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Chester County Press

Green leads Oxford to 41-28 win

11/03/2015 01:08PM ● By Richard Gaw



By Richard L. Gaw, Staff Writer

As the Oxford football team entered Kennett Square last Friday evening, it was doing so in an effort to salvage a season that had not lived up to expectations, as their 1-7 record showed. On the other side of the field, the 2-6 Kennett squad was there with the same intentions, but as the game got underway in the twilight of a Fall evening, it became fairly clear which team was soon to get its just rewards.

Behind quarterback Dan Green's 187 yards in passing – including three touchdown strikes – the Hornets soundly defeated the Blue Demons, 41-28, before a Senior Night crowd at Kennett Stadium.

Throughout the game, Green consistently found wide receiver Greg Roberts for long gains, which included two touchdown strikes, an offensive effort that perfectly complimented a sound running game led by running back Tim Davis, who ran for 128 yards and scored twice.

On its first possession of the game, Davis ran up the middle for a 24-yard touchdown with 9:18 remaining in the first quarter. After the ensuing kick-off put the Blue Demons in Oxford territory, Kennett fumbled in the backfield on a double reverse hand-off, which was recovered by Oxford at the Kennett 37. On the next play from scrimmage, Green found Roberts in the corner of the end zone to give Oxford a 14-0 lead mid-way through the first quarter, and on its next possession, Green again got the ball into the hands of Davis, who barreled through the Kennett defensive line to give the Hornets a 21-0 lead heading into the second quarter.

Late in the second quarter, Kennett inherited the ball on its own 21-yard line, and marched up-field on long carries by running back Myles Robinson. An 18-yard pass from Kennett quarterback Cameron Lau to running back Frankie Perigo moved the ball to the Oxford three yard line, setting up Robinson's three-yard touchdown run with 5:09 left in the first half.

On fourth down and 18 from its own red zone, Oxford faked its field goal attempt but was stopped on the 16-yard line by a hard tackle by Kennett's Tyler Nunn. With a little more than one minute remaining in the first half, a 46-yard pass from tight end Kerry Tomasetti to wide receiver John Finfrock off of a double reverse put the ball to within the ten yard line. A carry by Robinson moved the ball to the three- yard line, but on the next play, a touchdown run by Perigo was called back because of a holding penalty on the Blue Demons.

On third down and 18 from the Oxford 20 yard line, Lau rolled out and found wide receiver David McVey in the end zone to pull Kennett to within a touchdown heading into the second half, with just 34 seconds left in the first half.

Any opportunities Kennett had to make a game of it in the second half, however, were shut down on account of a rash of penalties, and some player ejections.

Midway through the third quarter, Green ran 35 yards past several tackle attempts to get the ball to the Kennett 14-yard line. On the next play, Green found wide receiver Mike Williams over the middle for a touchdown with 7:07 remaining in the quarter, to give Oxford a 28-14 lead.

On Kennett's next set of downs, a beautiful catch and run touchdown by Finfrock was called back on an offensive holding penalty. A double reverse attempt on the next play pushed Kennett all the way back to its own five yard line, forcing the Blue Demons to punt, which gave Oxford the ball near midfield. A 36-yard scamper by Davis moved the ball to the Kennett four-yard line, which led to Green's quarterback keeper touchdown with 2:18 left in their third quarter to extend the Hornets' lead to 35-14. Following the successful point-after attempt, players from both sides got into a brief skirmish, which led to the ejections of Nunn and Perigo from Kennett, and Oxford's Julian Nadachowski.

The display of poor sportsmanship extended to the ensuing kick-off when, just before completing his 85-yard touchdown return, Robinson turned at about the 20-yard line and extended a finger gesture to the Oxford players who were attempting to tackle him.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Green found wide receiver Troy Brown a few yards from the end zone. After gathering in the ball, Brown promptly fumbled, which was immediately gathered in by Roberts, which gave Oxford a 41-21 lead. With 6:26 left, Green again found Roberts for a 24-yard TD strike to round out the scoring.

Kennett (1-4 in Ches-Mont, 2-7 overall) finishes its season on Nov. 6 with a game at Great Valley, while Oxford (2-3 in Ches-Mont, 2-7 overall) will host Octorara this Friday night.

"We needed it badly," Oxford head coach Mike Means said of the team's win. "I have seniors who have worked their rear ends off. I told them at the beginning of the year that they're the ones who will ultimately determine the direction of our program, so I am really happy for them tonight."

"Our mentality for the entire season has been to play each game with a one-and-oh mentality. It's important that we win the next game (against Octorara) and go into our off-season program, with a good taste in our mouths."

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, e-mail [email protected].