Oak Glen’s Paxton Shuman rumbles up the middle against East Liverpool on Friday at Patterson Field. (Photo by Jimmy Joe Savage)

EAST LIVERPOOL–Oak Glen used its high-powered offense to flatten the first four opponents on its schedule. Friday’s win at East Liverpool, however, was all about the Golden Bears’ toughness.

After being bottled up for the first three quarters, Oak Glen broke loose for three fourth quarter touchdowns to storm past East Liverpool 21-14 on homecoming night at Patterson Field.

Paxton Shuman scored the game-winning touchdown from two yards out with 1:45 left in the game as the Golden Bears move to 5-0 and continue their best start in school history. The Potters drop to 2-3.

The Golden Bears scored two touchdowns in the final eight minutes to wipe out a 14-6 East Liverpool lead.

“Tonight showed that we have some guts,” Oak Glen coach Ted Arneault Jr. said. “It’s not easy to come back late in the game against a good team like that. They are a very physical, well-coached football team and they had a great gameplan for us in the first half. We really had to dig deep and make some adjustments. I’m really proud of our kids for getting it done.”

Shuman scored all three of Oak Glen’s touchdowns from short range in the fourth quarter.

His first score, from 1 yard out, got the Golden Bears on the board with 9:16 left in the game after the Potters entered the fourth quarter up 7-0.

However, Oak Glen’s extra point was blocked, leaving the score 7-6 Potters and setting up an exciting flurry of action the rest of the way.

East Liverpool got an instant jolt when Nick Woodyard took the ensuing kickoff 85-yards to the house, making it 14-6 East Liverpool with 9:02 left.

The Golden Bears refused to blink and promptly zipped down the field thanks to a couple of big pass plays from quarterback Nick Chaney (18-for-29 232 yards) and Hunter Patterson (10 catches for 134 yards).

Shuman plunged into the end zone with 7:11 left and Chaney and Patterson hooked up on the two-point conversion to tie the game.

After Oak Glen forced a three-and-out, Chaney again set the Golden Bears up when he lofted a beautiful 33-yard strike to Gage Patterson to give Oak Glen a 1st-and-goal at the 2. One play later, Shuman was in the end zone.

“The biggest thing we feel like we’ve changed at Oak Glen is the culture,” Arneault said. “You can’t get a win like tonight without being a family. It’s a community-wide thing, we’ve bought into each other, we trust each other and we’ve done the work we’ve needed to do to give us confidence to get the job done. Everyone trusts each other.”

Brayden Mineard thwarted East Liverpool on the ensuing drive with an interception with a minute-and-a-half left. The Potters had one last-ditch effort with under a minute left, but were halted at the Oak Glen 40 as time expired. East Liverpool quarterback Nate Davis (6-for-18 for 47 yards) left with an apparent injury on East Liverpool’s last drive.

The Potters now face a stiff uphill challenge to make the playoffs.

“There is a lot of football left,” East Liverpool coach Josh Ludwig said. “We’re going to work extra hard to try and salvage the season. We’re going to keep playing every week.”

East Liverpool running back Derek Carter carried most of the load for the Potters, finishing with 127 rushing yards. East Liverpool had forced Oak Glen into three turnovers on downs inside the red zone in the first three quarters before the floodgates opened for the Golden Bears.

“I’ll have to take a look at the film to see what happened, I’m kind of at a loss for words right now,” Ludwig said. “We’re upset that we let this one get away.”

Game notes

¯Gage Patterson helped kick-start Oak Glen’s first touchdown drive with a perfectly executed 24-yard run on a fake punt.

¯Friday was Oak Glen’s first win over East Liverpool since 2014.

¯East Liverpool’s Breanna Kelly was crowned homecoming queen at halftime.

¯The Potters are at Martins Ferry next week, while Oak Glen hosts Edison.

Oak Glen 21, East Liverpool 14

Oak Glen: 0-0-0-21–21

E. Liverpool: 0-7-0-7–14

EL: Nick Woodyard 4 run (Austin Deering kick)

OG: Paxton Shuman 1 run (kick blocked)

EL: Nick Woodyard 85 kickoff return (Deering kick)

OG: Paxton Shuman 5 run (Hunter Patterson pass from Nick Chaney)

OG: Paxton Shuman 2 run (Seth Mozingo kick)

PASSING: Oak Glen 18-29-232-0-0 (all by Nick Chaney); East Liverpool 6-18-47-0-2 (all by Nate Davis).

RUSHING: Oak Glen 44-174-3 (Hunter Patterson 16-88; Paxton Shuman 22-60-3; Gage Patterson 4-32; Nick Chaney 1-3); East Liverpool 30-157 (Derek Carter 20-127; Nick Woodyard 6-22-1; Nate Davis 4-8)

RECEIVING: Oak Glen 18-232 (Hunter Patterson 10-134; Gage Patterson 6-61; Zach Taylor 1-24; Brayden Mineard 1-7; Michael Lemley 1-6); East Liverpool 6-47 (Nick Woodyard 3-21; Timmy Neal 2-8; Howie Williams 1-18)

FIRST DOWNS: Oak Glen 19; East Liverpool 10.

FUMBLES-LOST: Oak Glen 1-0; East Liverpool 1-1.

PENALTIES-YARDS: Oak Glen 4-20; East Liverpool 7-51.

PUNTS: Oak Glen 3-24; East Liverpool 6-40.