Sidney’s Julius Spradling is brought down by a Chaminade-Julienne defender during a scrimmage on Friday at Roger Glass Stadium in Dayton.
Bryant Billing | Sidney Daily News
DAYTON — Sidney’s offense had a strong showing in a scrimmage against Chaminade-Julienne on Friday, and first-year coach Dave Taynor said he hopes that and some good defensive plays are signs the team is headed in the right direction before its season opener.
The Yellow Jackets beat CJ 39-26 at Roger Glass Stadium in downtown Dayton. They’re scheduled to open the season this coming Friday at Bellefontaine.
It was a much different performance for Sidney than its first scrimmage six days earlier against Northmont, in which the squad struggled to move the ball except for one possession.
“I think (our players) have done a great job in camp and up until this point of practicing hard; it’s just having the confidence to carry over those things you do in practice into the game,” Taynor said. “… I was happy to see our progress. We need to go back to a 0-0 mindset tomorrow and get prepped for game one.”
Sidney’s varsity players scored on every possession except one (and the JV players added a late touchdown to push the final margin to 13 points).
The Eagles, which finished 6-5 last year, are led by second-year coach Earl White. White had much success at Thurgood Marshall and Belmont and brought his double-wing offense with him to CJ.
Sidney’s defense bottled up the Eagles on most plays. But when it didn’t, Chaminade picked up big yardage.
The Yellow Jackets were without several players on defense for various reasons, and Taynor said fatigue was part of the problem against CJ’s strong running attack.
“We had some guys that took more reps than they probably should have to take in a game, and with the style of offense that CJ runs, you’ve got to knuckle up on every play,” Taynor said.
“… This gave us a chance to install a defensive look that is not our traditional look. We were playing with completely different personnel; the reality is, we were playing about a 4-5 out there, with two DBs total on the field the whole time.”
Taynor, a former Graham and Urbana University coach, was named Sidney’s coach in December. He has brought his fast tempo offense to the program, and it was frequently on the move on Friday.
Sidney punted once when its varsity players were on the field and amassed over 300 yards of offense in the first half and first possession of the third quarter.
Ethan New caught two short touchdown passes from returning senior quarterback Tucker Herron in the first quarter, which helped Sidney take a 13-7 lead.
Isaiah Foster scored on a short touchdown run early in the second to boost the lead to 13 points. But the Eagles had several big runs on their next two possessions and scored on both to tie it 20-20.
With less than two minutes left in the half, Sidney quickly drove and scored to take a 27-20 halftime lead. Herron ran in from 1-yard out with nine seconds left, shortly after he threw a long pass to Mitchell Davis to get the squad into the red zone.
“Tucker did a good job at quarterback of staying on process,” Taynor said. “He’s getting his eyes from defender to defender rather than looking from route to route. We teach everything by keying defenders, and that takes us through progressions. That’s a change for him.
“He did a pretty good job during the week and did a decent job today. And when he made mistakes, he knew he made them, so he could come to the sideline and communicate that. That’s what you want out of a quarterback; they recognize what they did before you tell them.”
Chaminade-Julienne scored on the second play of the third quarter to pull within 27-26 after a missed extra point.
But on the first play of Sidney’s first possession of the third quarter, Julius Spradling took a handoff, ran left and raced 75 yards for a touchdown with 9:53 left in the third to push the lead to 33-26 after a blocked extra-point attempt.
Both squads finished the game with junior varsity players; Sidney’s reserves added a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Sidney is scheduled to open the season this coming Friday against Bellefontaine, which is led by Ohio State-bound quarterback Tavien St. Clair. The Chieftains finished 8-3 last season and beat Sidney 43-13 in Week 1.
“They have some very talented players. Obviously everyone knows about (St. Clair), but they have a tailback and a receiver that are dynamic kids who can make plays,” Taynor said.
“They have a big skill player tight end who is a physical kid, and they line him up back there at quarterback sometimes. They’re a very talented team. We need to have a great week of preparation.”
Reach Bryant Billing at 937-538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.
