Indian Trail vs. Oak Creek Better Late Than Never Recap

Before I begin this recap I’d like to first apologize for the lateness of this recap. The day after the Indian Trail vs. Oak Creek game we had our first ever PrepRedzone Showcase in Naperville, Illinois, and it was a quick turnaround from the previous night and drive home. My girlfriend and I also got our second puppy, so things were chaotic on Sunday and Monday. The delay in posting the recap won’t happen again, and I’m very sorry. Thank you guys for your understanding as well. Now, the recap: A crisp Friday night in Southeastern Wisconsin set the stage for an idealistic and beautiful return of high school football in the Badger state. After months of concern, anticipation, and confusion, Friday Night Lights were back. I was fortunate enough to cover the exciting contest of the Indian Trail Hawks vs. the Oak Creek Knights, and the Division 1 matchup did not disappoint. However, the game did not go as the Hawks crowd expected as Indian Trail’s high-powered offense was stifled and Oak Creek played some old-fashioned football to eventually earn a hard-fought win. The game began with Indian Trail receiving the ball to begin the 2020 season, and the Hawks star-studded offense took the field after stud [player_tooltip player_id="30737" first="Clayton" last="Bishop"] returned the opening KO. The Hawks came out hot with two 10+ yard runs by Bishop, a [player_tooltip player_id="30762" first="Kameron" last="Lee"] reception, and some nifty [player_tooltip player_id="30774" first="Argjent" last="Ismaili"] scampers that got the Hawks well into Knight territory. The promising drive was halted on a 4th and 1 set-up by one of those Ismaili runs. The attempted 4th down run up the middle of OC’s defense was stuffed by the Knights Joseph Stille and company, and the Knights successfully initiated the "bend but don’t break" attitude on defense and took over for their first possession of the game. On their first series Oak Creek attempted 4th and 1 of their own after three nice stops by IT’s offense, where 2022 Hawk standout [player_tooltip player_id="31333" first="Stefon" last="Mitchell"] made a beautiful tackle on a bubble screen of OC. The Hawks came back hot and used impressive connections of Ismaili to [player_tooltip player_id="30764" first="Raymone" last="Jones"] and some shifty Bishop runs, and found themselves inside to 5-yard line of OC. On 3rd and goal however, IT fumbled the snap and the Knights received a thrilling swing in momentum as they took over at their own 5-yard line. A play later and the first quarter had already ended, and the score sat at 0-0 after one. Oak Creek started off the second quarter with a 95-yard nickel and dime offensive drive that eventually ended with and impressive 20+ yard TD run by Oak Creek’s Gabe Buchmann. The drive consisted of some exciting runs by OC’s FRESHMAN QB Cade Palkowski (stud) as well as Buchmann and Austin Orosco, and was aided by a couple offside penalties and a 15-yarder committed by the Hawks, a theme of IT penalties that would be a constant through the game. The Hawks resumed on offense with a nice start from a KOR by Ezra Stargell, but burnt out and suffered a three and out to give the ball back to the Knights. Oak Creek took over at their own 45 after the IT punt, and they renewed their dangerous rushing attack led by 2024er Palkowski. The Knights converted a couple 4th downs and were once again aided by some Hawk flags that got them down inside the 10 of Indian Trail. On an attempted pass from the 6 of IT Palkowski made one of the most impressive offensive plays of the game as he scrambled right and then left while keeping his eyes downfield before taking off to the opposite sideline and beating out every IT defender to find the corner of the endzone and make the score 13-0 Oak Creek. The Knights missed the PAT, and the half ended a KOR later with the Knights leading the Hawks 13-0. The second half was made up of strong defensive efforts by both teams, with [player_tooltip player_id="31073" first="Dylan" last="Connell"] from Indian Trail particularly standing out as the crowd heard his name called at least 10 times for stellar tackles and defensive efforts throughout the game. Oak Creek began the half with the ball but were shut down despite some nice throws and runs by Palkowski. They eventually punted, and Indian Trail’s offense started out hot once again with a nice run by Bishop and some catch and runs by Lee. Ismaili started heating up with some accurate throws and gashing rushes from the pocket got IT down inside the 20 of Oak Creek, but a tough intentional grounding flag bumped IT back a little. However, they were still very much in their range of scoring, and stayed aggressive with some pass attempts to the endzone. CB and University of Minnesota-Duluth commit [player_tooltip player_id="31098" first="Craesean" last="Slaton"] had something to say about that however, and broke up a nice fade route attempt to Lee on third down and then picked the ball off on 4th, returning the ball outside of the endzone and draining IT of a lot of potential momentum. Oak Creek stayed with their powerful rushing attack, erasing a lot of time off the clock, and almost got back inside the redzone of IT early in the 4th quarter after some great defensive stops by IT’s Tyrail Beverley. Indian Trail’s ensuing offensive possession was bogged down by more flags and some incomplete passes, and the two teams traded possessions with IT attempting some deep passes that were covered very well by Slaton. Oak Creek held strong despite a great run by Stargell with under two minutes left in the game, and Oak Creek’s Ryan Kaser sealed the game with an interception. After four great quarters of football the game ended 13-0 in favor of Oak Creek over Indian Trail. Flags and turnovers really made it too hard to overcome for Indian Trail, and Oak Creek really showed their grittiness in the win, using a stout rushing attack and an athletic and aggressive + mentally tough defense to keep IT from really getting anything going in the game. What a matchup! There was no other way I’d love to spend my Friday nights.