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Versailles senior Collin Peters heads for pay dirt Friday against
Delphos St. Johns. Peters scored
three touchdowns (this on for 18
yards) and rushed for over 200 yards as the Tigers posted a 40-21
MAC
victory over the Blue Jays. CNO Photo by Chuck Runner
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px-s-1bc-vers-fb091315
Versailles
takes Delphos in MAC opener
Tigers able to overcome mistakes
By George Starks
VERSAILLES- It was just over a week ago, the issue for the varsity
football teams wasn’t the game but the weather.
With severe weather and lightening backing things up to Saturday, the
Versailles Tigers traveled to Germantown to battle Valley View.
On a very hot Saturday morning, the Tigers couldn’t overcome the
adversity in a loss to the Spartans.
That was a week ago.
Friday, Versailles welcomed Delphos St. Johns in for the MAC opener at
H.B. Hole Field.
With the rains coming down before the start of action, everything
seemed to leave shortly after the opening kickoff.
The keys to winning the game boiled down to two major things.
Versailles had to stop the big plays and hold Delphos in check.
That didn’t happen.
The Tigers needed to refrain from shooting themselves in the foot and
eliminate costly mistakes.
That didn’t happen either.
Despite not being able to do what needed to be done, the Tigers were
able to overcome themselves and post a 40-21 MAC victory over the Blue
Jays.
If game stats mean anything, the Blue Jays had over 200 yards of
offense through the air.
Delphos quarterback, junior Jacob Youngpeter, threw for 227 yards on 11
of 28 passing with one score. That being a 58 yard scoring pass to
junior Tim Kreeger.
Youngpeter also ran the ball for 65 yards on 25 carries.
On the flip side of the coin, it was senior Collin Peters for the
Tigers.
Peters rushed for over 230 yards on 31 carries with three scores while
senior Jared Niekamp went 8 of 16 through the air for 146 yards and two
scores with one pick.
With the Tigers holding a slim 13-7 lead at the break, Versailles came
out looking like world beaters in the third quarter.
Versailles took the second half kickoff 66 yards on five plays capped
off by a 49 yard pass from Niekamp to junior Alex Wendel and the Cats
were up 20-7.
After a three and out by Delphos, senior Corey Dieringer returned the
punt for 53 yards and a six point halftime lead had blossomed into a
commanding 26-7 advantage with 8:11 left in the third quarter.
Down 19 points didn’t seem to deter the Jays.
In fact, it seemed to inspire them.
Delphos went 61 yards on only three play on its next possession, then
recovered a Versailles fumble at the 50 on the Tigers next possession
and scored 14 plays later at the 11:55 mark of the final frame, closing
the gap to a 26-21 count.
“These guys came in here ready to play,” said Tigers coach Adam Miller.
“They played hard the whole game and I expected this from them.”
Versailles got that score back with 8:44 remaining on a one yard run
from Peters, his second score of the night.
The game would be put on ice at the 3:06 mark when Peters would once
again take it home. This time from 18 yards out, making the score 40-21.
“My kids played hard and got the victory,” said Miller. “We made some
mistakes and we need to get them cleaned up.”
Things got started on the wrong foot for Versailles and it started on
the opening drive by Delphos.
The Jays took the opening kick and set up shop on the Versailles 26
yard line.
Three plays later, sophomore Aaron Reindel punched the ball in from six
yards out and the Jays were up 7-0 with 10:34 still showing on the
first quarter clock.
Versailles roared back on its opening possession, taking the ball
80 yards on only seven plays, highlighted by a 43 yard romp from
Peterson the third play of the drive. Four plays later, it was
Peters taking it home from two yards out and things were knotted at 7-7.
On the next possession, junior Tanner Bey picked Youngpeter at the
Delphos 21 and returned it to the Jays 10 yard line.
That was the biggest disaster of the night for the Tigers.
Versailles would lose the ball on downs, turning it back over to the
Blue Jays as penalties would eventually cost the Tigers.
“We had way too many missed opportunities,” said Miller. “We shot
ourselves in the foot on a couple of occasions.”
Now 2-1 on the season and 1-0 in the conference, Versailles will head
to New Breman to take on the hapless Cardinals Friday.
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