Oak Park Edges Boron in Points, 13-12, and in Uniformed Players, 18-17

Oak Park, able to field only 18 players and competing without a head coach, defeated Boron, 13-12, Friday night at Oak Park High on a two-yard touchdown run by Kent Richter on the first play of the fourth quarter.

The Eagles were forced to play the game with a coaching committee of 10 people on the sideline in the wake of the resignation Wednesday of two-year head Coach Ron Veres. Veres, who quit after a dispute with school administrators, said late in the week that Oak Park had only eight players healthy enough to play.

He was off by 10, however, and the 18 Eagles were one more than the number of players suited up by Boron, whose own team bus wasn’t exactly bursting at the rivets on its 120-mile trip.

“We were never concerned about having enough players,” Oak Park Athletic Director Fred Yamano said before the game. “We knew we had 20 or so who would be able to play.”

Yamano was the leader of a coaching conglomerate that included school Principal Jeff Chancer, former assistant coach Roger Newell and a host of current assistant coaches.

The committee approach apparently worked, although the Eagles were nearly beaten by one Boron player, tailback Keith Fine. Fine shredded the Oak Park defense for 176 yards and two long touchdowns in 19 carries, including a dazzling 62-yard scoring run on Boron’s first play of the game.

But Oak Park’s defense caused five turnovers in the game and held the Bobcats scoreless in the second half.

Richter set up his game-winning touchdown run by intercepting a pass and returning it 30 yards to the Boron 15. Three plays and a pass-interference call later, he scored. Mike Stern completed five of 12 passes for 69 yards, including a 37-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Gibbons on Oak Park’s first possession.