Oracles hang onto Bacon Bowl spoils
By Mike Hoffman Contributing sportswriter
Delphi's Oracles came to Cougar country Friday night aiming to keep the coveted Bacon Bowl skillet in their possession and that's just what they did.

First down and more Delphi's Cory Banes (#10) fights for more yards after a first down reception Friday night. The Oracles went on to defeat the Cougars in the annual Bacon Bowl contest. Bill Stauffer photo

Both teams were hungry for their first victory of the young season. The question was, which team was going to get fired up and get the momentum on their side.

When in doubt, ask a fifth grader and they will give you the correct answer. One stated, "The team with the most points." And another one answered, "I don't know the answer to that question, my dad says Delphi's not that good."

Well, the Oracles proved they were good enough to keep the skillet for another year, defeating the Cougars 24-0 in a hard fought battle. In fact - the Oracles have claimed the skillet for three years in a row and have a 7-6 advantage in Bacon Bowl history.

The Oracles took advantage of the Cougars' mental mistakes. Just when the Cougar offense would start moving the ball, they would turn the football over to Delphi. The fumbles and interceptions really hurt the Cougars dashing their hopes of winning.

The Cougar offense had a total of 6 turnovers (3 interceptions and 3 lost fumbles). The Oracles capitalized on all of the Cougars' mistakes.

For a while the Cougars had more penalties in yards than they did rushing or passing yards.

This game was very physical for both teams. There were 13 penalties called for a total of 118 yards (6-63 for Delphi and 7-55 for Carroll).

The Oracles scored at 5:46 (1) on a 23-yard field goal by senior Michael Myers before the rainstorm stopped play. When the game resumed, playing conditions out on the field were not good.

The Cougars stopped an Oracle drive and took the punt. However, what looked like an incomplete pass was called a fumble. Myers returned the fumble 76 yards for the Oracles' first touchdown. The kick was good and it was 10- 0 Delphi.

That fumble broke the Cougars' backs. They were mentally drained the rest of the game.

Delphi scored again in the first half on a Shane Evans' 1- yard run. The kick failed, 16- 0 Delphi.

The third quarter was a defensive battle - neither team could move the ball.

The rain came down in buckets in the fourth quarter. The Oracles' final score came on an Evans 2-yard run. Cory Banes scored the 2-point conversion run.

Several fans didn't like the officials, who kept their eyes on the sky and not the field. There were missed calls on both teams. Someone must have forgotten to tell them this game was a county rivalry.

Delphi was led by two rushing touchdowns by Evans, a fumble return touchdown by Myers, a field goal and extra point by Myers, and a twopoint conversion by Banes. Banes also had 90 yards rushing on 14 carries. For the defense Matt Lewis had 2 interceptions, Justin Snider had 1 interception, Banes, Myers and Derek Bradshaw each recovered a fumble. Travis Yoakum led the team with 8 tackles.

The Oracles are at West Lafayette Friday night. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m.

The Cougars need to get their game plan and their "A" game going if they want to win Friday night at Sharpsville against the Tri- Central Trojans, a conference battle.