Anna’s Zach Osborn keeps Delphos St. John’s Connor Gaynier at arms length during a Midwest Athletic Conference on Saturday in Delphos. Osborn scored all five of the Rockets’ touchdowns in a 34-0 win.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
DELPHOS — The Anna Rockets shut out Delphos St. John’s on Saturday in a Midwest Athletic Conference game at Champions Field in Delphos and are hoping to keep up the pressure against Versailles this week.
“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.”
Zach Osborn was responsible for all five Rockets’ (4-2, 2-2 MAC) scores in the game with three coming in the first half.
Osborn has 90 total points this season on his 15 touchdowns and is first in the MAC in total points. Osborn has around 500 yards rushing and over 250 recieving yards.
Anna’s defense also had a notable game, only allowing a few St. John’s plays to take place in Rockets’ territory.
Aaron Shappie made a great play in the second half on an Anna punt when the snap flew above his head. He scrambled and found Noah Aufderhaar for a first down to keep momentup on the Rockets’ side.
Aufderhaar has notched over 300 yards receiving and was averaging 15.6 yards per reception entering Saturday’s game while adding 33 tackles and four total sacks on defense.
The win put Anna at .500 in the MAC heading into its next conference matchup against Versailles (5-1, 3-1) on Friday at Hole Field.
The Tigers, which beat the Rockets twice last year and advanced to the D-VI state championship game, won their first five games but lost 48-0 to Marion Local last week. The Flyers have won every game by at least 33 points; they are scheduled to travel to Anna in Week 8.
Sidney hoping to knock off Tipp
The Yellow Jackets are 4-2 overall and 4-1 in Miami Valley League play heading into the last four weeks of the season — exactly where they were this time a year ago.
Injuries and other issues hampered the squad down the stretch in a 5-6 campaign, but they’re hoping for a different result this year.
Sidney will start a tough slate to finish the season this week by hosting undefeated Tippecanoe, which edged Troy in the fourth quarter 25-22 in Week 5 and dominated Vandalia-Butler 25-7 last Thursday to stay undefeated.
“Tipp is a really, really good opponent. They’ve been on a hot streak,” Sidney coach Dave Taynor said. “We’ve got to defend our house, play physical football on both sides of the ball. And we’re going to have to play with pace and tempo. It’s going to be who’s going to win the war of attrition and physicality.”
The matchup will feature the MVL’s two passing leaders. Tippecanoe senior quarterback Larkin Thomas has thrown for 1,399 yards and 16 TDs with three interceptions while Sidney senior QB Ethan New has thrown for 1,176 yards and 16 TDs with one interception.
New has had several options to throw to this year. Senior Tank Fleming leads the team in receptions (17) and receiving yards (474), but he didn’t play due to injury against Greenville in Week 6.
Senior receiver Julius Spradling has 183 receiving yards and is second on the team with 12 receptions. Seniors Tanner Snider and Joelon Lyons have developed into strong options; Snider has nine catches for 184 yards and Lyons has nine receptions for 176 yards.
Lyons caught three passes for 47 yards against the Green Wave; two of the receptions were touchdowns.
“He’s a really good football player, he’s a really good athlete, and he is a versatile guy,” Taynor said. “I use him as a tight end, I use him as a receiver. You know, I probably could line them up and actually hand them the ball in the backfield if I wanted to.”
The Yellow Jackets amassed 442 yards of offense against Greenville, 307 of which came on the ground in rainy conditions. New ran for 209 yards and two TDs and senior RB Isaiah Foster ran for 110 yards on 10 carries.
Taynor credited the squad’s offensive line for helping with the strong rushing performance.
“Our guys are running gaps and really physical right now,” Taynor said. “They’re adjusting in game, and they’re they’re acting like a veteran line which is really good in a game like this.”
Lehman stays hot against Bethel
The Cavaliers only allowed one score on Friday against the Bethel Bees in a Three Rivers Conference matchup at Sidney Memorial Field in a 22-7 victory.
Quarterback Turner Lachey has 1,526 passing yards and 329 rushing yards on the season with 22 total touchdowns and only three interceptions.
Lehman (5-1, 3-0) got two scores at the hands of Evan O’Leary and got another from CJ Olding and added three points on a field goal.
O’Leary has almost 800 yards receiving with eight touchdowns and averages 17 yards per reception on the season while Olding averages 22.5 yards a reception with four touchdowns on 338 receiving yards.
The Cavaliers have won five games in a row after losing their opener against Delphos St. Johns.
Lehman travels to take on Riverside on Friday.
Fort Loramie sets season high in points
Fort Loramie knocked off Northwest Conference rival Spencerville 42-21 on Friday at Fort Loramie.
Maxwell Maurer scored three touchdowns, Ray Hoying nabbed two and Gabe Hart scored one himself, topping the teams previous high of 35 points this season.
Maurer leads the NEW in receiving with 382 yards while averaging 17.4 and has seven touchdowns on the year so far.
Hart is leading the NWC with 1,170 passing yards and 12 touchdowns with a 67.5 completion percentage.
Loramie has another NWC matchup on Friday as they take on the front runners of Columbus Grove at Columbus Grove.
Sidney Daily News editor Bryant Billing and assistant editor/sports writer Ryan Harless contributed to this report. Billing can be reached at [email protected] and Harless can be reached at [email protected].
