Dominant shutout win for Blackhawks

OXFORD – Even when Oxford was winning three Section IV titles in four years about a decade ago, it never held a team to negative rushing yards.

In a defensive display that was easily the best this year or any in recent memory, the Blackhawks kept their Class D playoff hopes alive with a third straight victory Friday night.

Jeremy Nelson scored four touchdowns, and freshman Paul Wonka had his second straight 100-yard rushing day in a 38-0 whitewashing of an undermanned Hancock squad.

“You never expect to give up negative yards, but you’ll take it when you do it,” said Oxford third-year coach Mike Chrystie, who played on Oxford’s three sectional championship teams “I’m proud of our defense.”

From the get-go, Oxford established its running game, and did not allow Hancock much time to run its spread offense. Wildcats slinger, Dylan Oralls, was harassed and sacked repeatedly in two quarters of action, and a late first-half hit sidelined him for the game.

“We knew they would try to spread us out,” Chrystie said of Hancock’s offense. “We took the philosophy that we would get to them before they could throw. We were pretty successful with that tonight.”

Zach Barry, Zach Hamilton, Shawn McKee, and Paul Wonka all had tackles for losses in the first half. Starting running back Darin Keesler, Hancock’s leading rusher, was also knocked out of the game early on with an injury. By game’s end, Hancock had just three available players on the sidelines, and two of those were exchange students playing their first year of football.

“We’re peaking at the right time, and we’re headed to Delhi next weekend who everyone considers the favorite,” Chrystie said. “Our confidence is up and we’re playing good football.”