Anna’s Alex Shappie dives towards the end zone as Delphos St. John’s Brayden Pohlman pushes him out of bounds on Saturday at Delphos St. Johns.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily NewsDELPHOS — Zach Osborn scored five times as the Anna Rockets shut out the Delphos St. John’s Blue Jays 34-0 in a Midwest Athletic Conference matchup at Champions Field in Delphos on Saturday afternoon.
“We played pretty well defensively,” Anna head coach Nick Marino said. “I thought we came out a little bit slower than we’d like, but I liked the energy overall. Odd game on a Saturday but overall I like the performance.”
Aaron Shappie came up with the first momentum swing of the game with an interception deep in Blue Jays territory. A few plays later the Rockets (4-2, 2-2) got the scoring started on a 25-yard rushing touchdown by Osborn giving Anna a 7-0 lead early in the first.
Both teams traded blows for the rest of the quarter, but neither were able to put any points on the board.
Anna gained some momentum in the second quarter when quarterback Alex Shappie found Noah Aufderhaar for a 20-yard reception that put the Rockets inside the Delphos 35-yard line.
Aaron Shappie followed that gain up with a first down on a reverse and put Anna in the red zone.
Osborn took advantage of the field placement, scoring his second touchdown of the day on a much shorter run than the first. After a missed PAT, the Rockets led 13-0 with just under six minutes to play in the half.
“Osborn did a good job with some big carries,” Marino said. “He had some good placement on the one a few times that helped.”
Anna had a chance to score when Aaron Shappie broke free of his defender and had no one in front of him, but Alex Shappie just overthrew him, leading to a Rockets punt with three minutes to play in the half.
Anna got the ball back after a defensive stop and moved the chains on another 20-yard run from Osborn. It was helped on the next play on a defensive pass interference call that put the Rockets on the Delphos 35.
TJ Roberts picked up a 27-yard gain to put Anna in the red zone with seconds to play in the half.
Osborn picked up his third touchdown of the half on an eight-yard reception that extended the Rockets lead to 20-0 with 10 seconds to play in the half.
Anna received the second-half kickoff.
Osborn got back to his running ways with a first-down run to open the second half and Alex Shappie followed it up with a 20-plus-yard run of his own to put the Rockets on the Delphos 25-yard line.
Osborn got his fourth touchdown of the day on a one-yard run that extended the Anna lead to 27-0 with just under 10 minutes left in the third.
The Rockets defense forced another Delphos punt, but returner Aaron Shappie muffed the ball and it was recovered by the Blue Jays, restarting their drive on the Anna 41.
The Rockets got their second interception of the game when Camden Palmisano caught a Delpohs pass and took back momentum.
Anna was forced to punt, but a bad snap forced him the scramble and make a throw. A throw that found the hands of Aufderhaar for a first down that restarted the Rocket’s drive.
A few plays later, Osborn found the end zone again for his fifth touchdown of the day, extended the lead to 34-0, and started the running clock.
Anna held onto its lead and got back to .500 in the MAC in a 34-0 final.
“That’s a quality team over there,” Marino said. “They’re a little beat up right now, but it’s a good win to build on and get some momentum going into some of our other league games coming up.”
The Rockets are back to Friday football this week as they travel to take on Versailles at 7 p.m. at Versailles.
Lehman Catholic wins third straight in the TRC
The Lehman Catholic Cavaliers kept their winning ways going on Friday in a 22-7 Three Rivers Conference matchup against the Bethel Bees at Sidney Memorial Field.
The Cavaliers (5-1, 3-0) got out to an early lead when quarterback Turner Lachey found Evan O’Leary for a touchdown in the first quarter.
Lehman took the 7-0 lead into halftime.
Early in the third quarter, CJ Olding nabbed a touchdown pass but the Cavaliers couldn’t convert the two-point attempt and took at 13-0 lead.
Bethel got its first and only score of the game in the third as it cut the Lehman lead to 13-7. The Cavaliers quickly responded with a field goal to make it a nine point game.
In the fourth, O’Leary got his second touchdown of the game for the final score of 22-7 in Lehman’s fifth consecutive victory this season.
The Cavaliers take on Riverside at Riverside on Friday at 7 p.m.
Reach assistant editor and sports writer Ryan Harless at 937-538-4651 or follow @RyanHarless_ on X (formerly Twitter).
