Comets improve to 3-0 with win over Oak Hills
Matthew Smith | Chronicle Sports Editor
The Mason Comets continued a hot start to their 2020 season, defeating Oak Hills 27-12 in blowout fashion, improving to 3-0 on the year.
Although they got the win, the Comets came out sluggish, throwing an interception that quickly led to an Oak Hills touchdown. A blocked extra point kept the score at 6-0, but Mason still trailed going into the second quarter.
Eventually the Comet offense turned it on, starting with a 1 yard touchdown by Senior running back Nolan McCormick to give the Comets a 7-6 lead.
After a long drive and a touchdown run by Kaden Evans, Mason went ahead 14-6 heading into halftime. Head Coach Brian Castner said that despite the slow start to the game, the biggest thing was keeping all of his players locked in.
“You just gotta keep these kids focused and get them to continue playing hard,” Castner said. “We can’t let anyone make excuses in their minds. We need everyone to realize we gotta get going, we’re better than this. Don’t play to their level, play at our level.”
The Comets took a 21-6 lead in the third after another McCormick touchdown, the team’s third rushing touchdown of the game. The coaches knew that the run game would be key for the Comets, and behind 116 yards from McCormick, Castner spoke about getting his running back and the offensive line on the same page to kickstart the offense between the tackles.
“Early on we thought we had some things going for us but we got out of sync,” Castner said. “An adjustment we made was to get Nolan (McCormick) to hit the holes at a better pace. Getting him in rhythm and in that feel with the (Offensive) Line was important.”
On the defensive side of the ball, Mason held strong against a scrappy Oak Hills passing game and took control with 2 key fumble recoveries. Junior linebacker Kaden Evans said despite different schemes from Oak Hills this year, effort was the key for the Comets defense.
“We knew they had a different coaching staff with a new offense,” Evans said. “But at the end of the day we just needed to play harder than them for longer. We started slow but we stuck with our game plan and really built some momentum for the offense.”
Junior Cobi Lewis stepped up as well with senior receiver Brett Wexelblatt not playing, leading the Mason passing game with 57 yards on 7 catches. His 4th quarter touchdown cushioned the lead even more after taking a screen pass to the house.
A late Oak Hills touchdown capped off the game, and the Comets cruised to a 15 point win.
With the 1-2 Sycamore Aviators next up for the Comets, Evans knows the importance of coming out swinging next friday night.
“We are definitely excited for next week,” Evans said. “We’ve got the Battle of Skies, which is a big rivalry game. We plan on coming out ready to play and are looking to improve to 4-0 with another big win.”