OA Freshman Football Team Beats Mansfield to go 7-0

The OA Freshman Football team, led by the aggressive play of linemen Thomas McNeely and Noah Ryan held off a historically tough Mansfield squad to win 18-8 on a windy Thursday afternoon at .

OA started the scoring first as Quarterback John McMillan passed to Jordan Schuster-Southern who shook-off defenders to run 40 yards for a touchdown and a 6-0 OA lead.

The OA defense continued its tough play as Sean Reynolds and Joey Tepper blocked a Mansfield punt attempt deep in Mansfield territory. The Tigers made Mansfield pay as McMillan ran 20 yards off the left side for a TD after great blocks by Kyle Nichols and Joey Tepper.

Mansfield's next possession didn't go much better as Noan Ryan sacked the quaterback on 3rd down and the 4th down pass was incomplete. OA's offense  stalled briefly until a 4th and short run by Joey Tepper secured a first down and gave Tigers new momentum. On the next play, Mike Ferrara broke free for a 15 yard gain to keep things going. With 1:15 left in the first half, Joey Tepper got the call and ran 20 yards off the right side for a third Tiger TD and a 18-0 lead.

OA stayed aggressive as Nick Chapman and Tristan Flynn teamed up to make a great special teams tackle on the ensuing kickoff to keep Mansfield from advancing the ball. With time running low, Mansfield turned to the passing game however lineman Noah Ryan recorded another quarterback sack and OA ran out the clock.

The second half started with neither team gathering any offensive momentum. OA's defense stayed strong as Thomas McNeely made another solo tackle and forced Mansfield to punt. After OA failed to make a first down, Mansfield got the ball back with 1:45 left in the third quarter and scored on a nice 6-yard TD pass. After the 2pt conversion, the score was now 18-8 OA.

The 4th quarter started with Mansfield moving the ball to the OA 10 yard line but failed to score as the Tigers defense held again in the red zone as it has all season. Now it was time for the OA offense to work the clock and they did just that as they stayed on the field for about 6 minutes which included a daring 4th and short run by Joey Tepper and misdirection play by Cam McGrath for a 12 yard gain and another first down.

After being forced to punt, OA's defense came up big again as Sean Moody recorded his first sack of the year and pushed Mansfield back about 8 yards. The Tigers kept the pressure on when Noah Ryan got to the quarterback again and forced a fumble recovered by Thomas McNeely to give OA the ball back.

OA than punted with about 1 minute remaining after entrusting the ball to running back Anthony Petrillo. With the game almost over, Mansfield continued to call passing plays and this drew the attention of McNeely and Ryan who sacked the quarterback one last time to secure the victory. 

 Next week the Freshman travel to North Attleboro for a 3:30pm game.