High school football: Oberlin can't sustain good start, falls to Brooklyn

OBERLIN — When senior defensive lineman Isaac Thompson returned an interception 60 yards for a touchdown with 2:54 to play in the first quarter Friday night, Oberlin had a six-point lead over Brooklyn in their non-conference matchup. It proved to be Oberlin's lone bright spot. Brooklyn scored three rushing touchdowns and returned two fumbles for scores in a 38-point second quarter that gave the Hurricanes all the momentum they needed to run away with a 53-6 win at Oberlin College. "Just young kids making mistakes," Oberlin coach Dominique Goodwin said. "That's a second-year player at center trying to do his best and just pressing. We made too many mistakes. We killed ourselves, and our kids, we couldn't handle adversity well tonight. It was just a matter of being kids. We're going to come back, watch film and get better." The barrage of 38 straight points from the Hurricanes (2-1) started when they recovered a Jameson Clark fumble at the Oberlin 19-yard line. On the ensuing play, senior quarterback Jaiden Basinger scrambled up the middle to the 10, cut back to the left sideline and outran three Oberlin defenders to the end zone. Basinger's first of three first-half 2-point conversion passes went to Anthony Starr to give the Hurricanes an 8-6 lead with 11:47 to go in the half. They were just getting started. After Oberlin (0-3) punted on its next possession, Basinger engineered a second straight scoring drive. Following a 20-yard pass to Raymeir Cogburn, he rushed for a 6-yard score around left end. He then completed a second 2-point conversion pass to Starr for a 16-6 lead. That's when Brooklyn's defense went to work against the Phoenix, forcing fumbles on three straight possessions to put the game out of reach for good. Sophomore defensive back Aiden Starr recovered the first two fumbles and returned them for touchdowns, while the third set up Cogburn for a rushing score. "We've traditionally been a 4-4 defense, and we went to a 3-3," Brooklyn coach Tim McFarland said. "We worked and talked a lot this winter about how to bring guys from different angles and places. The coaches do a great job of getting kids where they need to be and making big plays with blitzes at the right time." Oberlin will look to apply the lessons learned in Friday's loss when they host the Keystone Wildcats in the opening game of Lorain County League play next week. "Our kids understand that we cannot make mistakes," Goodwin said. "When they watch the film, and they see the little things they're doing wrong, if we can correct those, we can stay in the game. We're going to go back to the film, get better and find 11 players that are going to come out and play." Contact Matt Florjancic at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.