ROXANA — In back to back weeks, the Roxana football team has played its opponents tough in less-than-ideal conditions. And both times, the Shells, despite playing well, have come up short.
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On a rainy Friday night at Charlie Raich Field, missed opportunities from a string of fourth quarter fumbles helped spell the difference as the Shells dropped a hard fought 16-14 decision to Vandalia in a South Central conference match up.
“Tough game, tough loss,” Roxana coach Pat Keith said. “Two weeks in a row, a pretty tough loss. Weather has been a big part of it, but we just couldn’t get the win.”
After an early fourth-quarter safety when a Shells player was tackled in his own end zone, the Vandals fumbled the ball three times to give Roxana a chance to go ahead. But each time, the Shells fumbled the ball right back.
“We couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities, and the safety was a big play,” Keith said. “Our kids played hard, We just gotta find a way to win.”
It was Vandalia who struck first in the opening term, scoring on a six play, 73-yard march. Vandal quarterback Richie Well carried most of the load before finding Marcus Zimmerman on a quick pass on a third-and-seven for a 45-yard touchdown. The convert was good, giving Vandalia a 7-0 lead with three minutes left in the quarter.
The defenses took control until just past the halfway mark of the second, when Roxana’s Joey Johnson took a handoff from Marcus Hartnett and raced up the middle for a electrifying 96-yard touchdown gallop 6:06 from halftime. A bad snap on the conversion try left the score 7-6.
“That was a nice run on Joe’s part.” Keith said. “That’s a big play for us. We couldn’t find that play again the rest of the night, but I thought we moved the ball at times pretty well, at other times, we didn’t move the ball.”
A stout defensive effort helped the Shells regain the ball near the end of the half. Michael Cherry picked off a Well pass in the end zone and the Shells offense went to work, with Jordan Hawkins making good runs for first downs. But the drive stalled at the end of the half, giving Vandalia the 7-6 edge at the long break.
Vandalia took the second-half kickoff and immediately went 55 yards in seven plays to extend its lead. The touchdown came when Well passed 27 yards to a wide open Kelly Jones for the score. The conversion made it 14-6 nearly four minutes in.
The Shells answered straight ahead with a 10-play, 56-yard drive. Hawkins and Johnson shared the work with some nifty runs to get the ball downfield. A Hartnett to Hawkins six-yard pass for the touchdown pulled Roxana to within 14-12, then Hawkins scooted around the left end for a two-point conversion that leveled the score at 14-14. The drive took 5:01 to complete.
Vandalia nearly scored early in the fourth, but a fumble - the first in a string of turnovers by both sides - was recovered by Roxana deep in its own territory. Three plays later, the Vandals trapped a Roxana runner in the end zone for the safety that would eventually prove decisive with 9:49 left in regulation.
Disaster almost struck for Roxana on the ensuing free kick, which was returned 55 yards for a touchdown, but a holding and a personal foul penalty against the Vandals nullified the score. Thus began the series of fumbles, mostly due to a wet ball and the bad field conditions, where both sides gave the ball up to each other.
“Both sides were fumbling,” Keith said. The defense gave us the opportunity to get the ball back, we just couldn’t do anything with it.
Despite the string of turnovers, the Shells did have one last chance to pull out a famous win, but it wasn’t to be, as Zimmerman intercepted a Hartnett pass before the full time siren, preserving the Vandals’ win.
“It’s hard to throw the ball in the rain, but no excuses; they did a good job, they got the win and we didn’t, but as I said, we just gotta keep working and get better.”
The Shells go on the road next Friday at Greenville, and Keith knows his side has to be ready for the Comets’ passing attack.
“They’re a real good passing team, and we gotta get ourselves prepared for that,” Keith said. “One thing we’ve struggled with is passes, so we gotta get ready for those guys. They’ll throw the ball 50 times a game, so we’ve got to get ourselves prepared offensively and defensively, hold the football and try to keep it away from them. So one step at a time, just try to get better this week, go to Greenville and put on a good effort.”
Madelaine Gerard also contributed to this story.
