OXFORD – For the Oxford Blackhawk football team in 2017 it isn’t all about records and wins, it is about a journey they began long ago, the journey of holding pride in their community when they represent their school each weekend.

For nine of the 24 student-athletes on the Oxford football team, those weekends are running out fast.

“It started off pretty emotional for the guys. A lot of these guys have been playing straight from youth all the way up and the idea that that could be the last time they play on Tony Abbott Field. It was pretty emotional for them,” said Oxford head coach Jon Carey. “Not a single person has quit, not a single person has given up. We had 24 at the beginning of the season and we’re still sitting at 24. I think that goes to show not only the character of the guys but how serious they take playing for the Oxford Blackhawks.”

This past weekend on Friday, September 29, division opponent and currently number two ranked in Class D for New York State, the Sidney Warriors came strolling into Oxford for a 44-8 beat down.

A 44-8 loss on senior night – or any night – can be heartbreaking, especially for a team struggling to find their first win on the season. However, coach Carey said nothing of fights or squabbles or players giving up.

“They (Oxford) wanted to go out and win. I know the score looks like it was a really rough game, but that was the number two team in New York State, and they’re very good. And I’ll tell you what, we put up over 250 rushing,” said coach Carey. “The guys at halftime, for the first time this year and even though we were down three touchdowns, they went in and were excited, they thought they had this game, which was huge.”

At the half, Oxford trailed Sidney 30-8. However, a 16-8 first quarter was enough to breathe life into the Blackhawks.

Following two passing touchdowns to open up the game for Sidney – where QB Darren Smith first hit Brandon Evens from three yards out, then hit Ethan French from 14 yards out – it was a 21-yard barreling run from Blackhawk Mickenson Clune that put Oxford on the board. Clune added his own two-point conversion to make the score 16-8.

“Mac (Clune), this is only his second year of football and first year in the backfield. He is so hard to bring down, he is huge. Anyone who tackles him up high, well, there is just no chance, and I think he showed that. That is his best rushing performance to date,” said coach Carey.

Clune finished with 24 carries for 139 rushing yards and the touchdown on his senior night – while fellow senior Dakota Freidel snagged nine carries for 73 yards on the ground, with Paul Baker added 36 yards on 12 carries, Daren Law adding one carry for two yards, Aidian Ingraham taking two carries for seven yards and Jake Ingraham rushing once for three yards. The Oxford offense combined for 259 yards, all rushing yards with no passes being completed in the game.

Sidney, employed a much different style of attack – having five of their six total touchdowns come through the passing attack. Star quarterback, Darren Smith, threw four passing touchdowns while going 11-for-15 with 167 yards and an interception – all in the first half of play. Backup QB, Ethan Finch, went 2-for-3 with 23 yards and a touchdown. French’s touchdown came in the third quarter and went for 20 yards to Brandon Evans – while David Gannon rushed a touchdown in from nine yards out in the fourth to cap off the big 44-8 win.

“He (Daren Smith) had too much time, we allowed him way too much time to throw and that quarterback is one of the best quarterbacks I’ve ever seen in NYS High School football. He was unbelievable. We were preparing for him all week long and we decided to switch our defense up to a 4-4 to allow us to have potentially seven guys covering the pass,” said coach Carey. “Our outside linebackers were not fast enough to get to that 10-15 yard out patterns. They knew it was coming and they kept trying to cheat out and the Sidney guys were just a little too fast. The longer TDs they had, our guys were in position, they just didn’t make a play on the ball. They (Oxford) haven’t faced a quarterback like that before.”