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Opponents are well aware of Collins quarterback Lawson Page's ability to take a game over with his arm, and the junior quarterback added a new weapon to his arsenal Friday night in leading the Titans to a 36-20 district win over North Oldham.

Page's game management in a driving rainstorm and the Titans' ability to take advantage of two critical North Oldham mistakes in the fourth quarter were the key as Collins moved into sole possession of first place in the district with a 2-0 record .

"He's (Page) something special; he's definitely our leader," Collins coach Jerry Lucas said. We normally throw it 35 or 40 times a game, but tonight not only was it raining, it was raining sideways, so we couldn't do that. I thought he showed a lot of maturity tonight in tough conditions against a very good team."

Page was in control of Collins' offense through much of the second half, completing 4 of 8 passes for 87 yards and a score and rushing seven times for 18 yards and a touchdown. He also completed a two-point conversion pass.

"We knew how good North Oldham is and that we were going to have to play well to win," Page said. "With all we have been through with our schedule this year, I think it showed up tonight for us in the second half."

With the score tied at 20 in the third period, Page and the Titans broke the game open in the fourth quarter, thanks to the ground game and the Mustangs' mistakes.

Page helped put the Titans up 26-20 early in the final period when he capped a 62-yard scoring drive with a 3-yard touchdown run behind left tackle.

The Titans caught their first break of the period on the ensuing kickoff when Blanton Creque's line-drive kick was misplayed by North Oldham's Arien Beasley, leaving the Mustangs with the ball at their own 2-yard line.

On the first play from scrimmage, North Oldham quarterback Keenan Dowd bobbled the snap back into the end zone, and Collins tackle Chris Jones recovered for a touchdown. Page hit Landon Forrest with a pass for two points to put the Titans up 34-20.

North Oldham put itself further in the hole on the next series when a punt snap sailed out of the end zone for a safety, giving Collins a 36-20 lead with just over eight minutes left.

"Those two mistakes killed us," North Oldham coach Billy Martin said. "To that point we were in the game. You can't make those kind of mistakes against a team like Collins and win."

Following the safety, Collins (5-2 overall) held the ball for six minutes driving to the 2-yard line before giving the ball back to North Oldham.

"This was a very good high school football game," Lucas said. "We knew when we got up early North Oldham was not going to go away. It was back and forth the whole way. We were fortunate to catch a couple of breaks at the end and good enough to take advantage of them tonight."

Collins 14 0 6 16 - 36
North Oldham 0 13 7 0 - 20

Collins - DeAndre Farris 67 run (Blanton Creque kick); Collins - Farris 2 run (Creque kick); NO - Keenan Dowd 1 run (Brandon Peege kick); NO -Nick Thome 34 pass from Dowd (kick missed); Collins - Nathan Sames 42 pass from Page (kick missed); NO - Josh Smith 22 run (Peege kick); Collins - Page 3 run (kick blocked); Collins - Chris Jones fumble recovery in end zone (Landon Forrest pass from Page); Collins -Safety, punt snap out of end zone.

Coll NO
Total yards 265 134
First downs 14 16
Rushes-yds. 31-167 50-26
Comp-Att-Int 6-11-0 4-6-0
Passing yards 98 118
Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-2
Penalties-yds. 0-0 4-44
Punts-avg. 2-25 1-26

http://www.usatodayhss.com/louisville/ar...2310050145