“I’ve enjoyed coaching this group of seniors and wish them nothing but the best of luck in their future,” Dutchmen head coach Paul Schmanke said. “They will always be Dutchmen.”

Dutchmen lineman Terry Nicks (76) attempts to get pressure on St. James quarterback Jake Harlan (26 right) while he looks to get a pass off to Clark Martensen (82 in front of Harlan). OHS went on to win by a 30-6 score over the Tigers Friday at Dutchmen Field.

“We came into tonight minus four starters on both sides of the ball due to eligibility issues,” Tiger head coach Greg Harlan said. “With a lot of guys playing both ways, they played hard and simply got tired as the game wore on.”

St. James won the opening coin toss and elected to take possession of the football to open the game.

Behind freshman quarterback Jake Harlan, the Tigers moved the ball into scoring range at the Dutchmen 28-yard line with 10:18 left in the first quarter. Two plays later, seniors Ethan Klausner and Shane Nicks combined for a sack of Harlan to force St. James into a third-and-18 situation. Helped by the sack, Owensville’s defense forced a turnover-on-downs at the 8:30 mark of the quarter.

Owensville’s first possession on offensive featured a steady diet of running plays. Senior Derrick Tyree kickstarted the drive with a 33-yard run down to the St. James 35-yard line with 8:20 left. Runs by Gabe Hollander, Justin Duncan and Tyree inched OHS closer to the Tiger end zone. St. James answered on defense as Earl Briggs recovered a Dutchmen fumble to give the Tigers a first down on their 24-yard line with 5:55 left in the quarter.

After a holding penalty wiped out a 14-yard pass play, St. James was forced to punt after three plays on offense.

Benefiting from a short punt, OHS began their next offensive drive on their 47-yard line.

Owensville couldn’t capitalize on the field position as St. James returned the favor by forcing the Dutchmen into a punting situation.

A first-quarter game of hot potato continued as the Tigers were forced to punt after a penalty for illegal procedure and a fumble stopped their next offensive drive.

OHS once again took the ball with outstanding field position on the 41-yard line as the first quarter was winding down.

On the next to last play of the quarter, Duncan had a 6-yard run to move the Dutchmen into Tiger territory at the their 44-yard line. Opening the second quarter, sophomore Ron Young joined the running attack with a 22-yard gallop on third-and-six to give Owensville a first down on the St. James 17-yard line. Unable to attain another first down, the field-goal unit came on for senior Brooke Adkison to try a 31-yard field goal. The attempt failed and the game remained scoreless with 10:09 left in the first half.

As quick as St. James got the ball back, they lost it just as fast when Jack Saebens intercepted a Harlan pass to give OHS a first down on the Tiger 26-yard line at the 10:05 mark of the half.

Owensville almost turned it back over on the ensuing play as sophomore quarterback Ryan Cooper had his pass picked off by Tiger defender Keith Miller. Thanks to a pass interference penalty on St. James, OHS kept the ball and got a first down on the St. James 13-yard line. Two plays later, Tyree got the Dutchmen on the board with a 1-yard touchdown run at the 9:31 mark of the half. Adkison’s kick gave Owensville a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter.

On their next drive, St. James was on a mission to try to get on the scoreboard. Harlan helped the Tigers with a 23-yard completion to Jake Mankin to move St. James into Dutchmen territory at the 37-yard line. After converting three third downs, St. James found themselves with a first-and-goal from the Dutchmen 1-yard line after an 8-yard pass play from Harlan to Tiger wide receiver Clark Martensen. Three plays later, Harlan called his own number on a 1-yard TD run to cut the Dutchmen lead to 7-6. Owensville kept the lead as senior Nick Cuchetti blocked the ensuing extra point with 5:22 left in the half. Harlan ended the night 15-31 passing for 100 yards and two interceptions.

“We made some mental mistakes on that drive,” Schmanke said. “Take away those mistakes and we probably could have shut them out.”

Thanks to the ensuing kickoff going out of bounds, Owensville got the football to start their next drive on the 35-yard line.

Quickly facing a third-and-11, OHS went to the ground as Cooper picked up his own fumble and picked up 10 yards to bring up a fourth-and-one from the St. James 46-yard line. Young kept the drive alive with a 2-yard run at the 3:04 mark of the half. With another third down staring at the Dutchmen, Cooper called his own number on a 22-yard run to put Owensville at the St. James 16-yard line with 1:05 left in the half. Three plays later, OHS faced a third-and-11 after calling a timeout with 47.3 left in the half. Going to the air, Cooper found junior wide receiver Kris Havelka for a 17-yard TD strike with 41.3 to go in the half. Adkison’s kick gave Owensville a 14-6 lead late in the first half.

St. James tried to rally for another score before the end of the half on their next possession. Sophomore Jake Hinson recorded the second sack of the half on Harlan with :10 left in first-half action. After running the next play, St. James managed to get their last timeout of the half called with 0.1 left in the half. However, the last play of the half was an incomplete pass and Owensville took a 14-6 lead into the halftime.

With the opening possession of the second half, OHS looked to pad their lead over the Tigers.

Owensville did exactly that as Cooper capped a 7-play, 69-yard drive with a 42-yard TD pass to Jack Saebens at the 9:22 mark of the third quarter. After a bad snap on the extra-point attempt, the Dutchmen increased their lead to 20-6.

“I couldn’t have gotten those interceptions without the line getting pressure on the quarterback,” Dutchmen wide receiver Jack Saebens said. “We’re looking forward to a big game against Sullivan next week.” Saebens finished the night with one reception for 42 yards.

An unintentional onside kick recovered by Havelka gave Owensville’s offense the ball back on St. James’ 45-yard line. Two plays later, Briggs recovered his second fumble of the game to set up the Tiger offense on their 24-yard line.

Forced into another punting situation, Jacob King blocked St. James’ next punt to help Owensville’s offense secure excellent field position at the Tiger 45-yard line.

Five plays later, Cooper went to the ground game to score on a 8-yard TD run to cap Owensville’s latest scoring drive. Adkison’s extra point gave OHS a 27-6 lead with 6:33 to play in the third quarter. Cooper ended the game with a team high 96 yards rushing on 12 carries. He also was 10-14 passing for 118 yards and two touchdowns.

Shane Nicks sacked Harlan on the Tigers’ next play on offense to force St. James into a second-and-long situation. Unable to recover from the sack, the Tigers were forced to punt after another three-and-out. Ethan Rogers’ punt was partially blocked as OHS started their next offensive march from the Tiger 41-yard line.

After six offensive plays, Adkison lined herself up for what would be a career-high field goal attempt of 36 yards. Adkison’s kick just barely cleared the cross bar as Owensville increased their lead to 30-6. Adkison surpassed her previous career high field goal of 34 yards back in 2006 against School of the Osage.

Fourth-quarter action saw Hinson and Jack Saebens record their second sack and interception of the game respectively.

After Saeben’s interception, a slew of yellow penalty flags started flying on the field. The next four plays saw either an illegal block in the back, a false start or holding called on the Dutchmen. Senior Blake Harrell caught two raw breaks as he had a 21-yard TD run and a 16-yard run called back on two of those penalties. At the end of the drive, Adkison came out to attempt a 35-yard field goal. Her kick went wide left and St. James still trailed 30-6 with 5:53 left in the game.

Both teams traded possessions down the stretch as Owensville improved their overall record to 3-6 on the season and closed the home portion of their schedule with a victory.