Battle for the Little Brown Jug

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It really wasn’t fair last week.

The Sidney Yellow Jackets just notched their biggest win in years, beating Piqua 17-14 in a thriller at Piqua to keep their hopes alive for only the second playoff berth in school history.

But later that same night came the news that they had been eliminated from postseason contention.

But that hasn’t diminished what was accomplished not only last week, but all season. The Jackets are now 6-3, and a win in any of those three losses would make this week a playoff week as they end the regular season. But the prospects of a 7-3 record and another “trophy” for the trophy case at school is enough motivation, says head coach Adam Doenges.

“Last week was great and we enjoyed it,” said Doenges. “It’s nice to come back this week after success like we had last week. I knew after our first five games that we would have to go 4-1 in our last five to get in. Once we lost to Vandalia, we kinda knew it wasn’t going to happen. But the team understands there’s another trophy to bring back.”

That “trophy” is actually the “Little Brown Jug,” which Greenville has held on to for the past two seasons. The two will play for the right to bring the trophy back to their school, and the game is set for Greenville Friday night at 7 p.m.

Greenville comes into Friday’s game with just the opposite record, 3-6. But Doenges knows the Green Wave are not to be taken lightly. Just two weeks ago, the Green Wave were tied at the half with Vandalia, and would up losing just 34-20. Vandalia dominated the Jackets in a 29-0 shutout earlier this season.

Their wins have come over Eaton, 30-20, Preble Shawnee, 42-22, and Troy, 27-14.

“When you go to Greenville, anything can happen,” said Doenges. “You can’t take them lightly no matter what their record. They played Vandalia strong, and they played longer than we did against Trotwood. They have a four-year starter at quarterback and an all-league running back from last season back again.”

The quarterback is Clay Guillozet, who is 6-foot-4, 190. He’s completed 78 of 179 passes for 987 yards and 11 touchdowns this season, but he may be more dangerous running the ball. He is Greenville’s leading rusher at 773 yards on 93 carries, an average of 8.3 per carry.

Greenville also has the Greater Western Ohio Conference leader in tackles with 101. He’s William Nibert Jr., a 6-1, 190-pound linebacker.

At the same time, the Yellow Jackers are playing well. Back-to-back wins over their closest league rivals, Troy and Piqua, have energized the program, and last week’s victory assured the Jackets of their first winning season in a dozen years. Not since the 2003 team finished 6-4 has Sidney posted a winning record.

Last week’s game was a thriller, with Danny Dean booting a 34-yard field goal with 1:18 left for a 17-14 lead that held up.

Doenges credited the defense.

“There were a lot of situations in that game where teams would have crumbled, but thanks the maturity of our seniors, we kept at it,” he said. “We had more turnovers than Piqua but we were able to stay the course and keep grinding away, thanks to our defense. Coach (Kyle) Coleman had a great game plan and the kids carried it out.”

Offensively, sophomore running back Isaiah Bowser rushed for 107 yards against the Indians and he now has 843 yards going into the season finale. Freshman quarterback Andre Gordon sits at 784 yards on the season, to go with 1,115 yards passing.

http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2015/10/web1_sidney-greenville-little-brown-jug.jpg
Jackets close season at 3-6 Greenville

By Ken Barhorst

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Reach Ken Barhorst at 937-538-4818

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