SIDNEY — Sidney has played in several back-and-forth games this year. On Thursday, the Yellow Jackets played a barnburner for the whole Dayton-area to see.
The Yellow Jackets beat Tippecanoe 49-42 in a Greater Western Ohio Conference American North Division game that was televised by Fox 45. No matter if the spectators were in Sidney Memorial Stadium or at home, they were likely glued to their seats for a down-to-the-wire finish.
Isaiah Bowser broke through the middle of the line of scrimmage and ran 71 yards for a touchdown with 1:54 left in the fourth to give Sidney the lead, then Caleb Harris grabbed an interception at the Tippecanoe 25-yard line with 37 seconds left to secure the win.
“The line had a good block for me, I saw the hole and took off,” Bowser said. “Nobody could slow me down. …We got it done at the end. We got that touchdown and a big stop to get the win.”
Postgame interview with @ibowser_ following Sidney's win over Tippecanoe. pic.twitter.com/rq37pie22y
— Sidney Daily News (@sidneydailynews) October 6, 2017
It’s Sidney first 7-0 start since 1974. The Yellow Jackets improved to 2-0 overall with the win. They host Troy (4-2, 1-0 GWOC North) next week in a game with big conference implications.
“This is really, really exciting,” receiver Ratez Roberts said. “It’s a great experience for all of us. We want to keep this up.”
The game was back-and-forth from the start, but the last few minutes featured a couple of crazy plays, including a touchdown by Sidney (7-0, 2-0 GWOC North).
Andre Gordon threw a 13-yard pass to Roberts with 3:04 left in the fourth, which popped out of Roberts’ hands and fell in the end zone. Roberts recovered the fumble for a touchdown to give Sidney a 42-35 lead.
“I saw one DB on me and after the play was called, I looked at Dre and was ready for it to come to me,” Roberts said. “… It was all just a reaction. I honestly didn’t have anything going through my head, I just wanted to catch the ball and score.”
It didn’t take long for Tippecanoe to fight back.
Cole Barhorst fielded the ensuing kickoff around Tippecanoe’s 10-yard line, then turned toward the visitors’ sidelines and ran to the end zone to tie the game 42-42 with 2:50 left in the fourth.
Sidney trailed Tippecanoe by one point at halftime, which was its first halftime deficit since Week 1 against St. Marys. Like the season opener against the Roughriders, Sidney fought back fast.
After the teams traded punts early in the third quarter, Andre Gordon threw a 43-yard pass to Ratez Roberts to move the ball to Tippecanoe’s 15-yard line with about five minutes left, then the Yellow Jackets scored on 7-yard touchdown run by Isaiah Bowser with 4:20 left. After Bowser’s touchdown run, Gordon ran for a two-point conversion to give Sidney a 28-21 lead.
Tippecanoe responded quickly on its next drive. Barhorst ran 50 yards to move the ball to Sidney’s 16-yard line, then ran 15 yards to move it to the 1. After Tipp lost yards on a couple of plays, quarterback Brad Detwiller drove through the line and scored a short touchdown run with 2:54 left to tie the score 28-28.
Gordon threw a 39-yard pass to Lathan Jones, which Jones hauled in with pressure from Tippecanoe defenders with 24 seconds left for a touchdown. The extra point gave Sidney a 35-28 lead.
Sidney forced Tippecanoe to punt on its next drive but punted the ball right back after a three-and-out. Barhorst broke open a run along Sidney’s sideline and scored on a 57-yard scamper to tie the game 35-35 with 6:30 left in the fourth.
Sidney took an early lead when Christian Townsend returned a fumble 61 yards for a touchdown with 9:06 left in the first quarter. The Yellow Jackets missed a two-point conversion try and led 6-0.
The Red Devils scored on their next drive on a 5-yard touchdown run by Josh Burritt and took a 7-6 lead with an extra point with 11:57 left in the second.
The teams traded scores later in the quarter. Gordon ran 25 yards for a touchdown with 10:19 left in the second to give the Yellow Jackets a 13-7 lead, but Tippecanoe responded on a 56-yard run by Barhorst with 8:43 left to take a 14-13 lead.
Tippecanoe scored again with 6:58 left on a 46-yard run by Burritt, which extended the lead to 21-13. Bowser had a 50-yard run on Sidney’s next drive to move the ball into the red zone, and the Yellow Jackets scored a few plays later on a 5-yard run by Gordon.
Bowser finished the game with 266 rushing yards on 31 carries and surpassed 1,900 rushing yards on the season in the game, which is a new school record. Gordon ran 18 times for 123 yards and completed 10-of-17 pass attempts for 174 yards.
Barhorst rushed for 237 yards for Tippecanoe on 19 carries.
