Oakville Breaks Through at Marquette in Suburban West Showdown

(Updated at noon on Saturday, see photos from the game on our Facebook page)

It was a long week between games for the Oakville Tigers after getting shellacked 42-0 by Lindbergh at home in their season opener.

Oakville took to the road on Friday night against Marquette in a Suburban West Conference matchup, and this road trip was just what they needed.

Junior running back Moe LaGrand rushed for two touchdowns and sophomore quarterback Andy Oliver threw for two scores as the Tigers survived a missed T.J. Kroll field goal-attempt with time expiring to claim a 28-26 nail-biting win.

"I think that was the key, was settling down," Oakville coach Arlee Conners said. "Last week, I think we had first game jitters and tonight we came out and settled down and just made plays."

Oakville (1-1, 1-1 Suburban West) came out making plays early as the Tigers found the end zone twice in the first quarter. Six minutes in, LaGrand zipped into the end zone on a 1-yard touchdown run and after the failed extra-point attempt Oakville was up 6-0.

Three minutes later, Oakville found paydirt again, this time through the air as Oliver connected with Jaron Henderson on a 69-yard touchdown pass. Oliver ran in the two-point conversion, and the Tigers were up 14-0. Oliver had a huge night through the air for the Tigers hitting 10-of-14 passing with 201 yards.

In the second quarter, Marquette got their offense rolling as the Mustangs cut the lead to 14-7 on a three-yard touchdown keeper by Marquette quarterback Daniel Slattery.

After the Mustangs offense got great field position off a botched punt snap deep in Oakville's end of the field, it was an easy trip the end zone for Marquette.

With a first down at the Tigers' 18, it took just five plays for the Mustangs to score as Slattery scored on another three-yard run and a kick by Kroll tied it at 14 all.

"I have to give our defense a ton of credit," Marquette coach Ryan Thornhill said. "They kept us in the game and gave us a chance all night long."

Kroll booted a 33-yard field goal pushing the Mustangs ahead, 17-14, with 33 seconds left before the intermission.

A deep drive into Marquette territory set Oakville up for its next score as Oliver found Henderson open on an out route and hit him for a 13-yard scoring strike giving Oakville the lead again at 21-17.

Early in the fourth quarter, LaGrand got it done on the ground for the Tigers as he raced to the house on a 15-yard touchdown run and Oakville was comfortably ahead 28-17 with 7:21 left. LaGrand had another solid night in the running game with a hard-earned 82 yards on 20 bruising carries.

"I just give all the credit to my offensive line," LaGrand said. "They opened up the holes and I just followed and tried to get yards."

A safety off another botched Oakville punt cut the Tigers lead to 28-19 and had the Tigers concerned.

"Those botched punts really hurt us and gave us problems tonight," Conners said.

Marquette jumped back into it with 2:31 left as Slattery fired a 41-yard scoring bomb to sophomore wideout Matt Scheibel, cutting the lead to 28-26. Slattery was 5-of-16 for 131 yards in the air.

After driving to midfield, Oakville was stopped on downs and Marquette had one more chance for the win. On second and 10, Slattery drilled Scheibel with a clutch 25-yard pass that got the Mustangs into position for a potential game-winning field goal with 7.2 seconds left.

After a quick time out, the Mustangs trotted Kroll out onto the field and he attempted a 37-yard kick which sailed low and just wide left of the upright, and the Mustangs’ hopes for a 2-0 start were gone in a flash.

"You move down the field and get a chance to make a kick at the end, and it comes down to that," Marquette coach Ryan Thornhill said. "You can't ask for much more than that.

The kids fought their heart out the entire game and we had guys step up all over the place and guys are making plays," Thornhill said. "I'm proud of them."

Oakville returns home Friday to host Parkway South in another Suburban West affair at 7 p.m. Marquette, which slipped to 1-1 (0-1 Suburban West), will take on rival Eureka on Saturday at 1:15 p.m. at the Edward Jones Dome as part of next weekend's Great American Football Classic.