It marked the first game played on the new artificial turf field at Sutherlin.

Oakland scored first when Andrew Harrington picked off a Tristan Needham pass and went 28 yards to the end zone to give the Oakers a 6-0 lead.

Then in the second quarter, the Bulldogs held after backing up the Oakers to their own 24, but Harrington got off a booming 60-yard punt that rolled dead at the Sutherlin 16. The Bulldogs fumbled on their first play, and it took Oakland four plays to score with James Morhain punching it in from the two-yard line to make it 12-0.

Both teams were having trouble moving the ball, and every time Sutherlin started to get a little momentum, a turnover would stop the drive.

But in the  fourth period, they finally cashed in. After blocking an Oakland punt, they got the ball at the Oakers’ 36 yard line and it took four plays to score with Tristan Needham getting it in the end zone from four yards out to make it 12-6 with nine minutes left. Neither team could make an extra point.

The Oakers put the game out of reach, when Austin Saddler grabbed a 17-yard pass from Harrington in the end zone with 2:49 to go in the game, and another missed extra-point left the score at 18-6, and that’s how it stayed.

Sutherlin’s Conner Grauf led the Bulldogs in rushing with 74 yards on 18 carries.

The 2A Oakers start off the season with a big win after losing to the Bulldogs 22-6 to open last season. The Oakers host Central Linn next Friday in another non-league contest.

The Bulldogs drop to 0-1 and lost their seventh straight dating back to last season. They haven’t won since they beat Oakland in the season opener last year. They will host Douglas next Friday on the new turf. Hear the game on i101 FM with pregame at 6:40 p.m.