Oxford piles up yards; Greene loses first

Evening Sun Report

Football

Oxford 34, Newfield 12

NEWFIELD – Oxford scored on its first three possessions of the second half, and in the meantime stopped a fourth-and-one in the fourth quarter to squelch a Newfield drive and move over the .500 mark for the first time this season (3-2).

Scott Shackelton scored on two TD runs in the second half and finished with a career-high 165 yards rushing. Eric Betts added a 50-yard dash in the third quarter to pull away.

“We ran the ball pretty effectively, and the second half was about as well as we have played offensively this season,” said Oxford coach John Curtis.

Newfield’s Mike Armstrong scored on a 47-yard run, and Dylan Shults hauled a 11-yard TD pass from Armstrong early in the second quarter to give the hosts a 12-7 lead.

Trevor Nelson caught a 20-yard TD pass from Steve Locke for the go-ahead points, and Locke finished 7-for-11 for 120 yards. Ian Grundner added a five-yard TD in the first quarter.

Defensively, Oxford allowed 259 yards – most of those coming in the first half. Dustin Christophersen was credited with three sacks.

Football Summary

O N

First downs 15 12

Rushes-yds 50-285 36-142

Passing yds 120 117

Comp-att-int 7-13-0 9-18-1

Punts-avg 2-33.5 3-23.5

Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-1

Penalties-yds 11-85 3-20

Individual statistics

Rushing: (O) Scott Shackelton, 20-165; E. Betts, 4-65; I. Grundner, 3-26; S. Locke, 7-14; T. Nelson, 3-13; K. Smith, 2-2; P. Wade, 1-(-5). (N) S. Miller, 14-46; M. Armstrong, 12-70; M. Kastenhuber, 4-9; C. Snyder, 4-17; M. Gregg, 2-0.

Passing: (O) S. Locke, 7-12-0, 120 yds TD, A. Champlin, 0-1-0. (N) Mike Armstrong, 9-18-1, 117 yds, TD.

Receiving: (O) John Witchella, 3-59; M. Begeal, 1-31; T. Nelson, 1-20; B. Burdick, 2-10. (N) Dillon Shults, 5-76; Aaron Catlin, 3-43; Chauncey Snyder, 1-(-2).

Score by quarters

Oxf. 7 6 13 7–34

New. 6 6 0 0–12

Scoring summary

First quarter

O: Grundner 5 run (J. Vincent kick)

N: Armstrong 47 run (kick failed)

Second quarter

N: Schults 11 pass from Armstrong (run failed)

O: Nelson 20 pass from Locke (Vincent kick)

Third quarter

O: Shackelton 5 run (kick failed)

O: Betts 50 run (Vincent kick)

Fourth quarter

O: Shackelton 9 run (Vincent kick)

Sidney 40, Greene 20

SIDNEY – Sidney isn’t blowing people away like it did in last year’s state title run, but it still is making more than enough plays to continue an unbeaten streak that is now at 16 games.

The Warriors, who scored two touchdowns in the final minute of the first half, added two late touchdowns in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter to pull away from previously-unbeaten Greene (4-1). “In the second half, Sidney won the line of scrimmage,” said Greene coach Tim Paske, noting the difference in the game. “We were right there at 26-20 going into the final minutes, but sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way. We still control our own destiny (to make the playoffs), and our focus is on winning our next game.”

Sidney, unable to generate any type of a running game in the first half, threw for all 139 of its passing yards in the opening half. Two quick pass completions set up Jarred Mertz’s 5-yard TD run with 45 seconds left in the quarter.

Greene turned the ball over on its next play from scrimmage, and two plays later, Parker Umbra hooked up with Andy Foote on a 28-yard TD pass with 13 seconds left.

Instead of squibbing the next kickoff, Foote lofted a deep boot to the 10-yard line. Greene sophomore Nate Whittaker covered the 90 yards on the final play of the half to pare the lead to 13-6.

Greene’s fortunes brightened after a defensive stop to start the third quarter. The Sidney punt snap sailed over Umbra’s head, who got off a short kick to David Micha. Micha traveled only 15 yards for six points and Greene’s only lead.

Sidney advanced 75 yards on its next drive forgoing the pass and sticking with its base, double-wing offense. Mertz’s second TD run, this one from one yard, put Sidney in front for good.