OXFORD — The Chargers continue to stay on fire in region play. It didn’t take long to make that point clear on senior night.

The Chargers won their fifth straight game by defeating the Center Hill Mustangs 49-18. It was another complete game for the Chargers, particularly on offense. The Chargers scored a season high 49 points and defensively, they created turnovers. The seniors, a group who have been through three state championship losses, played their final regular season game on Bobby Holcomb Field.

“Our goal right now is to earn a home playoff game in the first round and we knew that we had to take care of business tonight to be on our way to do that and we did,” head coach Chris Cutcliffe said. “We definitely wanted to give our seniors a great experience on senior night. The only way to do that was to play really well and I think, for the most part, we did that.”

Oxford featured a well balanced passing game led by John Reece McClure. McClure completed 19 of his 28 passes for 272 yards and threw for a career high four touchdowns; no turnovers.

“We were hoping to come out and have success throwing the ball,” Cutcliffe said. “I was very pleased with that, our guys stepped up and made some really big plays. John Reece (McClure) played really well.”

“Coach Cut (Cutcliffe) told me that we were going to throw the ball. We came out and we executed,” said McClure.

Jaquan Webb led the Chargers in receiving with five catches, 93 yards, and two first half touchdowns. Barry Flowers and Joe O’keefe combined five catches, 87 yards, and each of them had a score in the first half. Preston Perkins finished with four catches and 48 yards.

The ground game was led by Lance Stewart, who finished with five carries and 76 yards. Most of those yards came on a long Stewart touchdown run early in the third quarter.

The defense has been solid all season, it didn’t disappoint in this game either.

“When you play any type of double-wing team, you get to see how disciplined you are as a defense,” defensive coordinator Matt McCrory said. “That was my main challenge for our guys this week was to not do something stupid. If you’re responsible for dive, take dive. If you got quarterback, take quarterback. If you got pitch, take pitch. Overall I thought we did a good job with that.”

Quentin Wilfawn did just about everything defensively: get seven tackles, recover a fumble, intercept a pass, and lastly scored his first career touchdown off of that interception with a pick six.

D.Q. Thomas led the Chargers in tackles with 12, while getting two tackles for loss. D.T. Thompson had seven tackles with one of them for loss.

C.J. Terrell was also able to intercept a pass late in the third quarter.op

Extra Points

Turning Point:

Oxford jumped out to a 22-0 lead midway through the second quarter, but Center Hill didn’t roll over. The Mustangs were able to get six points on the board when Daverick Hardin found Derrick Jones for a 29 yard touchdown pass. The PAT was no good. Oxford was determined to get more points before the half. Penalties throttled the Chargers on that drive and turned the ball over on downs with 19 seconds left in the first half. The stop gave Center Hill momentum to work with going into halftime. The Mustangs’ hopes for a second half comeback were dashed on the very first play of the third quarter. Stewart broke loose for a 46 yard touchdown to make the score 29-6. The Mustangs couldn’t get any momentum going for the rest of the game.

Playmaker:

Webb had a big game coming off of a foot injury three weeks earlier. He had season highs in receptions, yards, and touchdowns in this game.

“Getting him (Webb) back going full speed definitely makes us a better football team,” Cutcliffe said about Webb.

Talking Point:

“We were doubted before the season started, so we just feel like we have to push even harder,” Thomas said.

Notes:

•  The Chargers at one point late in the first half were faced with a 1st and 57 due to a load of penalties. Oxford was able to convert, but the Mustangs forced a turnover on downs on that drive
• McClure had 265 of his 272 total passing yards in the first half alone
• The Chargers will travel to Lake Cormorant to take on the Gators for the next game. The game will determine who gets a No. 2 and No. 3 seed in the Class 5A Playoffs