Oxford shuts out Henderson in rain-soaked contest

October 29, 2021

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West Chester >> Friday evening’s heavy rain and strong winds presented a unique challenge to every Chester County high school football player.
But Oxford’s players embraced the adverse conditions en route to an 18-0 win at West Chester Henderson’s J. Oscar Dicks Stadium Friday.
“Obviously, the conditions were terrible, but I loved the juice our guys showed in the pre-game warmups,” said Oxford head coach Michael Means. “You could tell right from the beginning that they were ready to play. They embraced the conditions, they didn’t look at it like it was a detriment. They were excited at the opportunity to play.”
Following the game, some of the victorious Hornets delighted their contingent of hardy fans by running and sliding into one of the sideline puddles.
“They had a lot of fun tonight,” said Means. “We talked about limiting mistakes – that the team that limits its mistakes and plays the tougher football game is going to win, and I felt like we did that. Our defense came out and played really, really well, and we ran the football.”
Both Oxford (5-5) and West Chester Henderson (4-6) stuck to a running attack Friday evening – only six passes were thrown all night (none were completed).
After a scoreless first quarter, Oxford took possession on its own 5 yard line and began a 95-yard touchdown march – on 13 consecutive running plays.
The long drive was kept alive by a couple of key gains on third down plays by Oxford junior quarterback Dustin Long. On 3rd-and-8 from the Hornets’ 7 yard line, Long ran for a 12-yard gain and a first down; then on 3rd-and-16 at the Oxford 39, Long carried the ball for a 16 yard pickup for another first down.
On 2nd-and-1 from the Henderson 36 yard line, Oxford senior running back Dom Pantalone took a handoff from Long and ran up the middle for a touchdown.
“That was an RPO, and the first pass play we called the entire night,” said Means. “Our offensive line did a great job there. Between Dom and Dustin, the two of them are very, very different runners, but they complement each other well.”
The two-point conversion, on a Long run, was good, giving the visitors an 8-0 lead with 1:40 to go before halftime.
“Our offensive line played a really solid game,” said Means. “We ran [to the] right a lot, and our right side has been very, very unsung but our right guard, Jake Wahl and our right tackle, Danny Rodriguez, did a great job.
“In the second half, West Chester Henderson made some changes alignment-wise, and we started running left more, and our left side did a great job. I was happy with how our O-line played.”
In the final minute-and-a-half of the second quarter, Henderson moved the ball down to the Oxford 32 yard line, thanks to a couple of sizable runs by senior back Casey Killoran. But the Warriors could not penetrate inside the Oxford 29 before the half was over.
Oxford took the second half kickoff and moved all the way down to the Henderson 15 yard line, thanks to some solid running gains by Pantalone and Long, but a fumble gave the ball back to the hosts.
Following a Henderson three-and-out, a punt gave Oxford possession at the Warriors’ 38 yard line. When the Hornets’ drive stalled at the Henderson 12 yard line, Oxford senior Will Smith booted a 29-yard field goal to make the score 11-0 with less than a minute to play in the third quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, Henderson junior running back Cole Foster started to pick up key yardage, and the hosts moved the ball all the way to the Oxford 17 yard line before giving up the ball on downs.
“I thought the defensive key to the game was how our inside backers [juniors Luke Piskun and Nate Vance] controlled the game,” said Means. “Our inside backers really closed gaps well, and once we made a couple of adjustments at halftime, we did a better job on the outside, taking away some of their outside stuff.”
Oxford then put together a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Nine of the plays were running plays, including a 36-yard gain by Long down the left sideline and a 12-yard pickup by the Oxford junior quarterback on a run to the right side.
On 4th-and-6 at the Henderson 18 yard line, Long spun away from several tacklers at the line of scrimmage and made a key first down at the Warriors’ 12. Long gave the ball to Pantalone on the next two plays, and the senior running back scored on the second carry, from the 4 yard line. Smith kicked the extra point to give Oxford an 18-0 lead with 5:48 left in the game.