Sidney senior quarterback Ethan New runs as Troy’s Logan Westerfield pursues during a Miami Valley League game on Friday at Sidney Memorial Stadium. New set three program single-season records in a 31-20 loss to Troy.
Bryant Billing | Sidney Daily News
SIDNEY — Sidney kept up with Troy in the first half but couldn’t in the second half in a Miami Valley League game on Friday.
The Yellow Jackets lost 31-20 to the Trojans in a regular-season finale at Sidney Memorial Stadium to finish 5-5 overall and 5-4 in MVL play. Troy (6-4, 6-3 MVL Miami) scored 10 unanswered points in the second half to pull away.
Troy’s wing-T attack worked as designed in the half. Sidney got two possessions the entire second half: one ended in a turnover on downs at midfield and the other ended on a fumble deep in Troy territory.
“We have to capitalize,” Sidney coach Dave Taynor said. “… We had bad field position, and we flipped it, moved the ball deep. We didn’t capitalize.
“I think our guys played relatively well. I think we can play better. We need to play better in the playoffs.”
The Yellow Jackets will play on the road in a first-round playoff game next week. According to JoeEitel.com projections, Xenia is Sidney’s opponent; official playoff pairings will be released on Saturday.
The Yellow Jackets lost 48-7 to Xenia (9-1) in Week 3 in an MVL game. Sidney played most of the game without senior quarterback Ethan New, who suffered an injury in the first quarter.
“We’re going to go on the road be a road warrior,” Taynor said. “… We’re going to try to go win a game. Let’s go upset them.”
Troy had 342 yards of offense, 288 of which came on the ground. Quarterback Aiden Kirkpatrick ran for 140 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries and Dakota Manson ran for 149 yards and one TD on 18 carries.
Troy averaged 6.5 yards per carry.
“They did a good job,” Taynor said. “They did a good job of keeping us off the field. We had two series in the second half. When you only get two series, you have to take advantage.”
It was senior night for Sidney, and a record-setting night for New.
New completed 18-of-28 passes for 149 yards and became the program’s single-season passing leader, breaking a record that was set in 1968 by Steve Williams. He also became the total offensive yardage leader, breaking another Williams record.
New has thrown for 1,874 yards this season, with 20 touchdowns and six interceptions. He has completed 66.3 percent of his passes.
New helped keep the Yellow Jackets in it on Friday with big runs, including a touchdown run right before halftime that closed the gap to one point. He ran for 70 yards on 23 carries and had two rushing touchdowns.
He also broke the program’s single-season total touchdown record, which was set by Isaiah Bowser in 2017. He has 36 total TDs.
“He’s a baller,” Taynor said. “He does some good things, and plays a bunch on defense too.”
The Yellow Jackets had 316 yards of offense. Senior RB Isaiah Foster ran for 87 yards on 15 carries. Senior receiver Tank Fleming caught eight passes for 47 yards, senior receiver Tanner Snider caught five passes for 41 yards and senior receiver Julius Spradling caught four passes for 56 yards.
Senior linebacker Cain VanZant led Sidney with seven tackles.
New scored on an 11-yard touchdown run in the final seconds of the second quarter, but the Yellow Jackets missed an extra point try, which allowed Troy to keep the lead at halftime at 21-20.
The Trojans ate up over six minutes to start the third quarter. Kirkpatrick capped off the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run to give the squad a 28-20 lead after an extra point by Cameron Stoltz.
After Sidney turned it over on downs at midfield, Troy ate up more time and scored on a 26-yard field goal by Stoltz with 8:22 left in the fourth quarter.
The Yellow Jackets drove into the red zone but turned it over with two minutes left.
Sidney quickly drove on the game’s first possession and scored on a short touchdown run by senior lineman Luke Carter with 9:30 left in the first. The lead stayed at 6-0 after the extra point hit off the crossbar.
The Trojans went on a lengthy drive and scored on a 7-yard TD run by Kirkpatrick, and a Stoltz extra point gave the squad a lead at 7-6 with 2:00 left in the first.
Sidney responded with a lengthy drive of its own, which New capped off with a short TD run with 8:19 left in the second. Spradling ran in on the two-point conversion try to give Sidney a 14-7 lead.
But Manson returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards to allow Troy to tie it 14-14. New had a pass intercepted by Michael Tucker to end Sidney’s next possession, and Manson scored on a 7-yard TD run with 1:36 left to give the Trojans a 21-14 lead.
Reach Sidney Daily News editor Bryant Billing at 937-538-4822, or follow @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook or @TopBillingSport on X (Twitter).
