Delphi Oracles upset Clinton Prairie
By Todd Swank Contributing sportswriter

Clinton Prairie came into Friday night's game with Delphi with a 4-0 record and a No.10 ranking in the latest polls. While some may say the Oracles' 22-18 win was an upset, others would say it wasn't a surprise at all. The Gophers hadn't faced a team as physical as the Oracles in their early season win streak over Attica, Tri-Central, Frontier and Turkey Run by a combined 167-44 score.

The Gophers figured to control the line with Justin Brewer (6-5, 285) and Kameran Lane (6-2, 240), anchoring on defense and offense, but it turned out that Delphi was the team that ultimately wore down the Gophers and manhandled CP in the second half with Kory Banes running at will. Everyone in attendance knew who was going to get the ball when it was in Delphi's hands. The Gophers were powerless to stop him. The fact that Lane was ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct early in the third period helped.

After a 13-play drive, the Oracles came away empty handed on their first possession. The play was kept alive on a pass interference call against CP as the Oracles lined up to punt when the punter threw the ball downfield. The Gopher defenders, thinking it had been kicked, blocked the Oracles running downfield and were called for the penalty. Neither team could score in the first period.

Two Delphi drives in the second quarter ended in punts with the Gophers taking over at their own 18 after the second punt. It took two plays for CP to score. The last 70 yards were on a run by the Gopher's Nick Seager down the left sideline. A two-point conversion try failed, making the score 6-0 with less than five minutes to go in the half. On the Gophers' next possession the Oracles appeared to have them stopped, when on a 4th and 15 from the Oracles 36, Rich Cooper broke through the line and ran in for another CP touchdown, extending the lead to 12-0. This time another two point try was foiled by Banes interception in the end zone.

The Oracle faithful hadn't had much to cheer about with Delphi trailing by a dozen at the half. It didn't take long for them to raise out of their seats in the second half. Delphi took the opening kickoff and drove 64 yards in 11 plays to cut the deficit to five at 12-7 after a Banes TD and an extra point by Michael Myers. Banes accounted for 47 yards on nine carries.

After each team aborted drives with punts the Gophers started their second possession on their 39 with 2:31 left in the third period. CP took the ball and moved down the field and scored on a 12-yard TD run by Seager early in the final quarter. Another two-point try was unsuccessful. The score was 18-7.

A great return of the kickoff by Justin Snider gave the Oracles good field position at the Gophers 32-yard line. Five carries by Banes led to a TD. Dustin Salyer passed to Snider for two points to trim the lead to three at 18-15 at the 7:43 mark of the fourth.

CP was forced to punt by the inspired Oracle defense. With 5:19 left on the clock and perhaps Delphi's last chance to score, the Oracles started at their end of the field on the 39. On second down the Gophers broke through and sacked Salyer for a seven-yard loss to set up a 3rd and 15, but a face mask penalty by the Gophers turned that into a more manageable 2nd and 1.

The Gophers were running out of steam and being completely dominated by the Oracle offensive line. This led to a huge hole in the Gopher line that let Banes go on a 37-yard romp to the Gopher 15. The Clinton Prairie coaching staff called timeout to try to regroup. It didn't help though. Five more Banes carries and another Banes score gave the Oracles their first lead of the game at 21-18. A Myers kick gave the Oracles a 4-point lead (22-18) which meant that the Gophers needed a TD rather than a FG to stay in the game.

They only had 2:12 to do it in. It nearly didn't take that long. The Gopher's Erik Meyers broke through the line on the kickoff return and was on his way to the end zone when the Oracles kicker, and last man to get by, Michael Myers made a game saving tackle just across midfield. On fourth down Myers intercepted a Gopher pass to preserve the victory for Delphi.

This win belongs to the offensive and defensive lines of the Oracles. In the second half they controlled the line of scrimmage. At times the Gophers looked bewildered and beaten.

Banes had 229 yards rushing on 42 carries to lead the Oracles' ground game while Salyer completed three of six passes for 58 yards with one interception. Dustin Oliver caught one for 36 yards, Myers caught one for 27 yards and Kyle Stonebreaker grabbed one for 5 yards.

Next week the Oracles (2-3) welcome powerhouse Sheridan to Berto Field for a 7 p.m. start. It will take another inspired game by the entire team to get another win.