Olney makes Petrolia 'fear the veer' in 43-6 win

PETROLIA – The pregame music at Pirate Stadium Friday night consisted of a solid mix of new music with some older classics intermingled. While the music was great, it may have been more fitting to have the “Brandenburg Concertos” entertaining the capacity crowd.

“Fear the veer” isn’t just a fancy slogan in Olney, it is a way of life, and the Cubs orchestrated a masterpiece in a dominating 43-6 win over Petrolia.

“That's our culture. We have “fear the veer” on all our shirts, and it's printed downtown, so everybody knows what that means,” Olney coach Jody Guy said. “It's one of those things that if you execute and do it right, then it's hard to stop. It can be a common equalizer when you have teams that are better than you, and more athletic than you. But if you're playing somebody that you're equal to, it's so hard to stop.

“You can think I'm going to take this way and this way or this way, but inevitably, you're going to give up something. It is a thing of beauty. We love it. You know, I hope our community loves it. I think our school loves it, and I know our kids love it.”

A masterpiece wouldn’t be the same without a maestro, and the conductor of the offense, Gatlin Guy, read the defense beautifully. The Cubs controlled the clock to near perfection totaling 30:51 of possession in the contest.

“Our offensive line did well, and Gatlin did a good job reading the defense,” Guy said. “He's been running this offense for three years now, so he has that experience under his belt, and he's a pretty calm character.”

The veer needs a solid running back to gain tough yards in the middle. Jovani Rockmore is one of those guys for the Cubs, and the senior gained 144 yards on the ground after returning from an injury he suffered early against Alvord last week.

“He was really motivated. He was upset that he didn't get to finish the game last week,” Guy said. “We felt he would be healthy this week if we held him out, and he was great tonight.”

The veer is known for consuming the clock. Olney displayed a brilliantly executed two-minute drill at the end of the first half giving the Cubs a comfortable 30-6 lead. The drive was aided by a beautiful 67-yard pass to a streaking Luis Castillo.

“They can't take away everything,” Guy said. “If they play their secondary up to take away the run, they're going to give up the pass.”

While the offense is getting most of the headlines, the Cubs defense has only allowed six points in its first eight quarters of the season. The six points surrendered against the Pirates came after the Olney offense fumbled at its 15-yard line and held the Pirates to 156 total yards.

“The defense was phenomenal. AB Marquez is our mike linebacker, and he's the maestro of the defense,” Guy said. “Our mindset has to be a physical football team on offense, and the defensive side brings that as well.”

Everything clicked for Olney in the game, but nothing seemed to go right for Petrolia most of the night. The Pirates entered as an underdog, and having to play without its star running back, Caleb Henderson, in the first half did not help their chances of pulling off the upset.

“It didn't make a difference in the game, but it sure didn't help,” Petrolia coach Byron West said. “Caleb is one of those kids that works hard every day in practice, and It probably hurt us more on the morale end of it. Our kids see he's out, and we feel that – not that it made a difference tonight. That is a good football team we just played.”

Olney is a good football team, and Friday night, the capacity crowd witnessed the football equivalent of a baroque-era masterpiece.

Olney 43, Petrolia 6

Olney 8 22 0 13 -43

Petrolia 6 0 0 0 -6

FIRST QUARTER

O - Gatlin Guy 4 run (Guy run), 6:18

P - Gage Bowers 15 run (kick failed), 3:01

SECOND QUARTER

O - Jovani Rockmore 6 run (Jacob Hernandez kick), 9:06

O - Cye Dixon 4 run (Hernandez kick), 2:38

O - Guy 3 run (Guy run), 0:09

FOURTH QUARTER

O - Guy 23 run (pass failed), 11:53

O - Rockmore 13 run (Hernandez kick), 6:19

TEAM STATS

First downs: (O) 28; (P) 9

Rushing: (O) 58-382; (P) 28-144

Passing: (O) 1-4-1—67; (P) 3-15-0—12

Punts: (O) 1-51; (P) 4-41.3

Fumbles: (O) 1-1; (P) 0-0

Penalties: (O) 9-70; (P) 5-15

INDIVIDUAL STATS

RUSHING: (O) Jovani Rockmore 20-144, Gatlin Guy 18-112, Cye Dixon 12-69, Colin Mason 7-55, Braulio Flores 1-2. (P) Gage Bowers 7-60, Caleb Henderson 12-49, Jordan Demoss 6-23, Joaquin Martinez 3-12.

PASSING: (O) Guy 1-4-1—67. (P) Bowers 3-15-0—12.

RECEIVING: (O) Luis Castillo 1-67. (P) Demoss 1-7, Teagan Swenson 1-4, Ramsey Hensley 1-1.

RECORDS: Olney 2-0, Petrolia 0-2.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Olney Cubs at Petrolia Pirates 2022 high school football score 43-6