First half costly to Delphi Oracles
By Todd Swank Contributing sportswriter

On his way down Typical of a long night, Oracle running back Cory Banes is roughly handled by a group of Twin Lakes defenders. A strong TL first half secured their 42-21 victory over the Oracles. Bill Stauffer photo

The Delphi Oracles' first home game was spoiled by the Twin Lakes Indians who built a 35-7 halftime lead on their way to a 42-21 victory.

Twin Lakes' quarterback David Schultheiss accounted for three touchdowns himself, an 8-yard pass to Brandon Sensney, a 2-run and a 42-yard interception return.

After a quick three and out by Delphi the Indians drove 73 yards in seven plays to take a 7-0 lead. Michael Myers returned the kickoff to the Delphi 30-yard line to start the Oracles' second possession. Shane Evans went 2-for-2 in passing to set up first and 15 at the TL 47, when Matt Lewis broke free up the left sideline and went in for a TD. A Myers kick tied the game at 7-7. The lead was short lived, however, as the Indians drove 61 yards to take a 14-7 lead with 35 seconds to go in the first period.

Neither team could move the ball in the second quarter until five minutes remained. TL had the ball at their 43-yard line when John Dishon started a drive with a 24-yard run that ended with the Indians leading 21-7. Delphi couldn't move the ball and was forced to punt. When Myers went down to grab a low snap his knee inadvertently touched the ground, giving the Indians the ball at the Oracle 12-yard line. Two plays later the score was 28-7. Delphi got the ball back with 45 seconds to go in the half. On first down Evans went back to pass to a receiver near the right sideline when Schultheiss stepped in front to make the interception and run untouched into the end zone. TL had scored 21 points in 3:10 to lead 35-7. What was a close game suddenly looked like a rout.

On their second possession of the second half the Indians ate up six minutes on 10 running plays to score their final points of the game. They led 42-7. With QB Dustin Salyer and RB Justin Snider, Delphi moved the ball inside the Indians' 35. The Oracle drive stalled and they turned the ball over on downs early in the fourth. Two plays later a lateral was misplayed by TL and the Oracles recovered at the Indians' 35. Five running plays by Salyer and Snider put a TD up on the scoreboard. Salyer passed to Snider for a two-point conversion. The score was 42-15.

Another TL fumble gave Delphi possession at their 48. It took six plays to score with 2:45 left in the game. The drive highlighted by a 26-yard run by Snider and 28-yard pass from Salyer to Dustin Oliver. With a failed conversion the score was 42-21. TL ran out the clock to end the game.

Though the Oracles lost, the two late scoring drives gave the team something to hang their hat on for next week. Freshman Salyer and sophomore Snider came in and did a credible job at the skill positions. Granted, they were not playing against the Indians "A" team defense, they gained some amount of confidence. Whether they can do it against a team's best defenders is up to Coach Gasser and his assistants.

Delphi falls to 1-3 for the season and next week travels to Clinton Prairie for a 7 p.m. start time.