Schools
Oakville Breaks Through at Marquette in Suburban West Showdown
The Tigers improve to 1-1 by winning a dramatic matchup at Marquette, 28-26.
Oakville knew it was a much better football team than the one that got shutout against Lindbergh in the season’s first week.
On Friday night at Marquette, the Tigers showed that to be very much the case.
Oakville and Marquette traded big plays in a wild offensive shootout. But in the end, it came down to a special-teams break that went the Tigers’ way.
Down two points in the final minutes, Marquette drove to the Oakville 25 yard-line and with 7.2 seconds left Mustangs senior kicker T. J. Kroll's field-goal attempt sailed slightly wide-left of the goalpost, allowing Oakville to escape Marquette with a hard-fought 28-26 victory.
"After last week at Lindbergh, we knew we were a much better football team than we showed," Oakville coach Arlee Conners said. "We just needed to settle down and make plays and tonight we did that."
Oakville, which improved to 1-1 (1-1 Suburban West), jumped out to a 14-0 first-quarter lead behind a two-yard touchdown run by junior running back Moe LaGrand, and a 68-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Andy Oliver to senior receiver Jaron Henderson. LaGrand paced the Tigers offense with two touchdowns on the night.
Marquette (1-1, 0-1 Suburban West) responded with a pair of second-quarter scores as junior quarterback Daniel Slattery capped a seven-play drive with a three-yard scoring run. Then just over halfway through the quarter, Slattery finished off another Mustangs march with a three-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 14.
Kroll added a 33-yard field goal just before the break to give the Mustangs a 17-14 lead.
A pair of third-quarter touchdowns gave Oakville a 28-17 lead before the Mustangs came racing back once more in the fourth quarter to close the gap.
But the Mustangs came up short on the final drive as Kroll's rushed kick missed the mark.
"You move down the field and get a chance to make a kick at the end, and it comes down to that," Marquette coach Ryan Thornhill said. "You can't ask for much more than that."
The win over Marquette was the Tigers’ fourth in five seasons against Marquette, and erased the sting of last year's 59-40 setback at home to Marquette.