Oxford jumps all over Kennett early in 55-36 triumph
OXFORD – On the surface, Saturday’s Ches-Mont American clash between Kennett and Oxford appeared to be between teams that have traveled similar paths this season: a quick start followed by recent troubles. But that’s a bit deceiving and those paths quickly diverged in the first half during Senior Night at Oxford.
Not a candidate for a blowout as little as several weeks ago, this was a mismatch from the start. The host Hornets scored the first 38 points and went on to win it 55-36. Quarterback Chandler England accounted for five touchdowns as the Hornets improve to 2-3 in the league, 5-3 overall.
“Our kids came out laser-focused and ready to play,” said Oxford head coach Michael Means. “They see the bigger picture now. We have the opportunity to do something no team has done here in a while, and that’s go to the 5A playoffs. We are unbelievably excited about that opportunity.”
In all, the Hornets rolled up 467 yards of offense, including a 300-plus through the air by England, who targeted teammate Brandon Deshields eight times for 157 yards and two TDs. Senior runner Brandon Holz chipped in with 95 yards on the ground.
“We were just running up and down the field,” Deshields said. “Coach Means just has a lot of trust in the passing game this year. And you add in the run game and our offense can be dominant.”
Despite scoring 36 in the second half, it was another tough outing for the Blue Demons (0-4, 2-6), who have now dropped five in a row. Kennett got electric quarterback Jake Dilcher back from injury a week earlier, but it’s now pretty clear that the Demons peaked back in mid-September. And frustrations are mounting.
“It certainly looks that way,” head coach Josh Kaufman acknowledged. “We certainly played our best football in September and we lost momentum somewhere along the way. I’ll take the blame for that as the head coach.”
The final score doesn’t accurately indicate just how dominant Oxford was. It outgained Kennett by nearly 250 yards in the first half alone and never once punted the football.
“It was a very clean offensively, especially in the first half,” Means said. “And on defense we got great pressure. We contained Dilcher, which was the whole game plan. That’s something we didn’t do in the second half.”
The Hornets scored on six of their seven first half possessions, and England had a hand in all five TDs, throwing for four and adding another on the ground. He found Deshields for touchdowns of 18- and 47-yards, added a 48-yarder to Julian Nadachowski and a 32-yarder to Alijah Thomas. The senior added a short TD run before the half to make it 38-0.
“It was one of our better halves, but I know we are capable of doing that every game. We were just really clicking tonight and dominated all over the field,” Deshields said.
“(Chandler) is an absolute gym-rat. To see the steps he’s taken in the last three years is amazing,” Means added. “He’s a maestro out there, and when we are on rhythm, it’s fun to watch. And he’s the guy pulling the strings.
“We put a ton on his shoulders and make it easy for everybody else.”
Held to a mere 75 yards of total offense in the first half, Kennett opened it up in the second half. Dilcher wound up with 293 of his 334 all-purpose yards after the break, but it was too late.
“I don’t really count any of that,” Kaufman said. “Jake played well in the second half and our receivers made some great plays, but it was mop-up time.
“We had no offensive flow in the first half. We weren’t blocking or doing our assignments and that’s how you get into a big hole.”
Kicker Jake O’Connor added field goals of 38- and 30-yards for Oxford, who had all of its starters out of the game by the fourth quarter. Sophomore runner Tim Faber scored a pair of fourth quarter TDs for the Hornets.
“A win is a win – we’ll take it,” Means said. “We don’t care how (the final score) looks. We were playing with junior varsity and backup JV in the second half.
“Now we just need to worry about beating (Bishop) Shanahan next week, and they are a good football team.”
Demons’ receivers Mitch Kosara and Chris Brooks both had most of their production after halftime. Kosara finished with five catches for 119 yards and Brooks had eight for 136.
“The last few weeks, this is the scenario we’ve been in,” Kaufman said. “We were down big against Great Valley and (West Chester) Henderson, and we fought in the second half. In all these games, we got our wheels rolling way too late.”
