Prior to the 2024 football season, Oak Hill had not hosted a home playoff game at John P. Duda Stadium since 2000 when it beat Independence 27-7.
Red Devil Nation can now kiss that dry spell goodbye.
Compiling nine wins, including six on the road, Oak Hill ended the regular season rated No. 5 in Class AAA and will open the Round of 16 with a home playoff game against No. 12 Lewis County.
The battle is set for Friday night at 7 p.m.
“It is huge to be playing at home, not only for the kids, but for the whole community,” Oak Hill head coach Davon Marion said. “It has been over 20 years since Oak Hill hosted a home playoff game. To have a brand new facility, thank you Board of Education, and to be able to host the playoff game is another reason why this game means so much. Going into the season, the seniors understood we had six road games and only four home games. They wanted a fifth game and they earned it.”
Ironically, Oak Hill earned its home game in large part to a defense that started the season as a question mark.
“We lost a lot of key pieces from last year’s defense. Last year we only had about six guys that played only defense,” Marion said. “This year we have seven or eight guys playing offense and defense, about 100 snaps a game. For them to still be doing what they are doing is impressive.”
The nine wins include two wins over Class AAAA foes University and rival Beckley. In seven of the triumphs, the stingy Red Devil defense has allowed 15 points or less, with two wins ending in a shutout. The only team to beat Oak Hill was Class AAA No. 1 Princeton in Week 3.
“I am impressed with their ‘want to’ attitude. That is what defense is, you have to want to get the person down and want to be physical,” Marion said. “These kids have really bought into that. They understand if the other team doesn’t score, we can’t lose. They are flying around really hard.”
Even though there were numerous holes to fill, Marion leaned on some veteran football players to fill those gaps.
“We have seven seniors and all seven start on defense, but they want more,” Marion emphasized. “They have already tripled the amount of wins from their freshman year. They understand what it takes to win games and they make each other better each day.”
The second year head coach expected his team to compete for a playoff berth this year, but after opening wins on the road against Nicholas County and Riverside, Marion admitted a 9-1 record was not exactly on his mind.
“They are finding ways to win,” Marion said. “They understand what the goals are and what it takes to achieve those goals. If you had asked me after the Riverside game, I would have been questioning myself a little bit.”
“That is just a testament to these kids, the seniors and juniors,” Marion continued. “They have buckled down over the last three weeks of the season and we have been rolling, but they want more. That is all that I can ask from them. Once you get a taste of success, you kind of get used to that.”
While the defense was holding the fort down for the Red Devils, the offense was doing just enough to get the win. That all changed over the final three games, starting with a win at Bluefield.
“That is why this week off sucked a little bit. I thought our offense started clicking a little bit,” Marion said. “We didn’t light up the scoreboard, but I thought in the Bluefield game where we were able to throw for 200-some yards and run for close to 200 yards that we started clicking then. The University game (to end the regular season), we put it all together.”
Senior quarterback Devin Richardson provides Oak Hill a dual threat behind center throwing for 1,467 yards, while running for a team-high 731 yards. J.D. Mauritz is a bruising back that is hard to tackle and he has added 613 yards on 137 carries. He’s also a standout on defense.
Lewis County comes to town with a 5-5 record in what will be the fifth meeting between the two schools all-time. The previous four matchups have been split with the home team winning each contest.
Both teams are also making their second consecutive playoff appearance.
“They are a wing-T team that will do a little bit of spread, but you kind of have to force them into the spread,” Marion said. “They are a run-heavy football team that has a couple of good lineman, offensively and defensively. Their backs run hard. It is nothing that we haven’t seen this year, but they present us some problems that we have to adjust to and be ready to make plays.”
Oak Hill is making its ninth playoff appearance since 2000 and seeking it first playoff win since 2001 when it beat James Monroe 36-35. That game was played at Van Meter Stadium in Beckley.
