Sidney players celebrate with the Battered Helmet following a 20-13 victory over Piqua on Friday at Alexander Stadium. It’s the first time the squad has beaten the Indians in consecutive seasons since 1978/79.
Bryant Billing | Sidney Daily News
PIQUA — The Sidney Yellow Jackets knocked off The Piqua Indians 20-13 Friday in the 50th battle for the Battered Helmet at Purk Field in Piqua in a Miami Valley League matchup.
“We’ll be 1-0 until after I finish breakfast at The Alcove tomorrow,” Sidney head coach Dave Taynor said after the win. “I’ll continue to celebrate it till then. After that, we’re back to 0-0.”
The Yellow Jackets marched down the field on their first possession of the game and scored on a short run by quarterback Ethan New. A missed PAT gave Sidney a 6-0 lead with just under 10 minutes to play in the first.
On the Yellow Jackets’ second offensive drive of the game, they had two touchdowns brought back due to holding calls and were unable to score despite being in the red zone.
Sidney (5-4, 5-3 MVL Miami Division) kept the scoring going on its first drive of the second quarter when Julius Spradling made an acrobatic 28-yard reception to take a 13-0 lead with 8:35 to play in the half.
“In my opinion,” Taynor said. “We have the best skill players that you’re going to find in the state with Tank and Julius.”
Spradling made his presence known on the defensive side of things a few minutes later when he snagged a deep pass from Piqua to give the Yellow Jackets possession with three minutes left in the half.
Sidney looked to add more points before the end of the half but New was picked off when Spradling was unable to reel in a pass thrown just behind him.
Piqua made its way into Yellow Jackets territory, but on fourth down New picked up a sack to give Sidney possession with seconds left in the half. It made a push down the field but was unable to score before halftime.
“We played Foster and New as outside linebackers,” Taynor said. “We try not to play New a whole lot on defense, but he’s 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 had him out there playing.”
The Yellow Jackets were pushed back into their own territory by the Piqua offense to open the second half but got off scot-free when Piqua’s quarterback fumbled a snap that Sidney recovered.
New made good on the break, scoring his second rushing touchdown of the game on a short QB run to extend the Yellow Jacket’s lead to 20-0 after a successful PAT.
Piqua (3-6, 3-5 Miami) got its first score of the game with 8:27 to play in regulation on a 27-yard reception. It went for a fake PAT but was unsuccessful, giving Sidney the ball back with a 20-6 lead.
The Yellow Jackets were nearing the red zone when New couldn’t snag the high snap, leading to a 73-yard scoop and score for Piqua that cut the lead to 20-13 with just 4:28 left to play.
“If you play really good, sound football,” Taynor said. “When the screwy things happen, you’re able to respond. Our offensive line there at the end of the game played extremely physically.”
Sidney was able to get control of the ball and run the clock out to take the victory 20-13, winning the Battered Helmet in back-to-back years for the first time since 1979.
The Yellow Jackets finish up their regular season on Friday against Troy (5-4, 5-3 MVL Miami) at 7 p.m. at Sidney Memorial Stadium.
Reach assistant editor/sports writer Ryan Harless at 937-538-4651 or follow @RyanHarless_ on X (formerly Twitter).
