Bombers squeak past Delphi
By Todd Swank Contributing sportswriter

Last Friday the Oracles and Rensselaer Bombers, two teams sporting two wins and three losses for the season, were in a battle to see who could even up their record. The Oracles came up short, 24-17.

Delphi received the kick and started its opening drive with a pass from Dustin Salyer to Shane Evans for a 12-yard gain. A Salyer run netted 15 yards for another first down to move the ball near midfield. Two more firsts by the Oracles got them to the Bombers 24- yard line where the drive stalled to force Coach John Gasser to make a decision on what to do on 4th and 9. He opted to try a 40-yard field goal with Michael Myers doing the kicking. The ball was snapped, followed by a perfect hold and Myers kicked the ball through the uprights for an early 3-0 Delphi lead. From the press box the kick looked like it might have been good from as far away as 50 yards.

After the kickoff to the Bombers it looked like they were going to come right down the field and score but the Oracle defense came up with a stop to force a Bomber turnover on downs at the Delphi 25-yard line. The first period ended with the Oracles leading 3-0.

Three plays into the second quarter the Bombers scored on a 9-yard run by freshman Ben Ahler to lead 6-3 after the extra point was blocked by Myers. Falling behind didn't rattle the Oracles though as they came right back and scored their own TD, driving 61 yards in six plays. Two key plays were, on 4th and 10 at their own 39-yard line the Oracles lined up to punt. Instead of hiking the ball to the punter Myers, the ball was snapped directly to Matt Lewis. This play caught the opponent off guard and Lewis gained just enough yardage for a Delphi first down at the 50. The second play came on 2nd and 8 when QB Salyer hit Kyle Stonebraker for a 48-yard scoring pass to give the Oracles a 10-6 lead.

At about this time of the evening the moon came up in the eastern sky behind the Delphi fans. It was one of those big yellow ones that you watch in awe. Little did the Oracle faithful know that when the Rensselaer announcer played Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon A Rising" during a break, it was an omen of sorts. With the song still echoing, the Bombers marched down the field to close to within one at 10-9 at the half on a 25-yard FG.

The second half opened with the ball in the hands of the Bombers. An 11-play drive, culminating in a 24-yard Justin Bohannon touchdown run, gave the Bombers the lead (17-10) for good with 6:09 left in the third. Delphi had two chances in the period to do something with the ball but couldn't move the ball either time.

The final stanza began with the Oracles deep in their end of the field after a Rensselaer punt pinned them at the 7-yard line. Three plays later an offensive holding call meant that Myers would be forced to punt from the back of the end zone. The tight conditions didn't bother him. The ball ended up on the Bomber 33-yard line. A 15- yard runback gave the Bombers a short field to try to stretch the lead out. The Delphi defense forced a turnover on downs to give the offense a chance at the Delphi 32-yard line. An incomplete pass on fourth down turned the ball back over to the Bombers at the Delphi 39. Rensselaer took advantage and scored a touchdown with 1:40 left in the game to extend the lead to 24- 10.

A good kickoff return by Justin Snider gave the Oracles the ball at the Bomber 41-yard line. Five plays later the Oracles scored on a 24-yard pass from Salyer to Stonebraker. The score was now 24-17, but with just 0:07 showing on the clock the game was all but over. A failed onside kick ended the ball game.

Salyer completed 8 of 17 passes for 144 yard with two TDs and one interception. Stonebraker grabbed three of the passes for 75 yards and both TDs with Lewis catching a pair for 22 yards. Myers had 1 catch for 27 yards, Shane Evans 1 catch for 12 yards and Cory Banes 1 catch for 8 yards. The leading rushers were Snider with 44 yards, Salyer with 13 and Cory Banes with 11. Lewis, Josh Penn and Shane Evans combined to get 10 yards for the Oracles.

Rensselaer moves to 3-3 for the year while Delphi falls to 2-4. Delphi plays host to a struggling Benton Central team this week for a 7 p.m. kickoff before entertaining a strong Tipton team to end the regular season on Oct.12.