O’Hara flexes muscles in win over St. Pius X

Friday October 30, 2009 7:00 PM
Team (Record)	1^st	2^nd	3^rd	4^th	Total
St. Pius X (3 - 6)	3	0	0	0	3
O'Hara (12 - 2)	14	14	14	0	42

Additional Game News | Full Box Score

Source: The Star

Rich Sugg | The Kansas City Star

O’Hara junior Raphael Spencer shed a tackle on his way to his second touchdown of the first half against St. Pius X.

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O’Hara coach Jim DeMarea stressed the importance of getting off to a fast start before his team’s game against St. Pius X on Friday.

If his players didn’t understand why, all he had to do was remind them of their most recent game, in which a slow start against Pembroke Hill almost cost the Celtics. But there would be no such scare on Friday, thanks in part to junior running back Raphael Spencer.

Spencer returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, and O’Hara never stopped scoring, as the Celtics clinched the Class 3 District 15 title with a 42-3 victory over the Warriors in the annual battle for the Crystal Cup.

“I wanted to come out with a bang and let St. Pius and the rest of our district know who we are,” Spencer said.

“The kids were fired up,” said DeMarea, whose Celtics won the Crystal Cup for the second year in a row. “Some of it had to do with it being a rivalry game against Pius, some of it had to do with us playing poorly last week.”

O’Hara beat Pembroke Hill 35-13 last week but led the Raiders only 14-7 at one point in the fourth quarter. DeMarea said Spencer’s 92-yard kickoff return against St. Pius went a long way toward getting the Celtics off to the kind of start they needed.

St. Pius, 4-6, answered Spencer’s touchdown with a field goal later in the quarter and cut the deficit to 7-3, but it was all downhill for the Warriors from there.

O’Hara quarterback T.J. White, who accounted for four touchdowns, scored on a 33-yard touchdown run on the Celtics’ next possession and led another scoring drive early in the second quarter when he connected with receiver Aaron Stubblefield on a 10-yard fade in the end zone.

O’Hara missed the extra point, but it seized the momentum again when it recovered a St. Pius fumble on the ensuing kickoff. Spencer quickly made the Warriors pay, taking the first down handoff 29 yards for a touchdown. And after a successful two-point conversion, the Celtics had a 28-3 halftime lead.

O’Hara wasted no time burying the Warriors in the second half. White scored on a 50-yard touchdown run on the Celtics’ first offensive series of the third quarter, and he threw another touchdown pass to Stubblefield on their next offensive series.

submitted by TEREZ A. PAYLOR - 2009-10-30 23:22:03