Orland runs to a victory on the road over Oroville
Oroville displays strong passing in home opener at Harrison Stadium
When Orland senior Daren Ramey ran the ball in for a 9-yard touchdown in the first quarter Friday at Harrison Stadium, it was not only the first score of the season for the Trojans, it was the first score since Orland’s loss to Sutter on Nov. 8, 2019 due to a COVID-19 canceled 2020 season.
Orland came out on top Friday, winning the game against Oroville on Friday 20- 6 at Harrison Stadium in Oroville.
While Orland opened its season to Red Bluff a week ago, Oroville hosted its season opener under the lights at Harrison Stadium on Friday night.
Orland head coach Nicholas Velazquez called the first score of the season for Orland a huge weight lifted off of the team and coaching staff.
Both teams’ offense attacked early with a strong running game in the first quarter. In the entirety of the first half, Orland went 0-for-3 on passing attempts. The Trojans finished the game against Oroville with over 300 yards rushing, a stark contrast from the
under 50 yards rushing performance in its season opener.
“Every year, especially offensively, you never really know what ( personnel) you’re going to have,” Velazquez said. “Last week against Red Bluff we were like, we’re not doing this at all we got 0. We were passing a little more but it was more option based where this was more hand off. “
At the beginning of the second quarter Luke Smith got his turn for a touchdown, running it in to the end zone from eight yards out after a 8-yard run by Alfredo Velasquez Jr. set up Smith’s touchdown.
However Oroville blocked the extra point kick attempt by Orland, shifting the momentum to the Tigers.
In the second half Orland kept the ball on the ground while trailing Oroville’s passing offense began to open up.
With 8:34 remaining in the second quarter, Oroville quarterback Austin Kearney threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Daymon Kean making the score 14-6.
Oroville attempted to keep its offensive momentum moving with a successful onside kick following the touchdown, however a sack by Orland and two sacks by Oroville kept the score at 14-6 at halftime.
“We’re just excited to give these kids an opportunity to play sports, to be active, to be teenagers, to be kids,” said Oroville Athletic Director Tom Frazier prior Friday’s game. “It’s been a long
process over the last year and a couple days now, but our community has been resilience, we’ve been patient.”
Oroville seemed to open the second half with momentum as a 45-yard run by quarterback Kearney brought them inside the 20yard line. However Orland’s defense stopped Oroville running back Kacie Riley on two rushes before a sack of Kearney on fourth down gave the ball back to Orland.
After a successful 2-point conversion run earlier in the game, with 0:31 remaining in the third quarter Cody Baylor ran the ball in for a Orland touchdown, failing on the 2-point conversion attempt but increasing the Trojan lead to 20- 6 entering the fourth quarter.
While the first touchdown of the game was a weight lifted off of Orland, the final touchdown gave Velazquez and his team security.
“Especially because we have such a young, inexperienced team, learning how to play with each other, really learning how to win,” Velazquez said.
As the fourth quarter began Oroville had a chance to make the game a one-scoregame, as Kearney completed a 55-yard pass to Isiah Price but it was called back because of a penalty. Kearney responded by completing a pass to Price for 30 yards, however the Tigers stalled on the next set of downs turning it over to Orland on downs once more.
With a roster of just 16 players in 2021, the smallest group Velazquez has ever had in his program, he is learning to simplify the team’s play.
Velazquez reiterated his is thankful for the play of his offensive line, which helped lead the running game and chew additional time off the game clock throughout.
“Our kids are just like, I got this guy, I got that guy. We’re just neanderthal mentality because these are the kids we got,” Velazquez said. “How do we simplify it, and get bodies at the point of attack.”