OAK HILL, Ohio -- Going into Friday night, Coal Grove had averaged 38 points per game by controlling possession and chewing clock.

On Friday night, however, Oak Hill (11-0) gave the Hornets a dose of their own medicine in the first round of the Division V, Region 19 playoffs at Davis Stadium. The Oaks used a balanced offense to control possession for nearly 30 minutes in a 42-14 drubbing of the Hornets.

"Give them all the credit in the world," Coal Grove coach Dave Lucas said. "They played good defense and very sound offense. They have a nice ballclub. I wish them the best."

The combination of Oak Hill running back Western Hale and quarterback Jesse Slone was too much for the Hornets, who also were saddled with the loss of two-way standout Evan Ferguson, who injured his wrist early in the first quarter.

Coal Grove (9-2) also fumbled six times, losing five.

"We had some very unfortunate things happen to us tonight," Lucas said.

Hale rushed for 140 yards and three touchdowns while Slone finished 15-of-21 for 163 yards and two scores. Wide receiver Joey Maynard also scored twice, once on a 38-yard run and once on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Slone.

Offensive miscues in the second quarter and beginning of the second half gave Oak Hill several possessions within Coal Grove's end of the field. The end result was 21 straight Oak Hill points.

After the Oaks fumbled away the opening kickoff, Coal Grove appeared to be going in for a score, but Greg Bender fumbled at the 1-yard line and. Two plays later, Ferguson left the field because of a wrist injury. Oak Hill took that drive 96 yards for a score with Hale's 13-yard run capping the drive on fourth down.

"You know (that sequence) is going to take something out of you, but I thought our kids came back and got back in it," Lucas said. "It just didn't work out for us."

After a Coal Grove punt in the second quarter, Oak Hill showed why it is one of the most balanced offenses around with Hale and quarterback Jesse Slone at the helm.

Oak Hill embarked on a 14-play drive of 95 yards and Hale scored on a 1-yard run.

Slone hit 10 of his first 11 passes in the game and led an offensive output that produced 391 yards -- 228 on the ground and 163 through the air.

"Absolutely by far, the best we've seen all year," Lucas said.

Contrast that to the Hornets, who saw their game go one-dimensional with Ferguson's injury. Coal Grove finished with 197 of its 212 yards on the ground.

Coal Grove got its lone score and only lead just minutes after Oak Hill's first scoring drive. Jake Murphy took a counter 58 yards for a score and the subsequent conversion pass from Ryan Goodwin to Frank Delawder gave the Hornets an 8-7 lead.

Less than two minutes later, Hale covered all 32 yards in four plays for the Oaks following a long kickoff return. His 6-yard scoring run gave Oak Hill a lead it would not relinquish.

Oakie Haynes finished with 86 yards rushing, including a 26-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, for Coal Grove.

COAL GROVE 8 0 0 6 -- 14

OAK HILL 7 14 7 14 -- 42

OH -- Hale 13 run (Ondera kick)

CG -- Murphy 58 run (Delawder pass from Goodwin)

OH -- Hale 6 run (Ondera kick)

OH -- Hale 1 run (Ondera kick)

OH -- Maynard 38 run (Ondera kick)

CG -- Haynes 26 run (pass failed)

OH -- Ondera 11 pass from Slone (Ondera kick)

OH -- Maynard 7 pass from Slone (Ondera kick)

CG OH

Total yards 212 391

First downs 9 18

Rushes-Yards 40-197 35-228

Comp-Att-Int 2-3-0 15-21-0

Passing Yards 15 163

Penalties-Yards 5-48 7-42

Fumbles-Lost 6-5 1-1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Coal Grove: Haynes 14-86, TD; Murphy 2-58, TD; Delawder 12-48; Bender 3-4; Goodwin 5-1; Colley 1-0; Woods 3-0. Oak Hill: Hale 22-140, 3 TDs; Maynard 9-67, TD; Slone 2-16; Davis 1-5; Bailey 1-0.

PASSING -- Coal Grove: Ferguson 1-of-1, 13 yards; R. Goodwin 1-2, 2 yards. Oak Hill: Slone 15-of-21, 163 yards, 2 TDs.

RECEIVING -- Coal Grove: Delawder 1-13; Haynes 1-2. Oak Hill: Maynard 7-64, TD; Ondera 5-71, TD; Hale 1-15; Davis 1-9; Woods 1-4.

AP Video