Oxford upends Unionville for first time in a quarter century
EAST MARLBOROUGH >> After the clock wound down to zeroes, and Oxford head coach Mike Means gave every member of his coaching staff a great big bear hug, it accentuated just how important, and historic, his team’s 25-7 football triumph at Unionville was on Friday.
It is a feat that had eluded the Hornets since all the way back in 1997. It was just the eighth win in 48 tries in the all-time series. And it was Oxford’s first-ever win against Longhorns’ head man Pat Clark, who is retiring from coaching after this, his 19th season at the helm.
“It feels amazing,” Means said. “We brought some other teams in here that thought that they could do this, but as soon as something bad would happen, it almost felt like: ‘here we go again.’ This team is just built different.”
Despite being shorthanded in the trenches, the Hornets improve to 1-1 in the Ches-Mont American (2-1 overall) thanks to a defense that limited the defending division champs for just 155 yards of offense. And offensively, senior quarterback Dustin Long was electric while individually rolling up 265 yards of total offense.
“The last time we did this, I wasn’t even born yet,” Long said. “This game meant so much to me, I am tearing up with all of the emotions running through me right now.”
The Unionville defense allowed just one offensive TD on the day, but did not force a single turnover. And its sputtering offense turned it over five times.
“Oxford deserved to win tonight,” Clark said. “They played a much better game, they blocked better, tackled better and executed better.
“We had our moments, where I thought we were tough and gritty, but we weren’t consistent enough. That’s the name of the game in athletics.”
With Long directing the attack, the Hornets amassed 342 yards – but still had trouble finding the end zone. Enter junior kicker Will Smith, who booted four field goals.
“In a game like this, we needed field goals today in order to get this win. Everybody on the sidelines has confidence in me,” Smith said.
“Will is a stud,” Means added. “He played soccer and scored seven goals in their last two games. And he’s had a huge year for us with the field goals and the touchbacks.”
Things started poorly for the ’Horns when their first possession ended with an interception and return for a touchdown by Oxford linebacker Sean Mines. The point after was blocked.
Unionville finally got untracked offensively with an 80-yard, 15-play drive in the second quarter that culminated with short TD run by senior Joe King. But Smith connected on a pair of second period field goals – of 35- and 39-yards – to give Oxford a 12-7 lead at the half.
The Longhorns took the second half kick and marched 40 yards before coughing up the football, which was recovered by Nate Vance. And moments later, a 51-yard reception from Long to senior Corey Dantonio set up another Smith kick. He then added a fourth early in the final period to make it 18-7.
“I started a year ago with zero football experience,” Smith said. “This summer is when I really took it seriously. I would say I am a lot better than last year.”
Dantonio then rounded out the scoring with a 37-yard catch and run with 5:26 on the clock. It came after senior Luke Piskun sacked Unionville quarterback Levi Brawley, knocked him out of the game and forced a fumble. The Longhorns added two more turnovers the rest of the way.
“We were so disappointed and embarrassed with how we came out last week (in a 42-14 loss to Kennett),” Means said. “We had four important guys out for this game, and instead of harping on any of it, our guys got better. They focused in practice probably more than any week that we’ve had, and our kids responded.
“Our defensive line answered the bell tonight. We usually platoon our interior linemen, but we couldn’t do that this week because we had three starters out.”
Long led all runners with 125 yards on the ground, and was 6 of 12 for 140 yards through the air.
“Unionville, and Pat (Clark) run one of the best programs in the Ches-Mont, and his defense is ridiculous every season,” Means said. “But Dustin is a problem. Some of it was broken plays, and when stuff went wrong, he just refused to lose the game.
“It would have been nice to finish more drives and not have to kick four field goals. But I am very pleased with the effort on both sides of the ball.”
The ’Horns only averaged a mere 2.4 yards per carry and did not have a single run of more than nine yards.
“I don’t know that we are explosive enough on offense to make up for mistakes,” Clark said. “We have to be a little more methodical.
“Everything that happened to us is fixable, but congratulations to coach Means and Oxford. Their kids really bounced back after a loss. And maybe we got caught up after a win thinking we were going to roll.”
Dantonio had two catches for 65 yards, and ran for another 33, including the TD.
“I could not be more proud of our guys,” Means said.
Oxford 25, Unionville 7
Oxford 6 6 3 10 — 25
Unionville 0 7 0 0 — 7
Scoring
O – Mines 48 interception return (kick blocked)
O – Smith 35 FG
U – King 1 run (Reichert kick)
O – Smith 39 FG
O – Smith 31 FG
O – Smith 20 FG
O – Dantonio 37 run (Smith kick)
Team Totals
O U
First downs 14 10
Yards rushing 202 78
Yards passing 140 77
Total yards 342 77
Passing 6-12-0 6-14-2
Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-3
Punts-ave. 1-23 3-31
Penalties-yds 9-85 2-20
Individual Statistics
Rushing – O: Long 25-125; Piskun 9-31; Dantonio 5-33, TD; Mines 3-7; Evans 2-6. U: King 17-58, TD; Brawley 11-11; Opdahl 2-2; McIlrath 1-9; McMaughlin 1-(-2).
Passing – O: Long 6-12-0, 140 yards. U: Brawley 6-12-1, 77 yards; Stang 0-2-1.
Receiving – O: Dantonio 2-65; Boyer 1-3; Piskun 1-16; Evans 1-42; Brannon 1-14. U: Opdahl 1-8; Levendis 1-19; Tarr 3-35; Diorio 1-21.
Sacks: O: Mallon, Brannon, Piskun. U: Kelly, Cassidy.
Interceptions: O: Mines, Vance.
