The Yellow Jacket and Cougar captains meet midfield.
The Osbourn Park Yellow Jackets kicked off the 2023 football season at Manassas Park Friday night, winning 61-0.
Friday night also marked Manassas Park's return to the gridiron for the first time since 2021, led by new head coach Mark Teague.
OP wasted no time getting on the board. Senior quarterback Adrian Cabrera would find senior receiver Julius Palza for a short pass, as Palza did the rest and scampered away from Cougar defenders for a 56 yard score. OP would miss the extra point and go up 6-0 with 10:05 left in the first quarter.
Manassas Park would fumble on the next drive, as senior lineman Rutilio Argueta-Alvarez recovered it for the visitors.
Cabrera connected with sophomore receiver Caden Thornton on a 12 yard touchdown to put OP up 12-0 at the 3:34 mark of the first quarter. They'd miss a second consecutive extra point attempt.
Senior running back Matt Brown wasn't going to let the passing game have all the fun. Brown dashed in from 14 yards out to put his team up 18-0 with 11:18 left in the half. OP would get an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and push themselves back 15 yards. Mathias Alderetez would convert from an impressive 35 yards out.
Junior linebacker Andrew Benson would recover a fumble on the next Cougar possession to give his team the ball.
Cabrera and Thornton hooked up again, this time from 15 yards out. OP took a 26-0 lead until lightning reared its ugly head causing an hour long delay with 7:35 left in the half.
An hour-long lightning delay occured in the first half of Osbourn Park/Manassas Park.
Osbourn Park didn't let the delay affect them, as Cabrera would find the endzone again- this time on his feet- as his team went up 33-0 with 3:51 left in the half. The senior QB finished the game 7-12 for 113 yards and 4 total touchdowns.
Manassas Park would have their best drive of the night, getting multiple first downs on the ground and putting the Yellow Jacket defense on their heels. The Cougars marched down all the way to OP's 19 yard line, but would throw an interception to sophomore Jonathan Bray with 16 seconds left in the half. Bray would finish the game with 10 tackles as well.
Matt Brown continued his attack on the ground, ripping off a 37 yard score at the 9:29 mark of the third quarter as OP went up 40-0. Brown would finish the game with 14 rushes for 159 yards and 3 scores.
Julius Palza wasn't done, either, as he took a punt return back 44 yards to the house. Another return of 30 yards would give him 74 for the game and 136 all-purpose yards for the game.
OP head coach Marsel Wells would eventually give his second string some shine. Jailen Tibbs would find Michael Okeneh twice in a row for 79 yards, capping it off with a seven yard touchdown. Tibbs would also have an interception on defense.
I talked to Marsel after the game.
"Tonight was a big weight off our shoulders. Winning in a season opener is the momentum every team needs to start the season. The kids had fun, played hard and performed as the coaching staff expected."
Osbourn Park has a short week to prepare for Thursday's game versus Hylton. The Bulldogs (0-1) are coming off a 62-6 loss at Battlefield. Kickoff is at 7 pm.
Game notes:
- Junior Rutilio Argueta-Alvarez finished the game with 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery.
- OP had 16 first downs to Manassas Park's 8.
- The Yellow Jackets were 3-4 on third down. The Cougars were 4-10.
- OP was successful on their lone fourth down conversion. Manassas park was 0-2.
- The Yellow Jackets won the turnover battle, accounting for 0 themselves while forcing 7 on defense.
- OP did garner more penalty yardage (9, 80 yards) to the Cougars' (10, 50 yards).
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