Roseville comes back down by 17 to beat Oakmont

Down by 17 points to Oakmont with 17 minutes to go, Roseville High didn't panic. The Tigers came together and saved their best football for the end of the game, as they scored three touchdowns, scoring back-to-back touchdowns on their final two drives, to come back and win the game, 35-31. The win improved the Tigers' record to 2-0 on the season, while dropping Oakmont to 1-1. Oakmont played a great first half and led 28-14 at the break, but the Tigers outscored them 21-3 in the second half; scoring the last 21 points unanswered. Roseville quarterback Hunter Felkins scored in the third quarter on an eight-yard run, tightening the score to 31-21. While the Oakmont offense bogged down, as Roseville tightened the screws defensively, the Tiger offense was running like a well-oiled machine. Roseville got the ball at its own 24-yard line on their next-to-last drive. On second down, Felkins hit Braden Wood for a 20-yard gain to get the drive going. Two plays later on a third-and-15, Felkins found Jude Navarro for a 37-yard gain that brought the ball down to the Oakmont 23. Two plays later, Felkins threw a short out pass to Mateo Martinez, who made several Oakmont players miss while taking the ball to the end zone to make it a 31-28 game. Roseville defense held once again and got the ball back with about 90 seconds to play. Again, Felkins led the offense down the field with great precision. He hooked up with Luke Williams and Robert Blanson on short passes before a third short pass to Park Howard-Hammer. On second-and-six from the 19, Felkins threw a touchdown pass to a tightly-covered Howard-Hammer for the game-winning score. "We didn't play that well in the first half, but we got the offense rolling pretty good in the second half," Roseville head coach Adam Reinking said. "We had about 370 yards of offense. Hunter threw for about 200 yards in the second half; Jude had a big game for us and Howard-Hammer caught the game-winning touchdown. "A win like this obviously builds confidence. To come through in a stressful situation and to execute stuff we've been practicing since March is great. We didn't run anything special, just all the stuff we've had since installing it. The kids did a great job of executing and our line did a good job of blocking." As exhilarating the win was for Roseville, it was devastating to Oakmont. Tired of being Roseville's little brother for years, they wanted to turn the tables this year and nearly got it done. "This was a rough one," Oakmont coach Cory Wilson said. "We'd been telling the kids that we could finally beat these guys and that we would win the game, but we messed it up. I give Roseville credit, every little mistake we made they capitalized on. They're a good, well-coached team. We can't make mistakes like we did in the second half and expect to win. To blow a three-possession lead in the second half is rough. Our offense stalled out completely." Ocean Munoz had a great game for the Vikings, as he caught three touchdown passes from Elijah Stevens. Rayvon Barnhart also scored on a short run. Wilson addressed the team after the game. "This is a special group and I'm blessed to be their coach," Wilson said. "I'm proud of the way they fought and the passion I saw. Roseville is the defending section champs in the division above us. This is why we play good teams; to challenge ourselves and to improve. This type of adversity will happen throughout their whole lives and how a person bounces back after this is what's important. Obviously, the goal was to win the game, but the other goal was to make our presence known. We had a good lead and we showed we can compete." Reinking praised Oakmont. "They're doing some good things over there," Reinking said of Oakmont, "but I think we wore them down in the fourth quarter." Oakmont gets set to face Antelope on the road on Friday, while Roseville heads to West Park to face the Panthers. "Antelope is a tough team that has all the physical attributes," Wilson said. "Once they get that Wing-T offense down, they're going to be tough to beat. I'm hoping to catch them before they get too good. I think it will be a good game." Said Reinking of West Park, "They've got a lot of athletes who are fast. Their quarterback runs the ball well and they've got a lot of guys on defense who are long and can run. We will see if our kids can execute."