The New Oxford Colonials are off to a fast start this season. After only losing to District 3 finalist Bermudian Springs by a score of 34-27, the Colonials rebounded by pounding the James Buchanan Rockets, 55-14, in the home-opener Friday night at New Oxford High School.
The Colonials got off to a quick start, scoring within the first three minutes of the game on a Wesley Beans rushing touchdown. A few minutes later, the Colonials would tack on another touchdown, this time coming from the air on a 14-yard pass from Colonial quarterback Anthony Lippy to wide-out Aaron Reichert. Reichert made an outstanding one-handed grab while diving into the end zone for the score giving the Colonials a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Colonials would pick right up where they left off at the beginning of the 2nd quarter. Full back Aaron Zinneman had a 25-yard receiving touchdown from Colonial back-up quarterback, Corban Czap. Running back Wes Beans had another touchdown in the quarter, a 21-yard run giving New Oxford a commanding 28-0 lead. Hunter Ringrose added a final Colonial touchdown in the quarter on a 5-yard rush to give the Ox a 35-0 lead. With the Colonials pitching a shut-out, Buchanan got on the scoreboard with .8 of a second left in the half from quarterback Dillon Sanders to Peter Hughey. At the half, the Colonials held a 35-7 lead.
The Rocket offense continued its’ momentum early in the 3rd quarter, scoring a touchdown 28 seconds into the second half on an 85-yard touchdown pass from Sanders to receiver Shamar Pates. Pates led the Rockets offense over the night, racking up 118 receiving yards and 13 rushing yards. After a quick turnover by the Colonials, it appeared as if the Rockets could make this game a nail-biter, but they would not be able to manage to get any closer to the dominating Ox offense. Beans added on his third touchdown of the night on a 27-yard rush. Cornerback Keegan Romanoff came up with a loose ball and returned it to the house 24 yards for the seventh Colonial touchdown of the night. Late in the 4th quarter, the Colonials would tack on a final touchdown on a 1-yard rush by Josh Shultz. Kicker Trey Parrish would miss the PAT on the final TD, but still would go 7 of 8 on the night on PAT’s, in addition to doing an outstanding job on kick-offs and making a touchdown saving tackle in the first half. The final score on the night would end up being 55-14 in favor of the Colonials.
The Colonial defense stood strong as the held James Buchanan to single-digit first downs and forced four turnovers on the night, including a late game interception by cornerback Trevon Brown. Zinneman split the rushing duties with Beans, both of which were very impressive. All in all, the Colonial offense dismantled the Rocket defense racking up 426 yards on the night. Beans led the Colonial offense with 146 total yards while Lippy was 8 of 17 for 106 yards and a touchdown on the night. The Colonial QB’s have managed not to throw an interception in the first two games, while only turning the ball over twice.
Through the first two games this season, the Colonials (1-1, 0-0) have scored more than they did through five games last season. James Buchanan on the other hand fell to 0-2, 0-0 on the season.
In seeing the numbers and style of play, I wonder if this season could be the re-birth of the Colonials who have not had a winning season since 2006? Looking ahead, the Colonials have very good possibilities in the coming weeks to prove themselves as they host the Waynesboro Indians next week in New Oxford before having two tough games against Southwestern and Dallastown respectively to close out the non-division part of the season. With teams such as West York and Northeastern struggling so far this year, the Colonials could make some noise this year in Division II of the YAIAA as division play opens up in Week 6.
