SIDNEY — Offensive miscues were costly for Sidney in a Miami Valley League game against Vandalia-Butler on Friday at Sidney Memorial Stadium.

Butler scored two defensive touchdowns and gradually pulled away to beat the Yellow Jackets. It’s the second straight loss for Sidney, which is scheduled to host archrival Piqua next week.

Sidney coach Dave Taynor turned the team’s focus after the game toward the Indians, which improved to 2-6 with a 17-7 win over Xenia on Friday. The Yellow Jackets (4-4) haven’t beaten Piqua since 2017.

“We’re going to come back Saturday morning 0-0 and start getting focused on Piqua and do everything we can to get the Battered Helmet at the end of the week,” Taynor said.

Joey Love recovered a punt that was blocked by Dohnavan Collins and returned it for a touchdown with 9:54 left in the first quarter to give the Aviators a 7-0 lead.

Sidney’s defense contained Butler’s offense until the final minutes of the first half. Kaiden Bates scored on a 12-yard touchdown run with 4:37 left, and Braylen Crump hauled in a 46-yard touchdown pass from Luke Seibert with 49 seconds left to boost the lead to 21-0.

Austin Flohre stripped the ball away from Sidney running back Isaiah Foster and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown with 27 seconds left in the third quarter to boost the lead to 28-0.

The Aviators went on a lengthy drive in the fourth quarter, and Seibert ran in from 12 yards out with 2:22 left to push the final margin to running-clock territory.

Sidney committed three turnovers (two fumbles and one interception) and had 149 yards of offense.

The Yellow Jackets’ best chance to score came after a successful fake punt attempt late in the first quarter, but the squad later turned it over on downs in the red zone.

“We have to continue to get better, continue to work and find a way to create a little bit of momentum offensively,” Taynor said.

Butler’s defensive front harassed Sidney senior quarterback Tucker Herron, who leads the league in passing yards. Herron completed 2-of-10 passes for 14 yards with one interception; he has thrown for over 1,200 yards this season.

“They’re a physical group,” Taynor said of Butler’s defensive front. “… They play pretty solid inside. …We just weren’t able to convert on third downs and take advantage of the opportunities we had.”

Foster ran for 101 yards on 22 carries.

“Isaiah ran really well today as far as leading behind his pads,” Taynor said. “He ran physically. I thought it was a step forward for him. I think he’ll continue to do so; we’re going to have to continue to lean on him more as we go through the next couple of weeks.”

Butler finished with 273 yards of offense. Seibert threw for 134 yards and one TD and ran for 41 yards and one TD. Bates ran for 58 yards and one TD on 15 carries.

“Overall defensively, we played a pretty good game,” Taynor said. “Not great; I’m sure we’ll see things when we watch film we could have done better. But a blocked punt and a fumble hurt, and we had opportunities (offensively) in the first half we didn’t take advantage of.”

Sidney remains tied with Stebbins (4-4) for first place in the MVL Valley Division; both teams have 4-3 league records.

Reach Bryant Billing at 937-538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.