Ohatchee, AL – Ohatchee displays several stars, multiple shots in a night full of huge plays, while kicking off their season by winning a victory of 32-8 against the visiting Saks.
By Joe Medley
Are these Ohatchee Indians? And from where did these new tribes to recirculate the wagons?
Nate Jones rushed for 155 yards and two touchdowns during a night that saw a number of Indians were able to make an impact. two quarterbacks took part, passing was more of a mix rather than a game, and they reclaimed an offsides kick.
Add to that Colby Hester’s long interception return for a touchdown on Thursday in the second half, and Ohatchee was a far superior team than the injured team that started 2022 with a 0-7. The Indians won 32-8 win against visiting Saks in the first match as Wildcats head coach.
“That’s an impressive win over an I believe is a excellent football squad,” Ohatchee coach Chris Findley stated. “I believe Coach Freeney will accomplish a fantastic job with the football team. They’re likely to win lots of games this season.
“Looking back at this later on in the year I believe it’s going be a great victory our way.”
Findley begins his second season as the head coach after replacing Scott Martin four weeks into the 2021 season. However, his 2023 team includes five new players. It appears that they have introduced fresh ideas.
It’s the exact, basic “Ugly Eagle” offense, however the Indians showcased a variety of styles and different twists.
Many looks are offered by multiple quarterbacks. Jake Roberson is the starter and completed four of eight passes for 44 yards and the Indians had an advantage of 14-8 at halftime. He could have scored the score with a touchdown pass to Hester however, he was penalized there was an interference penalty against Saks that reduced it to 15 penal yards.
Ohatchee played the ball at Hester with touchdowns on two occasions during their jamboree earlier this week.
The Indians seldom passed between the years of 2015 between 2015 and 2022. In the instances they did they did so hoping for home runs in the face of the stifling defense, but also like Roberson’s wildly high-flying shots at Hester. The style Thursday featured screens and passes that were short and the more frequent passing of possession. Receivers were Hester who is a wingback, Jesse Baswell, who tends to play more as tight end, even when he is not in the quarterback position as well as Jones.
“I believe we’ve got the players,” Findley said. “You must play the way you’d like to be regarding your identity is concerned, and we certainly have possess a physical identity that is a control-the-ball, control-the-clock persona, yet you need to make sure that you balance it out with who your employees are.
“We’ve got Jake as the quarterback, and he’s able to throw the ball. We have a couple of players who can capture the ball. We’d like to be able to do everything and force people to defend everything.”
Baswell offered a different perspective at the quarterback by taking direct snaps and running. His 62 yards in the first half included touchdown runs of 2 and 4 yards.
“Something we’ve worked on during the offseason was the ability to demonstrate various ways of forming and various types of stuff,” Findley said. “A often it is possible to spend a whole week working on a single formation or two formations we use.
“We were looking to become more multi-faceted and still be able to operate our offense as well as run our game.”
The new offensive ploys were not the only thing Ohatchee was able to do. After taking a 14-8 lead again with Baswell’s four-yard run at 11:15 in the second quarter The Indians attempted the onside kick. The ball flew through the hands of a few shocked Saks team members before Hester was able to recover.
The extra possession did not bring more points, however it did allow Ohatchee more control over the ball. The Indians played 35 plays compared to Saks 11 in the opening half. The game included a 15-play drive of 77 yards to start the game. It culminated in Baswell’s touchdown run of 2 yards.
The second half was won by Jones Hester and Jones. Hester. Jones Hester, who ran through the air for 20 yards within the opening half, ran touchdowns that were 56 yards during the 3rd quarter, and 52 yards in the 4th.
Jones said his second half was an emulation of Ohatchee in Saks down.
“That is, and the line was released and made huge gaps,” he said. “Just huge.”
Hester was the defensive player of the game when he jumped off of his man to get under the jamorris young deep pass before returning the ball 74 yards for the score of 26-8 with 30 seconds to go in on the clock in the final third. Hester was able to block Christian Smith down the sideline but then broke away and blasted Jacori Avery on what was believed to be a perfect lead throw.
“I noticed it first,” Hester said. “Then it landed on my hand and I didn’t know I was holding it until I looked down. I realized that I needed to take it to the home.”
Young’s debut as Saks quarterback was filled with a lot of promise. Saks immediately responded to the first touchdown of Ohatchee by running 557 yards in just five plays before Young was an unproven freshman transfer from Ohatchee and scored an all-year keeper. Saks’s touchdown led to that the Wildcats an 8-6 lead in the first minute of the opening quarter.
Nick Mixson started the drive with a 43-yard romp and ended up with 79 yards on the night.
It was Ohatchee’s initial score was the “high-watermark” that occurred in the first game of Alphonso Freeney’s regular season as Saks as head coach.
“They were physically stronger that we were,” said Freeney, who was a former Jacksonville State University fullback who graduated from the Pasco (Fla.) High School to Saks following the departure of Jonathan Miller left for Piedmont. “They were more athletic and well-organized.
“It’s something we’ve worked throughout the week long, and it’s something that coaches need to improve our methods of preparing them for. I felt like my kids played hard. It’s all the little things, like fighting, but we’ll fix it. We’ll be okay. This is the reason you’re playing non-regional games.”
