Ogilby’s big night leads MCHS

It was hard to tell if it was Randy Moss or John Ogilby playing on Grizzly Field at Mariposa County High School last Friday night.

Ogilby certainly looked like the Hall of Fame receiver during the match-up against league foe Delhi. He scored three touchdowns and had a fourth wiped out due to a false start penalty.

His breakout performance helped carve the path for Mariposa to win 30-0 over the Hawks.

Decked out in gold cleats, it looked as though Ogilby was preparing for a gold jacket someday. The sophomore receiver absolutely cooked Delhi defenders, who stood no chance against the 6-foot-2, 180 pounder with great speed.

Ogilby finished with four catches for 121 yards and three touchdowns.

All of this came with the Grizzlies playing without standout Ezekiel Weiland, who injured his shoulder after landing on it awkwardly a week prior against Modesto Christian. Weiland should hopefully return in a few weeks.

“He’s showing up to practice every single day. His brother is on the coaching staff, so he’s served as his brother’s assistant (for now),” said MCHS varsity head coach Chase Pometta.

Ogilby himself was also battling leg cramps in the third quarter, and standout teammate Lyell Marcis briefly was hampered by calf cramps. Receiver Caden Lindsey also went out with an injury in the second half, so it made Ogilby stepping up even that much more important.

One of the most noteworthy plays of the game came on a fade route in which Ogilby managed to stay inbounds in the end zone to snag a touchdown reception.

“The fade was just him being an athlete,” said Pometta. “Athletes at his level see the game differently. I believe the game is slow for a kid like Johnny. He has all the physical attributes, but he sees next level moves and how to set things up.”

On one touchdown, it looked as though Ogilby was going to be a blocker, but he quickly turned and jetted into space to find himself open for a score.

“The way he set that up, no one will notice that, but he completely turned,” said Pometta.

Ogilby’s fake-out brought the Delhi free safety down, and then he took off and got open. It was an impressive move for a sophomore.

“That’s a next-level move,” said Pometta.

Making it even more impressive, Pometta said “he came to the sideline” and suggested it to the coach.

“Number 8 and number 23 were switching off on me (throughout the evening),” said Ogilby. “I knew after I ran my first fade (route) that I had 8 beat all game. I let coach know. Coach loves that type of information.”

Ogilby comes from an athletic family, with older brothers who played previously. He was excited for the season but quickly found himself on the sidelines for a few weeks with a shoulder injury. The doctors suspect he dislocated his shoulder, and when it popped back into place, it might have slightly torn the labrum.

“It was a bummer. I probably could have played, but I couldn’t have played at 100 percent. I wanted to play at 100 percent,” Ogilby explained.

Friday’s contest was just his second game back.

“It should have been difficult for him (being sidelined), but he handled it in a great way,” Pometta said. “Normally at that age when that happens, kids lose interest in coming to practice. But he never had that mentality. He’s a true leader as a sophomore. He came in and talked with me the other day and talked about building up his teammates. It was such a next-level conversation. I appreciate it as the coach of this program, because I know good things are coming.”

Ogilby said it was “really awesome” to be fully back. He said in his first game back, he “didn’t play to the best of his ability” (despite scoring a touchdown).

It looks as though Mariposa might have found a cheat code to pair with its strong ground attack. If Ogilby, Weiland and Marcis can lead the way catching the ball, and Rusty Bull continues to be a workhorse on the ground, Mariposa could be quite difficult to beat in the postseason.

“This game was phenomenal for me,” Ogilby said. “I want to step up and be a leader … I am a sophomore and I want to step my game up for the next two years.”

Pometta praises QB

Ogilby’s touchdowns wouldn’t have been possible without the savvy play of young quarterback Austin Battles. Battles excelled at keeping plays alive with his feet on Friday, and did a nice job of spotting Ogilby when he broke free from defenders.

Ogilby was sure to praise his quarterback during his post-game interview, calling the passing attack “on point.”

“Austin was throwing me great passes. I’ve got to give credit to him,” said Ogilby. “He did everything correct in his way and threw phenomenal passes to me.”

Pometta also praised his quarterback for learning that the safe play is sometimes the smart play. He mentioned how sometimes Battles had to throw the ball away to avoid a more negative result, or settle for a short run rather than going for a home run type of play.

“It’s fun to think how good he can be,” Pometta said.