SECTION IV FOOTBALL: THIRD-QUARTER MISCUES COSTLY IN SVEC LOSS TO DELHI (24 PHOTOS) (2024-10-12)

By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
DELHI — State-ranked Delhi scored four touchdowns in less than three minutes in the third quarter to pull away for a 42-8 Section IV Football Conference Division VI victory over upset-minded Spencer-Van Etten/Candor here Saturday afternoon.

“If we give up the ball, especially deep in our own territory … that’s completely unacceptable,” coach Jared Wayman said.

Held to a single TD in the first half, the Bulldogs, ranked 14th in Class D, opened the second half with 13-play, 71-yard drive which consumed almost 6 ½ minutes.

With 5:35 remaining in Q3, the Bulldogs’ 14-0 lead wasn’t safe, but that would quickly change — with the help of a pair of miscues on kickoffs and a high snap deep in SVEC territory.

Luke Nealis found an opening in the Eagles’ kick return setup and looped an onside kick into an error with no SVEC players. Teammate Bronson Thomson jumped on the ball at the Eagles’ 35 and Delhi’s Ian Johnson scored on a 40-yard run at 5:25.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, their woes continued on the next series as a high snap was swallowed up by the Bulldogs’ Rocco Schnabel at the SVEC 7. Zach Cornell threw to Schnabel for a 5-yard score as the big tight end overpowered a pair of SVEC defenders with 3:16 left in the period and the score was suddenly 28-0.

Eleven seconds later, Delhi was in the end zone again on a Nealis 18-yard reverse after SVEC mishandled the kickoff, and the host would take a 35-0 cushion into the fourth quarter.

Delhi forced a three-and-out, and scored on a 4-yard run by Chase Rowe on the third play of the fourth quarter. Nealis split the sticks with his seventh PAT kick of the day to give the Bulldogs a 42-0 advantage.

SVEC would put together a 13-play, 61-yard scoring drive on its next possession. Rodney Vaow scored on an 11-yard run and Charlie Hilbert dove into the end zone for the PAT to make it a 42-8 contest with 3:21 on the clock.

Inconsistent play haunted the Eagles throughout the afternoon.

“We just talked in the huddle about consistency,” Wayman said of the post-game talk with the players. “We had guys that didn’t show up, missing practice, which is fine, but you’ve got to at least let me know so we can plan accordingly.

“We haven’t had any consistency switching guys around in different spots. They (Delhi) obviously weren’t doing that. They had a rhythm and we were just out of sync. That was basically how we got to this point on the scoreboard.

“It was worse than what happened with Tioga. We at least had some sort of consistency. I think it just wasn’t good overall today. You have those days, but it’s no excuse. We’ve just got to make up for it this week and win out to make the playoffs, so that’s what we’re going to focus on.”

Delhi’s initial TD came following an Eagle fumble in the first quarter. The Bulldogs took the pigskin at their own 48 and Johnson scored on a 2-yard run seven plays later with 24 seconds remaining in the opening period.

Even though Delhi dominated the stat book in the first half, rolling up 200 yards, the 7-0 halftime lead was a bit of a surprise for a team that racked up 41 points in an upset of then-No. 1 Tioga eight days earlier.

The Bulldogs (4-2 overall), who share the division lead with Walton (3-3 overall) at 1-0, churned out 432 yards on offense, 396 coming via the run. Johnson had 23 carries for 190 yards and Cook added 19 rushes for 116 more.

SVEC (2-4, 1-1) had 107 yards on the day. Hilbert led the way with 57 yards on 14 rushes, Logan Aman had 11 runs for 35 yards and Jakobe Foster carried the ball three times for 34 more.

The Eagles are still in the hunt for a playoff spot, but need to defeat Walton and Oxford (next Friday’s homecoming opponent) to secure the No. 2 spot in the division.

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PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.

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