Sidney senior receiver Julius Spradling is forced out of bounds by Tippecanoe’s Atticus Poulos during a Miami Valley League game on Friday at Sidney Memorial Stadium.
Bryant Billing | Sidney Daily News
SIDNEY — The Sidney Yellow Jackets fell 42-6 to the Tippecanoe Red Devils on Friday at Sidney Memorial Field in a Miami Valley League matchup.
“We’re playing too uptight,” Yellow Jackets head coach Dave Taynor said. “We have to own how we play against really good teams. You watch the opening kickoff and it was like we froze versus trusting our preparation.”
Sidney (4-3, 4-2 MVL Valley) gave up the advantage on the opening kickoff when Tippecanoe recovered the kick and scored three plays later to take a 7-0 lead within the first minute.
The Red Devils got another score in the first on a 47-yard touchdown reception to extend their lead to 14-0 after a second successful PAT.
The Yellow Jackets looked to have Tippecanoe stopped near the end of the first but were called for defensive pass interference that gave them a new set of downs on fourth down.
Just a few plays later, Sidney gave up its third touchdown in the first quarter to fall behind 21-0 with 2:21 left.
The Yellow Jackets finally got on the board in the second quarter on a 12-yard run from quarterback Ethan New to cut the Red Devils lead to 21-6 with 10:34 on the clock in the half.
“In life, if you practice something over and over, you use it to the best of your ability,” Taynor said. “And if you get beat using it at the best of your ability, you tip your hat to your opponent and move on.”
Sidney looked to change momentum with a massive interception from DeMarcus Flemming, but New was picked off on the very next play to give Tippecanoe the ball back with 7:00 left in the half.
The Yellow Jackets were unable to stop the Red Devils offense as they let up another score to fall back 28-6 with 6:20 to play in the first half.
Sidney’s defense looked to finally get some rest, but Tippecanoe recovered its second kickoff of the half and started its drive in Yellow Jackets territory.
The Red Devils got their fifth touchdown of the half on a 50-yard reception to extend their lead to 35-6 with just under six minutes to play in the half.
Tippecanoe got the ball back with just over two minutes to play in the half and marched down the field, scoring their sixth touchdown of the first half to take a 42-6 lead into halftime.
Sidney began the second half on defense after kicking to the Red Devils.
Tippecanoe was in prime position to score but was picked off by Cain VanZant in the end zone to give the Yellow Jackets the ball on their 11-yard line.
“We ran some of our inside gap scheme stuff really well,” Taynor said. “At times, we controlled the line of scrimmage really well. We just didn’t consistently perform under pressure.”
Sidney was unable to score and gave the Red Devils the ball on a failed fourth-down conversion.
Tippecanoe was unable to score and gave the Yellow Jackets the ball on their own 31-yard line with under six minutes to play.
Sidney marched down the field and put itself in the red zone with seconds to play, but New was picked off in the end zone to end the game 42-6.
“We’ve had two tough games within our league,” Tayner said. “In both of those we were able to run the ball effectively. We’ve got to build on that and get ready to play Butler, We’re 0-0 right now and we’ve got to prep to try and be 1-0 next week.”
With the loss, the Yellow Jackets are tied with Stebbins for second place in the MV: Valley Division.
Sidney will take on Butler in Vandalia next Friday.
Reach sports writer/assistant editor Ryan Harless at 937-538-4651 or follow @RyanHarless_ on X (formerly Twitter).
