got off to a shaky start, with quarterback Tyler Bradley throwing an interception which Union ran in for a touchdown, putting the Chargers down 7-0 early in the game. Later in the first quarter Tyler Bradley redeemed himself by running the ball in for a touchdown. He did it with style too, surprising many people with his agility as he made shifty side to side moves and juking out defenders. OLSH missed the two point conversion attempt, however, leaving them at a 7-6 deficit..

Both defenses were playing fairly well, but in the second quarter OLSH’s defense really began to perform. Union’s quarterback completed a pass to his fullback out of the backfield before being stripped of the ball by OLSH linebacker Ryan Parry. OLSH’s Luke Saftner scooped up the ball and raced 50 yards down the sideline for a Chargers pick six. Luke wasn’t done yet. After his 50 yard sprint, he caught a pass in the endzone for two points to put up OLSH 14-7.

The OLSH defense continued to prevent Union from making any significant progress, so the Scotties began implementing trick plays. With less than a minute left in the half, Union snapped the ball and their entire offensive line fell to the ground as if they were in some sort of push up contest. Immediately the quarterback threw the ball to his wide receiver and the defense rushed after to make the tackle, but Union a trick play known as a double pass. The wide receiver passed the ball back to the quarterback in tying up the game before haltime, but they would be disappointed. Defensive lineman Dominick Cook (AKA Cookie) intercepted the ball and sprinted down the field for an exciting and rare “Big Man” touchdown. This was the Chargers second defensive score of the game and would put them up 20-7 at the end of the half.

In the beginning of the third quarter, Union was forced to punt and it was time for the Chargers offense to shine. Freshman center Danny Farrell made his high school football debut, helping fellow offensive linemen Connor White and Andy Aubrey lead Jackie Graff to 102 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

Led by Graff’s powerful runs, the Chargers offense began racking up points and their defense only allowed one score in the second half. In the end, the Chargers took the victory over Union 34-15 and became the number one team in the Big Seven Conference. This is the first time in its history that OLSH Football has been ranked solo number one in their conference. As long as the Chargers (now 6-2) win their next two games, they will maintain that number one position and be in exceptional position for the playoffs.