By Mike Stechschulte
Special to The Leader
Perhaps it was just a coincidence, or maybe it was an omen, but on the same night the Oxford Wildcats rumbled into Holly for their first game of the season, a tornado roared through the area.
The game, which was postponed until the next day due to the severe weather, ended in a 14-7 victory for the Wildcats, who dominated most of the game.
Speculation about the starting quarterback position was cleared up when junior Nick Tombrella stepped under center for the first snap of the game, and it appeared from his performance that it was the right call.
Tombrella and the Cats opened the game with a 70-yard quarterback sneak early in the first quarter, but were not able to convert on the drive.
The two teams then matched stop-for- stop for the remainder of the half until a determined Holly offense marched the ball down to Oxford’s 6-yard line in the dying seconds.
Quarterback Brandon Levenick attempted a pass into the end zone with one second left, but it was intercepted by Wildcat defensive back James Nelson, who ran the ball all the way back to mid-field before being tackled as time expired.
Despite not scoring, Nelson’s interception proved to be the spark the Wildcats needed.
Oxford dominated from that point on, opening the second half with an 81-yard drive, eating up 6:43 off the clock before scoring the first touchdown of the game when senior tailback Zach Line pounded the ball into the Holly end zone from one yard out. Senior kicker Don Pohl tacked on the extra point to give Oxford the 7-0 lead.
The defense was then solid for the Wildcats, stopping the only Holly drive of the quarter in less than three minutes to turn the ball back over to Tombrella and the offense, who begin another lengthy scoring drive.
This time, the Cats marched the ball 90 yards down-field, using up 8:43 before Line completed the drive with his second touchdown run of the game, this time from the Bronchos? 15-yard line.
Sensing desperation, Holly then tried a trick run-back play on the following kickoff, huddling eight players around the ball carrier in an attempt to confuse the Oxford special teams unit, but were tackled inside their own 20-yard line.
The Bronchos did recover, however, marching 60 yards downfield and threatening to score late in the 4th quarter before another interception, this time by Oxford sophomore Gary Wurtz, turned the tide once more in favor of the Wildcats.
Unfortunately, Oxford was not able to sustain the pressure, giving up a fumble that was recovered by Holly on the Oxford 26-yard line with just over one minute left in the game.
The Bronchos then took advantage, scoring their only touchdown of the night on an 11-yard pass from Levenick to senior Ben Goodvich with 39 seconds remaining on the clock. After the onside kick attempt failed, the Oxford offense ran out the clock to win the game 14-7.
The victory marked the second year in a row the Wildcats opened the season by beating Holly, and the team hopes that success will translate into another winning season.
Oxford will look for its second win of the year during its home opener as the team takes on the Clio Mustangs, a team the Wildcats pounded 35-7 last season, at 7 p.m. on Thursday.