OXFORD – Even when Oxford was winning three Section IV titles in four years about a decade ago, it never held a team to negative rushing yards.
In a defensive display that was easily the best this year or any in recent memory, the Blackhawks kept their Class D playoff hopes alive with a third straight victory Friday night.
Jeremy Nelson scored four touchdowns, and freshman Paul Wonka had his second straight 100-yard rushing day in a 38-0 whitewashing of an undermanned Hancock squad.
“You never expect to give up negative yards, but you’ll take it when you do it,” said Oxford third-year coach Mike Chrystie, who played on Oxford’s three sectional championship teams “I’m proud of our defense.”
From the get-go, Oxford established its running game, and did not allow Hancock much time to run its spread offense. Wildcats slinger, Dylan Oralls, was harassed and sacked repeatedly in two quarters of action, and a late first-half hit sidelined him for the game.
“We knew they would try to spread us out,” Chrystie said of Hancock’s offense. “We took the philosophy that we would get to them before they could throw. We were pretty successful with that tonight.”
Zach Barry, Zach Hamilton, Shawn McKee, and Paul Wonka all had tackles for losses in the first half. Starting running back Darin Keesler, Hancock’s leading rusher, was also knocked out of the game early on with an injury. By game’s end, Hancock had just three available players on the sidelines, and two of those were exchange students playing their first year of football.
“We’re peaking at the right time, and we’re headed to Delhi next weekend who everyone considers the favorite,” Chrystie said. “Our confidence is up and we’re playing good football.”
Hancock received a steady dose of Paul Wonka on the opening drive of the game. Wonka had seven carries for 44 yards, and set up big brother John Wonka’s three-yard keeper for the first score.
Oxford went 37 yards on five plays early in the second stanza to open the lead to 12 points. John Wonka hooked up with a wide-open Nelson on a 28-yard scoring toss.
Nelson added to the lead late in the half intercepting Oralls and returning it 78 yards for a touchdown. Along the way, John Wonka delivered a devastating block on Oralls that ensured the score and knocked Oralls out of the game.
Paul Wonka had a 43-yard run on Oxford’s first offensive series of the second half to the Hancock one, and the freshman finished the two-play drive on the next play.
John Wonka added a 32-yard TD pass to Nelson after a Hancock fumble, and Nelson completed the scoring after a botched field goal attempt. A bad snap to Nelson, the holder, forced him to take off around the right end. The senior made a Hancock defender miss, and he pranced into the endzone for his fourth score.
Paul Wonka finished with 128 yards rushing on 18 carries, and Oxford finished with a season-best 226 yards on the ground.
“We thought if we could take care of the ball tonight, we would be successful on offense,” Chrystie said. “We took care of the ball.”
Oxford plays at Delhi Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.
Score by quarters
Han 0 0 0 0—0
Oxf. 6 12 13 7—38
Scoring Summary
O: John Wonka 3 run (kick failed)
O: Jeremy Nelson 28 pass from John Wonka (kick failed)
O: Jeremy Nelson 78 interception return (pass failed)
O: Paul Wonka 1 run (pass failed)
O: Jeremy Nelson 32 pass from John Wonka (Andrew Golden kick)
O: Nelson 7 run (Golden kick)
Team Summary
H O
First downs 8 11
Rushes-yds 34-(-16) 37-226
Passing yds 41 60
Comp-att-int 4-12-1 2-4-0
Punts-avg 3-25.3 2-34
Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-0
Penalties-yds 2-8 10-100
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (O) Paul Wonka, 18-128; Brandon Shaw, 5-45; Shawn McKee, 5-20; John Wonka, 4-14; Jamie Smolcnop, 3-8; Jeremy Nelson, 1-7; Adam Pierson, 2-4. (H) Evan Whitmore, 6-5; Darin Keesler, 6-4; Frank Couse, 2-3; Rocco Christian, 9-(-3); Thomas Banicky, 4-(-6); Dylan Oralls, 7-(-19).
Passing: (O) John Wonka, 2-4-0, 60 yds, 2 TDs; (H) D. Oralls, 4-11-1, 41 yds; Christian, 0-1-0, 0 yds.
Receiving: (O) J. Nelson, 2-60, (H) Whitmore, 4-41.