Oxford forces five turnovers to power Hornets past Avon Grove
LONDON GROVE >> It was a Ches-Mont crossover, but don’t tell the Oxford football team that its 28-16 season opening victory Friday at Avon Grove wasn’t a big deal.
The two are in different divisions, and it was the first meeting on the gridiron between these neighboring schools since 2016. With the win, the Hornets have now won 5 of 16 all-time meetings.
“After not playing them for all these years, our kids were fired up,” said Oxford head coach Mike Means. “It’s one we haven’t been able to play in a while, but it is a rivalry game.
“Their kids don’t like us and our kids aren’t big fans of theirs, so it was good to get the win.”
The Red Devils actually had an edge in total yards (378-330) and in first downs (18-12), but had a huge deficit in the one statistic that can sabotage any team: turnovers. Avon Grove lost that battle 5-0.
“We will spend time on ball security,” promised Devils’ head coach Joe Coffey. “We ran our offense well, but a state championship team wouldn’t win with five turnovers.”
Locked in a five-point battle after Avon Grove scored the first nine points of the second half, the Hornets came up with a series of big plays to wrestle back the momentum. The biggest was probably an 80-yard TD toss from quarterback Dustin Long to wideout Corey Dantonio that came after the Devils’ took the bait on a pump fake.
“It was a big play. We schemed to defend the rocket screen and they made a play,” Coffey explained.
“We’d been running the screen all game and we knew they would bite on it. It was wide open,” Long added.
And then moments later, with Avon Grove seemingly driving for a score, senior safety Gavin Elville recovered one of four Devils’ fumbles on the day, returned it 72 yards and set the stage for an Oxford touchdown – a five-yard run by Luke Piskun – that effectively ended the game early in the fourth quarter.
“With the schools being so close, and all of the talk back-and-forth on the internet, we kind of shut a lot of mouths,” said Long, who had 268 yards of total offense.
The bad news seemed to come in waves for Avon Grove, who had to go without injured projected starting quarterback Joey Marczelly. He was replaced by junior Frank Hoogerwerf, who threw for 171 yards in the second half. At one point in the second quarter, Hoogerwerk went down and third-stringer Owen Yoder had to take over.
In the opening half, the Hornets made four forays into enemy territory to start the game, but only managed seven points, and that came not long after C.J. Boyer pounced on a fumble deep in Devils’ territory. Oxford, however, added an interception return for a TD when Elville stepped in front of a Hoogerwerf pass in the flats and returned it 25 yards to the end zone.
“(Elville) is a senior who hasn’t played since his freshman year because he sat out the COVID season. He had a huge game,” Means said.
“Our defensive line got up in the quarterback’s face, he threw it, and I was able to read it perfectly and take it to the house,” Elville added.
Down 14-0 at the half, the Devils got on the scoreboard when junior Cole Walsh sacked Long in the end zone for a safety. Avon Grove then put together an 11-play, 69-yard TD march that culminated with a 10-yard run by junior Harrison Watson. It was his first of two TDs.
That made it 14-9, and set the stage for the Hornets big response. First up was the pass to Dantonio.
“The momentum was clearly on (Avon Grove’s) side,” Means said. “They were running the ball down our throat and we were gassed. So we were looking for a play that was an answer and get the momentum back. (Assistant coach) Dave Thomas was the one that suggested it would be there at some point and we picked the right time.”
Dantonio finished with five catches for 137 yards. Long was 11 of 15 for 215 passing yards and a rushing touchdown. And the offense did not turn it over.
“We made (avoiding turnovers) a key point coming into this game,” Long said. “We hurt ourselves a lot with that last season.
“We are in a good place right now, but there is definitely a lot of room for improvement.”
The Red Devils were more balanced on offense, including 57 more yards on the ground. Watson, Thad Binstead and Frank McKeown combined to gain 153 yards on the ground 37 carries. But the turnovers …
“Hoogerwerk transferred back here after going to Salesianum and he did a nice job, except for the (pick six),” Coffey said.
“It’s cliché, but it is ultimately on me. We don’t spend enough time on protecting the football, so we are going to make that a point of emphasis this week.”
Oxford was assessed 10 penalties for 95 yards, but seven of them came in the first half.
“We will enjoy this win for 24 hours, but it wasn’t good enough,” Means said. “There were times (Avon Grove) took it too us with the run game, which we are not accustomed to. We need to play better.”
Oxford 28, Avon Grove 16
Oxford 7 7 8 6 – 28
Avon Grove 0 0 9 7 — 16
Scoring
O – Long 1 run (Smith kick)
O – Elville 25 yard interception return (Smith kick)
AG – Cole Walsh tackle for safety
AG – Watson 10 run (Okonowicz kick)
O – Dantonio 80 pass from Long (Long run)
O – Piskun 5 run (pass failed)
AG – Watson 61 pass from Hoogerwerf (Okonowicz kick)
Team Totals
O AG
First Downs 12 18
Yards rushing 115 173
Yards passing 215 205
Total yards 330 378
Passing 11-15-0 11-17-1
Fumbles-lost 1-0 4-0
Punts-ave. 0 2-38.5
Penalties-yds 10-95 6-55
Individual Statistics
Rushing – O: Piskun 8-40, TD; Long 16-53, TD; Dantonio 2-1; Mines 5-20; Evans 1-1. AG: Binstead 13-47; McKeown 8-46; Hoogerwerf 4-16; Watson 16-60, 2 TDs; Yoder 1-5; T-Toe 1-2.
Passing – O: Long 11-15-0, 2015 yards. AG: Hoogerwerf 10-16-1, 191 yards; Yofer 1-1-0, 14 yards.
Receiving – O: Dantonio 5-137, TD; Tyre 1-(-5); Evans 2-34; Piskun 3-11.
Sacks – AG: Lanenelli, Walsh.
Interception – O: Elville.
