Another dominant victory for Red Devils 62-0 over Sidney

With the second half of the season upon us, the Tippecanoe football team continued to show their dominance to area teams with a 62-0 win over Sidney on Thursday night football at the Stadium. The game was scheduled for Thursday due to the Mum Festival setup that was at the park all day on Friday.

“Both teams had one less day to prep for this game but I thought our kids prepared well,” Tipp coach Matt Burgbacher said. “We came out here and did what we wanted to do, we want to continue to keep getting better.”

“We want to come out and do what we do and do it well, and we did really well tonight.”

It didn’t take Tipp long to get on the board, as their opening possession went five plays and it was capped off by a 37-yard touchdown pass from Larkin Thomas to Will Strong to put the Red Devils on the board 7-0 just three minutes into the game.

After an interception by Raiden Nicholls on Sidney’s next drive, Tipp went back to work inside Yellow Jacket territory. Thomas had a big 18-yard keeper on third down to keep the drive alive, then scored on a seven-yard keeper with 7:38 left in the period, pushing the Tipp lead to 14-0.

Tipp did have to punt, which is unusual for the squad this year, but Max Deckard picked off a pass and returned 35 yards for a touchdown, giving Tipp a 21-0 lead with 2:29 left in the opening period. 

After Sidney fumbled the ball away on their next possession, the Red Devils made them pay. Xavier Melton capped off the four play drive with a short one-yard touchdown run as the opening quarter came to a close, and Tipp was in total command 28-0.

The Red Devils scored yet again on their next possession when Thomas hit Strong with a 57 yard touchdown pass early in the second period, sending the game to 35-0.

Deckard had another huge fourth down play knocking down the pass to force the ball over on downs to Tipp, but the Red Devils had a turnover when Thomas was picked off in the endzone. 

“Max is a solid player and has done it defensively for us and offensively,” Burgbacher said. “He is a hard worker and he wants to keep getting better.”

The play didn’t phase the junior quarterback, as Thomas came right back on their next drive and connected with Deckard from 23 yards out in the final minute of the half, sending Tipp into the half leading Sidney 42-0.

With the clock running in the second half, Tipp added to their lead. Melton scored from a yard out to extend their lead in the third, then after the Red Devils recovered a fumble, Melton scored again from a yard out with 3:19 left in the third, pushing their lead to 55-0.

Tipp closed out the scoring in the fourth when Jackson Sinning recovered a loose ball in the endzone to give Tipp their final points. 

“We gave up some rushing yards tonight and I am not very happy with that,” Burgbacher said when asked to assess his defense that has only given up 20 points this entire season. “But the big thing is the zero on the scoreboard. For our guys, it’s a mentality and we are going to be aggressive.”

Tipp travels to Xenia on Friday for a 7pm kickoff.