Delphi loses thriller to Benton Central
By Todd Swank

The Delphi football team traveled to winless Benton Central on Friday night and came away on the short end of a 32-31 score. With BC having lost all of their games, many Oracles fans thought that they were going to win their second in a row. But BC wasn't as woeful as their record. Their opponents have won 39 of 49 games for a .795 winning percentage.

The Oracles played two completely different halves. They let BC score 24 first half points to take a 10-point lead into halftime before their defense stiffened and shutout the Bison until only 29 seconds remained in the game.

BC, on their first play from scrimmage, ran around the right end for a 67-yard run and a quick 7-0 lead after only eighteen seconds of time had run off the clock. On BC's next possession they were forced to punt when Cory Smith caught the ball near midfield and started right. He managed to weave his way through the Bison defenders for a touchdown. Michael Myers kicked the extra point to tie the game at seven.

BCs next series ended with Myers intercepting a pass. The Oracles couldn't take advantage of the turnover and punted. BC took over with 4:15 left in the period and started a drive that resulted in a field goal for the Bison early in the second quarter.

The next possession for the Bison started at the Oracle 41- yard line. Five plays later the Bison took a 17-7 lead on a 10- yard pass to the left corner of the end zone. It took Delphi four minutes to get that score back when Joe Little hit Myers with a 17-yard touchdown pass. Little was 4 for 6 on the drive for 49 yards with Myers catching all four passes. The score was now 17-14.

On third and ten at their own 39-yard line it looked like the Bison would be forced to punt. The Oracle defenders knew the Bison would try a pass, so at the snap of the ball they all were trying to get to the quarterback and didn't notice that they had set up a perfect screen pass. Only a great tackle by Matt Lewis at the Delphi 18- yard line prevented a touchdown. Six plays later the Bison scored and took a 24-14 lead into the locker room at the half.

Myers started a Delphi comeback when he intercepted a BC pass to give the Oracles a first

down at the Bison 40. A fumbled snap set up a third and 14 situation for the Oracles. Little then hit Myers with a 44-yard pass, in which he out jumped the defender at the 10-yard line and tipped the ball to himself and went in for the score. Delphi closed the gap down to 24-21.

The final period started with the Bison threatening to score with a fourth down play at the Oracle 18. A Bison player caught what would have been a first down pass, but the Oracle's Cory Smith made a good hit to knock the ball loose for an incompletion. The Oracles used a pass interference penalty on the Bison to keep a drive alive that resulted in a 30-yard field goal by Myers, knotting the game up at 24.

After a BC punt, the Oracles got the ball at their 37 with 6:33 left in the game. With momentum on their side the prospects looked good. On the second play of the drive, Little again teamed up with Myers for a long gain. This time Little hit Myers in stride at the BC 35 and he ran the ball down to the Bison 21. The drive nearly stalled at the 22-yard line, when, on fourth and ten, Myers caught a Little pass, good for ten yards and a first down. Five

running plays made the score 31-24 with 1:43 showing on the game clock.

The game-winning drive by BC began at their 35-yard line. The defining play of the game came on third down when the Bison needed two yards for a first. A BC ruuner hit the middle of the line and broke through for a 31-yard gain with less than a minute to go. Four plays later a pass was floated into the right corner of the end zone. The jump ball was caught by a Bison receiver, who came down for a TD. During the celebration in the end zone an Oracle player was called for a penalty. This moved the ball from the three-yard line for the extra point to the one and one half. With nothing to lose, the BC coaching staff decided to go for the win rather than a tie. A run around right end and a dive to the pylon gave the Bison the one-point edge. A Hail Mary pass at the end by Little was intercepted by the Bison to end the game.

Leading rushers for Delphi were Josh Penn with 44 yards and Cory Smith with 37. Little completed 9 of 22 passes for 191 yards with two TDs and two interceptions. Myers caught eight passes for 182 yards and two TDs with Smith catching 1 for 9 yards.

Delphi falls to 2-6 for the year and must travel to Tipton for a 7:30 tipoff on Friday night for their final regular season game. Sectional starts the next week with Delphi hosting Northwestern.

Photo correction

In last week's Comet, the photo on page B1 entitled "Aggressive play" was misidentified. The Oracle player pictured was Kyle Stonebraker.