SOCCER SHOOTOUT WON BY O'HARA

In an exciting overtime game, O'Hara won a soccer game with Center on September 29th. In regulation time the teams were knotted at 2-2 with both of the Celtics' goals scored by Jerry Rellihan. In the shootout, Center had three successful shots but O'Hara won out with four. Jerry Rellihan along with Kevin Hogan, Julian Gidley, and Pat Berney brought the victory to the Celtic team.

Volleyball Team Fares Well With Powerful Opponents

On Saturday, September 26th, the O'Hara volleyball team competed in the Blue Springs South Invitational in which sixteen powerhouses were represented, and did a commenable job even though unable to survive as one of the four semifinalists. # # # # # # # # # # The team played in the White Pool losing only one game in overtime to Blue Springs South. They came back to win 25-20. The Celtics then beat Cor Jesu 25-20 and 26-24 and went into the Championship bracket. # # # # # # # # # # Facing Nerinx Hall, O'Hara won 25-18 and dropped a 21-25 game. Nerinx Hall was one of the four teams to go on the the semifinals having the better overall scoring.

AMONG THE TOP TEN O'HARA FOOTBALL

T. J. White holds O'Hara's school record for career passes through 2006-2009 at the halfway mark of the present regular season with 181 completions in 359 attempts for 3,625 total yards. (well ahead of runner-up Joe Holder 1976-1978 who has 126 completions in 331 attempts for 1,869 yards). Included in White's total is the 117 yards from 8 completions in 10 attempts in the game with Saint James. One of the reasons the total didn't increase by much is that the running game was working for the Celtics. The four running backs that scored six of O'Hara's touchdowns in the game each averaged over six yards per carry as the Celtics had 323 rushing yards and the team did not need too much dependence on passing. * * * * * * * * * * * Aaron Stubblefield is now tied for 7th place in the top ten receivers for O'Hara with 30 career catches. He ties David Pugh (1976-1978). The school record was established last season when Joe Pepple reached 68 receptions. Head Coach Jim DeMarea holds the 5th place with 37 catches back in 1970-1972. * * * * * * * * * * * Chuck Preston moved into 10th place in the Miscellaneous category which includes a formula for tackles, blocked kicks, quarterback sacks, recovered fumbles, interceptions, and yards returned from interceptions. He has 325 points while the ninth place is held by Nick Saviano (2001-2003) with 351 points. The top player in this category is William Lanning with 465 points (1997-2000).

How 76 points were scored: O'Hara Football

CELTICS HANDLE THE THUNDER WITH LIGHTNING PLAYS Led by T.J. White’s and Raphael Spencer’s two touchdowns apiece, the O’Hara Celtics downed the Saint James Thunder 45-31 on September 25th. Touchdowns were also scored by Terrell Johnson, Brett Coatney, and Louis Golden in the romp. Here is a rundown of the evening’s scoring: O’Hara 0, Saint James 6: O’Hara received the opening kickoff but were stopped in three running plays. Saint James mounted a thirteen play drive to reach the scoreboard first. Grinding out yardage in which none of the plays netted over ten yards, Danny Manning scored from 10 yards out. In the drive the Thunder twice went for yardage on fourth downs. Their extra point kick was wide. It was the first time in five games that the Celtics were scored upon in the first quarter. O’Hara 7, Saint James 6: Jimmy Clark returned the kickoff with a great run and the Celtics took over in good field position on the Thunder 41 yard line. Five plays later, Brett Coatney found his way into the end zone on a 14 yard carry. Julian Gidley kicked the extra point after which the Celtics never trailed in the game. O’Hara 13, Saint James 6: It took a while for the Celtics to score again. Saint James moved the ball from the 23 yard line to the 41 yard line, helped along with two completed passes. But their third pass was intercepted by Joe Melchior who took the ball all the way to the end zone. A penalty called on the blocking however brought the ball back to the 38 yard line. Aaron Stubblefield made up for 35 yards as he hauled in a T. J. White toss to place the ball on the 3 yard line. Swinging around the right end, Terrell Johnson fumbled into the end zone for a touchback, and the Thunder got the ball on the 20 yard line. After advancing the pigskin 17 yards, Saint James attempted another pass which was picked off by Joe Melchior again. O’Hara scored with five plays capped by a 26 yard pass completion from T. J. White to Louis Golden. No more scoring until the half: The Thunder failed to make a first down on the next possession and punted. O’Hara ran the next eight plays from their own 26 yard line to Saint James’ 26 yard line, the big gainers were two T. J. White scrambles for 19 and 16 yards. But the Celtics gave up the ball on downs. With the little time left, Saint James was unable to dent the O’Hara defense. O’Hara 19, Saint James 6: The Thunder attempted to keep a drive alive at midfield by going for it on fourth down rather than punt, but gave O’Hara relatively good field position when they fell short. In two plays, O’Hara had its third TD. Brett Coatney ran for 9 yards and Raphael Spencer went all the way for the score, a distance of 36 yards. O’Hara 27- Saint James 6: Saint James took over on their own 33 yard line and with two complete passes for 12 and 47 yards got first down on the 8 yard line. Four attempts to run the ball into the goal failed and O’Hara took over on the one foot line! With Raphael Spencer and Terrell Johnson running the football, O’Hara advanced the ball to the 40 yard line in seven plays. Spencer broke loose for a 60 yard scoring run. Chuck Preston scored two points on the conversion attempt. O’Hara 27- Saint James 12: The Thunder went exclusively to a passing game on their next possession. A 53 yard pass from Jim Getto to Danny Manning accounted for the six points. O’Hara 33 - Saint James 12: Keon Young recovered O’Hara’s on-side kick, and on the very next play, T. J. White outmaneuvered the Thunder defense for a 51 yard TD. The extra point attempt by Julian Gidley was blocked. O’Hara 33 - Saint James 18: Continuing with a passing game, the Thunder was able to cash in on a Jim Getto to Matt Eckelman pass covering 53 yards, even though it appeared Getto was well beyond the line of scrimmage when he threw the ball. The play was not called back. The quarterback was sacked on the two-point conversion attempt. O’Hara 33 - Saint James 25: Logan Pyle recovered the Thunder’s on-side kick, and the home team worked for a score that would bring the two teams to within eight points. It required a fourth down play along the way, but the Thunder managed to get the job done on a 12 yard pass to Bryan Eisman. Logan Fortney’s extra point kick was good. O’Hara 39 - Saint James 25: Thanks to a good runback by Raphael Spencer and a face mask penalty, O’Hara had the ball on the 20 yard line. However a fumble four plays later coughed up the ball. Saint James returned to the running game and got the ball up to midfield where they gave up possession on downs. Aided by a 15 yard gain on a T. J. White to Aaron Stubblefield pass, the Celtics were able to widen their lead on an 8 yard scoring run by T. J. White. O’Hara 45 – Saint James 25: The last O’Hara TD was almost a gift. Very deep in the O’Hara territory, the Thunder elected to go or it on fourth down and failed to come close to the first down. They gave up the ball on the 9 yard line! Terrell Johnson got the call and delivered the ball to the end zone. O’Hara 45 – Saint James 31: With remaining time, the Thunder used up eight plays but did get an additional six points on an 18 yard run by Jake Heller. The final points were garnered with only 12 second of playing time left in the game.

FOOTBALL SCORING IN FIVE GAMES

In averaging 35.7 points per game with the recent 45-31 win over Saint James, Raphael Spencer leads the O'Hara Celtics in scoring with 60 points on ten touchdowns. Quarterback T. J. White has 42 of O'Hara's total 179 points scoring on seven touchdowns. _____ Aaron Stubblefield and Terrell Johnson have scored three touchdowns apiece and Stubblefield has added a two-point conversion. _____ Brett Coatney scored twice for 12 points. _____ Joe Melchior and Louis Golden each have a touchdown. Melchior added a kicked extra point and two two-point conversions as a pass receiver for a total of 11. Golden also has a two-point catch for a total of 8 points. _____ Julian Gidley kicked six of O'Hara's extra points. _____ Chuck Preston entered the Celtic scoring with a two-point conversion in O'Hara's last game.

O'Hara 45 Saint James 31

The Archbishop O'Hara High School football team scored five second half touchdowns to overwhelm Saint James Academy 45-31 on September 25th. _______ The wild game didn't really develop until the second half after the mild halftime score of 13-6. _____ At the start of the game, the Saint James Thunder scored on a 10 yard run by Danny Manning but the extra point kick was wide. In the scoring drive, the Thunder had to gamble twice on fourth down plays. It was the first time this season O'Hara gave up first quarter points. _____ With just five plays, the O'Hara Celtics had a touchdown with Brett Coatney scoring on a 14 yard run. Julian Gidley's extra point kick put the Celtics ahead and the team never trailed after that. _____ Joe Melchior stopped the Thunder's drive at the start of the second quarter with an interception, running the ball in for an apparent TD, but a blocking penalty prevented the score. After Aaron Stubblefield gathered in a 35 yard pass, the Celtics had first down on the 3 yard line. A fumble into the end zone on the next play gave the Thunder a touchback and possession on the 20 yard line. Joe Melchior intercepted again, and this time O'Hara put together a scoring drive, capped by a 26 yard touchdown pass by Louis Golden from T. J. White. The extra point kick was wide but the Celtics owned a 13-6 halftime score. _____ The Thunder went three and out to start the third quarter. In two plays, O'Hara upped the score to 19-6 with Raphael Spencer breaking away for a 36 yard TD. _____ Saint James strove to narrow the score with Jim Getto passing to Chase Jackson for 47 yards and bringing the ball within the 8 yard line. But on four consecutive attempts, the Thunder was unable to cope with the O'Hara defense and gave up the ball on the one foot line! _____ O'Hara was able to cover the 99 plus yards in seven plays finished off with a 60 yard touchdown run by Raphael Spencer! Chuck Preston ran in the two-point conversion for a 27-6 O'Hara lead. _____ Saint James answered with a touchdown; the two key plays were a fourth down 16 yard pass play from Jim Getto to Matt Eckelman and a 35 yard TD pass from Getto to Danny Manning. That made the score 27-12. _____ O'Hara put six more points on the board on a long 51 yard run by quarterback T. J. White. The extra point attempt was blocked, but the score became 33-12. _____ The Thunder responded with a long 53 yard touchdown pass caught by Matt Eckelman and a 33-18 game. The quarterback appeared to be well beyond the line of srimmage on the toss but the play was not called back. _____ Then Saint James got a successful on-side kick to set up another touchdown. In six plays, they brought the score to 33-25 with Bryan Eisman catching a 12 yard pass and Logan Fortney kicking the extra point. _____ With the margin shaved to only 8 points, the Celtics pushed across two consecutive fourth quarter touchdowns. The first was a10 yard yard keeper by T. J. White and the second was a 9 yard end run by Terrell Johnson. _____ With the score at 45-25 and twelve seconds on the clock, Jake Heller scored on an 18 yard run for Saint James.

VOLLEYBALL TEAM WINS ANOTHER

On September 23rd, the O'Hara volleyball team won another West Central Conference game by scores of 25-11 and 25-9 over Warrensburg.