Oxford Football Coach Bud Rowley turned his Cats loose for a half and it was all they needed to roll to a 35-7 victory over Clio last week.
The Wildcats? starting offensive unit played little more than a half in the game and held the 35-0 lead at the intermission.
During that same first half, the Cat’s defense held Clio to minus four yards while the offense piled up 308 yards in the first 24 minutes.
The victory put Oxford at 2-0 in the Flint Metro League. On Friday, the Cats will host U of D Jesuit in the only non-league game of the year. The game starts at 7 p.m.
Rowley said he was pleased with the effort against Clio.
‘We talked all week about making the big jump, getting better the second week and separating ourselves from 50 percent of the teams,? Rowley said. ‘We wanted to make a jump, to make a statement that that we’re a pretty good football team and I think we did.?
The Wildcat’s opening score came on their opening possession on an 8-yard pass from Jeremy Bukoski to Joel Fortier with 10:51 left in the opening quarter. Don Pohl then kicked the first of his five conversions.
Oxford scored again three minutes later on a 57-yard TD strike from Bukoski to Eric Shipman. The score followed an interception by Nick Collier.
The Cat’s added their third score on the first play of the second quarter, on a four-yard run by Fortier. Following the extra point, Oxford led 21-0.
The fourth TD of the half came on a 28-yard jaunt by Collier around the right side of the Oxford offensive line with 9:47 left.
The final score of the half, which put Oxford ahead 35-0, came with 3:40 left. Collier capped the strong offensive output with a 60-yard run around the left side.
The 35-0 score meant the teams were playing with a running clock for most of the remaining game. Reserves played for most of the remaining time in the second quarter and for most of the second half.
The Wildcat’s defense held Clio to minus eight yards rushing for the game.
The Mustang’s only score came on a 98-yard TD pass from Clio QB Ryan Clark to Michael Roe with 1:28 left in the game.
The 98-yard TD gave Clio a total of 103 yards in offense for the game.
The Wildcats reeled off 308 yards in the opening half while holding the Mustangs to minus four. The Cat’s finished with 373 yards of offense.
Collier led the way with 160 rushing yards in the first half and finished with 174 on 11 carries. He also had two interceptions.
Bukoski completed six of nine passes for 95 yards and two TDs. Shipman collected 67 receiving yards.