Offense:
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The Oak Park Northmen showcased their new stadium Friday night with their season home opener against the Grain Valley Eagles. The offense seemed out-of-sync until late in the 4th when they targeted '22
Bubba Bogart.
Bogart had two identical back shoulder catches resulting in touchdowns, one being from 40 yards out and the other from 38 yards. It was really nice seeing the senior connection Bogart and senior quarterback '22
Ty Clemens had in the 4
th quarter. Hoping to see more of those two working together as the season continues. Overall, Bogart was the offensive MVP of the game for the Northmen and had an outstanding home opener.
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           Senior quarterback '22
Ty Clemens had an interesting night on Friday. Clemens had 2 interceptions and two long touchdown passes. The interceptions came in the first half and the touchdowns in the second. It just seemed as though the QB and WR's just never got in sync on Friday night, that will need to improve moving forward in the season as this Northmen team has a lot of talent spread all across the field. Â The offensive line had a tough night running the ball against a stingy Grain Valley defense, but were successful in protecting the QB once the Northmen were forced to start throwing the ball.Â
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Defense:
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           Stopping the rush has been an issue in the first two games of the season for Oak Park and it seemed that Grain Valley knew this going into the game. Grain Valley rushed for 308 yards and 5 rushing touchdowns, despite a great game from '22
Paul Hernandez, who finished the night with 5 tackles along with 8 assists and a tackle for loss. '22
Jett Sutton left the field very early in the competition with an injury unknown at this writing, leaving '22
Bubba Bogart to enter the game on defense. With Sutton being out, the Northmen looked to senior leaders Hernandez and  '22
Jermaine Harris for production while '24Â
Aiden Hinkle, who has been a positive young addition to this edition of the Northmen defense, will have to step-up to fill the position. Â The Northmen will need to playing with a more physical brand of football to stop opposing ground games, and if they find it, they'll be putting themselves in the win column moving forward.Â
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What's Next?
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           Next week the Northmen take on Truman which will be their second away game of the year. Truman has given up a combined 90 points in their first two games so this will be a great opportunity for the Northmen to get their first win of the 2021 season.
Come out and support!
The game will be at 7 on Friday night at Truman.
GO NORTHMEN!
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