By John Bombatch
XENIA — With a 12 mph wind at his back, Miamisburg placekicker Blake Middleton hit a 37-yard field goal with 1.6 seconds left in the game to give visiting Miamisburg a come-from-behind 38-35 victory over Xenia, Friday night at Doug Adams Stadium.
Miamisburg (7-1, 3-0 Greater Western Ohio Conference, South Division) went 90 yards in a minute and 35 seconds, thanks largely to two big Tony Clark 18-yard runs and a 16-yard pass from Vikings quarterback Jake Schoenberger to Brian Corbett. On third-and-1 from Xenia’s 31-yard line, Clark broke off another 10-yard run to put Miamisburg down to the Buccaneers 21-yard line with 6.2 seconds left.
Schoenberger spiked the ball on the next play, bringing out the field goal team and setting up Middleton’s heroics.
Xenia recovered Miamisburg’s squib kick on its own 44 -yard line. But with 1.1 seconds remaining, a desperation pass fell short of its intended target and the clock ran out.
“The kids played hard. It was a great football game,” Xenia coach Bob DeLong said. “I tell ya, anybody who witnessed that game, they certainly got their money’s worth. That was a heckuva ball game.”
Xenia falls to 3-5, 1-2 GWOC South with the loss. They play their final two regular season games on the road, starting Friday with a game at Lebanon’s James Van de Grift Stadium.
The Bucs had the ball with 2:11 left in regulation, but the drive stalled on their own 47-yard line and the team was forced to punt the ball away.
“I think you’ve gotta give Miamisburg’s offense a lot of credit, especially in the second half,” DeLong said. “They just executed and executed. I thought our offense played great all night. We were just three yards or so short (on that last drive). Fourth down on your own 40 when you haven’t stopped them, that isn’t a call any coach wants to make. But I thought then we had a chance.”
Unofficially, Xenia quarterback Danny Naylor threw for 289 yards on 18-for-26 passing, with one interception. He connected with Rocky James for touchdown passes of 65, 30, 16 and 28 yards.
Ray James was the other Buc to find the end zone. He returned a Miamisburg first-half punt 65 yards for a touchdown that gave the Buccaneers a brief 28-14 lead.
Rocky James caught nine passes for 201 yards and four touchdowns for Xenia.
Miamisburg back Tony Clark rushed for 206 yards and had touchdown runs of 18 and five yards. Schoenberger completed 6-of-18 passes, which included three spikes and one interception, for 118 yards. Corbett was Schoneberger’s main target, snagging five passes for 87 yards.
The Vikings remain in a tie for the GWOC South lead with Springboro, their next opponent. That game will be played Friday in Miamisburg.
Miamisburg 38, Xenia 35
Score By Quarters
Miamisburg 7 14 6 11 — 38
Xenia 14 14 7 0 — 35
Scoring Plays
M — Tony Clark 18 run, Blake Middleton kick
X — Rocky James 65 pass from Danny Naylor, Blake Bond kick
X — Rocky James 30 pass from Naylor, Bond kick
M — Jake Ross 10 run, Middleton kick
X — Rocky James 16 pass from Naylor, Bond kick
X — Ray James 65 punt return, Bond kick
M — Tyler Johnson 12 pass from Jake Schoenberger, Middleton kick
M — Schoenberger 1 run, kick failed
X — Rocky James 28 pass from Naylor, Bond kick
M — Clark 5 run, Jake Ross run
M — Middleton 37 field goal
