SIDNEY — Sidney played close with Piqua early in a Miami Valley League game on Friday. But turnovers, penalties and poor field position didn’t allow the Yellow Jackets to play close for four quarters.
The Indians scored four touchdowns in the second quarter to take control and beat Sidney 42-6 at Alexander Stadium.
The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for the Yellow Jackets (2-3, 2-2 MVL Valley Division).
“Offensively, we couldn’t stay ahead of the sticks,” Sidney coach Adam Doenges said. “We kept getting behind. The turnovers reared their ugly head again tonight. Defensively, we needed to get some stops. The week prior, we did great on third and fourth down. This wasn’t our day on defense on fourth down.”
Similar to a Week 2 loss against Tippecanoe, field position hurt the Yellow Jackets.
Piqua kicker Jackson Trombley repeatedly pinned the Yellow Jackets inside their own 20-yard line. Sidney’s offense then sputtered deep in its own territory. Piqua fielded most punts in Sidney territory as a result, then went on short drives and scored.
“I think we’ve gotten better every week, but I’m going to have to go back and watch film to see if we got better this week,” Doenges said. “We didn’t have the greatest week of practice, and when you don’t get better this late in the year during the week, that’s back on me. That’s what I told the kids.
“We’re at the halfway point, and we’re going to have to make a decision this weekend on if we want to continue to improve and put ourselves in a position to reach our goals.”
Sidney is scheduled to host Troy for an MVL game next Friday.
After neither team scored in the first quarter, Piqua (4-1, 3-1 MVL Miami) took control in the second.
Kyle Warner scored on an 8-yard touchdown run with 9:14 left to give the Indians a 7-0 lead.
Sidney was pinned deep on the ensuing kickoff and went three-and-out. The punt didn’t get out of Sidney territory, and Piqua quickly drove and scored when Warner ran in from 3 yards out with 6:04 left.
The Yellow Jackets were pinned to their own 20 on the next kickoff and lost yardage. They punted from their end zone for the second consecutive time, and Piqua took over at the 30.
The Indians quickly drove and scored when Dre’Sean Roberts caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Brady Ouhl with 2:58 left.
Sidney again went three-and-out and punted, but offsetting penalties on the first attempt forced the squad to punt for a second time. The second punt rolled to Piqua’s 21-yard line, but the Indians still managed to score before halftime.
Piqua drove into Sidney territory on a couple of big runs, then Ouhl threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Roberts with 41 seconds left to boost the lead to 28-0 at halftime.
Sidney’s best chance to score in the first half came in the first quarter. The Yellow Jackets went on a lengthy drive and moved into the red zone. They appeared to have converted a fourth down, but after the officials huddled and slightly changed where the ball was initially spotted, a measurement came up just short.
“That was tough,” Doenges said. “We had some momentum going. It’s a game of ups and downs. Even though we didn’t get (the first down), we still had a good, positive drive. Unfortunately, we just weren’t able to sustain that moving forward.”
Piqua fumbled the second half kickoff at its own 36, but the Yellow Jackets turned it over on downs.
The Indians were forced to punt and managed to pin Sidney at its own 2 with 5:34 left in the third.
The Yellow Jackets went three-and-out and punted, but a Piqua player ran into Sidney punter Joey Flynn, and a penalty gave the Yellow Jackets a first down.
But Sidney fumbled on the next play, and Bryson Roberts scored on a 2-yard touchdown run with 26 seconds left to push the lead to 35-0 and start a running clock.
Sidney was forced to punt on its next drive, and Piqua’s Colton Beougher returned a deflected punt 20 yards for a touchdown with 9:50 left in the third.
The Yellow Jackets went on a long drive and scored on a 4-yard TD run by Martez Harris with 1:02 left to prevent a shutout.
The Indians had 233 yards of offense while Sidney had 212.
Sidney junior quarterback Tucker Herron completed 15-of-21 passes for 137 yards. Senior receiver Sam Reynolds caught 11 passes for 117 yards. Senior Jy-Foster Wheeler led the squad with 41 rushing yards on four carries. Harris finished with 38 rushing yards on 14 carries.
Ouhl, who went down with an injury in the third quarter, completed 6-of-8 passes for 65 yards. Warner ran for 78 yards on 20 carries. Dre’Sean Roberts caught three passes for 59 yards.
Myles Vordemark led Sidney with eight tackles. Sam Schmieising led Piqua with 11.
It’s the fifth consecutive victory for the Indians over the Yellow Jackets.
