Sidney senior receiver Julius Spradling, right, celebrates with senior receiver Joelon Lyons after scoring a touchdown in the second quarter of a 20-13 victory over Piqua on Friday at Alexander Stadium. Spradling had 129 all-purpose yards, scored one touchdown and had 9.5 tackles and one interception in a 20-13 victory over the Indians.
Bryant Billing | Sidney Daily News
SIDNEY — Sidney will try to finish regular season with a record above .500 for the first time since 2020 when they host Troy this Friday for a Miami Valley League game.
Sidney (5-4, 5-3 MVL Valley Division) had one of its best defensive performances of the season on Friday in a 20-13 win over Piqua. The squad held the Indians to 201 yards of offense and gave up one offensive touchdown.
Sidney coach Dave Taynor credited Isaiah Foster and Ethan New, the team’s starting running back and quarterback, for helping in the defensive effort as outside linebackers. New had five tackles.
“We played all of our personnel tonight,” Taynor said. “… We try to play them a whole lot on defense. New is really one of our best defensive players. We’re towards the end of the year here, and we needed to win this one, so we got him out there playing.”
DeMarcuse Fleming recovered one fumble for Sidney and Julius Spradling intercepted one pass. Spradling led the squad with 9.5 tackles (eight solo, three assisted); he also had 129 all-purpose yards and scored one touchdown. Fleming had 6.5 tackles.
“We have some really good skill players but not a whole lot of depth, and you’re trying to get everybody through the year,” Taynor said. “Julius had a groin pull earlier in the year, and Joelon (Lyons) had an injured back. We’re dealing with guys with banged up knees and little dings.
“Now you look at it, and it’s time to go. Beat Piqua. Everybody’s got to buckle up. Huge night tonight. Huge game by Spradling. He had the interception and a great acrobatic catch.”
The Yellow Jackets led the MVL with an average of 409 yards per game and again had a big showing against Piqua with 447. It was a balanced attack, with 205 passing yards and 242 rushing yards.
New, a senior, completed 19-of-27 passes for 205 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He is just shy of the program’s single season passing yards and has 1,725 to his credit along with 20 touchdowns and five interceptions. He ranks second among MVL quarterbacks this season in passing yards.
Foster, a senior, ran for 152 yards on 26 carries on Friday and ranks third among MVL running backs with 845 yards this year. Sidney senior receiver Tank Fleming has caught 30 passes for 707 yards and ranks second in the MVL in receiving yards.
Troy (5-4, 5-3 MVL Miami) has been rebuilding after large losses to graduation off an 11-2 campaign last year. The Trojans have played close with the MVL’s top squads, but have fallen short. They lost to both undefeated Tippecanoe and Xenia by three points each.
The Trojans’ wing-T attack averages 340 yards of offense per game, 240 of which comes on the ground. The squad ranks third in the MVL by allowing an average of 256 yards and 17.6 points per game.
After Friday’s strong defensive performance, Sidney ranks eighth among the 10 MVL schools in defense. The Yellow Jackets have surrendered an average of 354 yards and 33.2 points per game.
Lehman Catholic, Northridge meet for TRC title
The Cavaliers look to extend their winning streak to nine games to close out their season with a Three Rivers Confernece as they take on Northridge at Northridge on Friday.
Lehman (8-1, 6-0 TRC) has the air on their side with quarterback Turner Lachey, who has thrown for over 2,500 yards this season with a 32:5 TD:INT ratio. Lachey averages 11.4 yards per completion.
His favorite targets, Evan O’Leary and CJ Olding have 1,141 and 690 receiving yards respectfully and are first and fourth in the TRC with those numbers.
On the defensive side of things, Dillon Schmiesing sits in third place in the TRC in tackles with 116 while Olding has four interceptions on the season, good for second in the conference.
The Cavaliers won their last game 65-19 to Troy Christian in a game where Lachey had 330 yards passing with six touchdowns. He also led his team in rushing yards with 54 and added a touchdown.
Northridge (6-3, 6-0) is coming off of a 40-21 victory over Milton-Union last week and holds a six-game winning streak of its own. It also has given up 49 less points than Lehman up to this point in the season.
Fort Loramie looks to finish .500
Loramie will wrap up its season away, against Northwest Conference rival Allen East in a battle to get to .500 on the year.
Fort Loramie (4-5, 3-3) is coming off of a 61-13 thrashing of Delphos Jefferson in Week 9 and averages 28.4 points per game.
Quarterback Gave Hart leads the NWC in passing yards and has already amassed more than 2,000 yards on the season with over 20 touchdowns.
Loramie has three receivers in the top five of the NWC in receiving yards in Maxwell Maurer, Thomas Hoying and Carter Eilerman.
Anna hopeful to go 5-1 in last six games
The Rockets take on the Parkway Panthers at Booster Field on Friday at 7 p.m.
Anna (6-3, 4-3) dominated Fort Recovery 49-6 in Week 9 and have only one loss since Sept. 20, being the 42-0 shoutout against undefeated Marion Local.
Anna is averaging 25.78 points per game heading into the final week of the regular season and can tie for third in the Midwest Athletic Conference with a win and a Minster loss.
WEEK 10 AREA GAMES
Sidney at Troy
Parkway at Anna
Fort Loramie at Allen East
Lehman Catholic at Dayton Northridge
Fort Recovery at Minster
Delphos St. John’s at New Bremen
Versailles at St. Henry
Riverside at Milton-Union
Assistant editor Ryan Harless contributed to this article. Harless can be reached at [email protected].
