By Dan Shriner

Football Correspondent

After four games on the road, Oxford is coming home this week in the hopes that improved play will bring some wins.

Last week, the Wildcats lost 32-12 at Southfield A&T in a game that saw the Warriors rely on big plays in the second half, outscoring Oxford 24-6 in the final two quarters.

While Coach Bud Rowley was disappointed in the team’s second-half performance against Southfield, he said he saw improvement over the prior week’s loss.

“I thought we played very good this week in the first half –better than last week — but we let down in the second half and they made some big plays,” Rowley said.

Oxford’s defense held a talented Southfield team to only one touchdown in the first half. The teams were scoreless in the first quarter.

The Warriors scored on a 50-yard TD to take the lead and connected on a two-point conversion midway through the second quarter.

The Wildcats answered on a 56-yard pass from Parker Fleming to Sergio Borg with only 36 seconds left in the half.

Borg caught the ball on the right side a few yards past the line of scrimmage and then zig-zagged across the field to score in the left side of the end zone.

The Cats’ attempt to tie the game with a two-point conversion failed.

A good kickoff return by Southfield gave them field position on Oxford’s 44 to start the third quarter. On the first play from scrimmage, the Southfield tailback went 44 yards for the score. The Warriors missed the extra point but led 14-6.

The Cat’s came right back, moving down the field with ease. Faced with a third and five from the Southfield 17-yard line, Rowley called a timeout.

On the ensuing play Fleming hit Matthew Mielnicki with a nifty 17-yard TD strike.

The Cats were not successful with a two-point conversion attempt and trailed 14-12 midway through the third quarter.

Southfield came back with a 54-yard TD run with 5:11 left in the quarter to go up 20-12. The Warriors then scored on a 73-yard TD with 8:33 left in the game and added a final score with only a few seconds remaining.

Fleming was five of 14 for 112 yards and the two touchdowns. Oxford’s Devon Hudson led the running game with 18 carries for 82 yards.

The loss drops the Wildcats to 1-3 (1-2 OAA Red). Oxford will host its first home game of the year as they bring in the Clarkston Wolves on Friday at 7 p.m.