Country Day grinds out hard-fought win over Oakridge to grab lead in SPC 3A

Fort Worth Country Day likes to play a wide-open offensive style. But facing a physical opponent in cold, damp conditions Friday night, the Falcons adjusted their strategy to match the conditions.

Junior running back Connor Brown rushed for 138 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries to lead Country Day to a 17-7 victory against Arlington Oakridge at Frank Field.

The Falcons (4-1, 3-1) and Oakridge (5-3, 2-2) entered the night tied for first place in Southwest Preparatory Conference 3A. The top two teams in SPC 3A meet again Nov. 9 in Houston for the championship. One of the teams will be Country Day. Oakridge could still make it with a victory Nov. 1 and some help from other teams.

“Just stay focused on our game,” Country Day coach Brian Farda said, explaining his team’s mindset against the Owls. “Try to do what they were coached all week to do. And ignore the conditions. And they did that.”

Country Day took a 14-0 lead into halftime on the strength of Brown’s two touchdown runs. Brown’s first scoring run, a 4-yard scamper on second-and-goal, capped a 12-play, 79-yard drive that ate 6:33 off the clock. As a team, the Falcons rushed for 180 yards and finished with 311 total yards compared with 146 for the Owls.

Quarterback Stephen Murrin, who passed for 131 yards and ran for 45, kept the drive alive with a 6-yard run on third-and-6 from the Oakridge 12.

The Falcons didn’t need much time to tack on their second score. The defense stopped the Owls for no gain on a keeper on fourth-and-3. The offense took over at the Oakridge 46 and needed only two plays to reach the end zone.

Brown handled the load. First, he rushed for 30 yards to the 16. And on the next play, he found a hole up the middle and raced ahead for the score and a 14-0 with 8:12 remaining in the second quarter.

Country Day drove from its 35 to the Oakridge 15 in the final minute of the first half. But back-to-back penalties caused the drive to stall at the Owls 37 as time expired in the half.

Oakridge pulled to within 17-7 on the final play of the third quarter on a 1-yard run by Brian Sackey. But Country Day held the Owls scoreless in the final quarter, intercepting an Oakridge pass with six minutes remaining and forcing a turnover on downs in the closing minutes.

Oakridge quarterback Brant Ahlfinger’s 51-yard run on the game’s opening drive gave the Owls a first down at the Country Day 6. But the Falcons’ defense forced Oakridge to settle for a 23-yard field goal try.

The kick was blocked, and the Falcons took over at their own 21. The ensuing drive was the first of Country Day’s two first-half scoring drives.