QUINCY — Friday night’s varsity football battle pitting the host Quincy Orioles versus the visitors from Sand Creek would best be described as a true war of attrition. In a game that sat scoreless through three and a half quarters, a game filled with hard nose defenses, multiple turnovers and struggling offenses, it was one gutsy drive from the Aggies and a huge defensive stop with just under two minutes to go that made all the difference as it was Sand Creek grinding out the hard nosed 8-0 win over the Quincy Orioles to kick off the 2022 season.The game was a defensive battle for the majority of the contest, with both defenses coming up with big stops. It was Quincy’s defense however that dominated in the turnover battle, with the Orioles forcing four total turnovers, all in the first half. None were bigger perhaps than the first one however, as it set the tone for much of the game.The Quincy offense looked to go to the air on their opening drive of the game, however the Aggies were able to pick off a third own pass attempt, returning the ball all the way to the 9 yard line to set up tremendous field position.Sand Creek’s vaunted running attack looked to score early, however the Quincy defense came up huge on the drive. With an Aggie runner fighting his way towards the end zone, a perfectly placed hit knocked the ball loose and into the end zone. Quincy recovered the fumble in the end zone for a touchback, keeping the game scoreless in the very early going.

Quincy’s offense sputtered on their next drive and they were forced to punt, ultimately leading to the second turnover forced by the Oriole defense. On a third and long the Aggies looked to pick up a first down via the pass, however junior Ethan Copas stepped in front of the pass, hauling in the interception at the 35-yard line with 3:30 left in the first quarter.Quincy looked to take advantage of the turnover, moving the ball inside the 20 before facing one of several fourth down and short conversion attempts. Sand Creek stepped up on defense, stopping Quincy short to force the turnover on downs, giving the Aggies the ball at the 15 yard line with only moments gone in the second quarter.Once again the Oriole defense did their job and quickly got the ball back for their offense, as this time it was Hunter Tinervia recovering an Aggie fumble, giving Quincy possession once again at the 23-yard line with 9:42 left in the first half.The Orioles finally looked to be gaining some traction on offense however an untimely holding penalty negated a very long Sam Sawyer run, putting the already struggling offense in a deep hole. Facing a fourth and long the Aggie defense got to sophomore quarterback Brennen Allman for a sack, giving Sand Creek the ball at the 40 yard line with just over eight minutes left in the half.

Neither offense could get anything going the remainder of the first half and it was the Quincy defense putting a cap on a record breaking half with another forced turnover, this time on an interception by Sam Sawyer. With the teams both looking for any way to move the ball on offense, the game headed to the half tied at 0-0.The third quarter was much of the same for both teams, with both offenses struggling to find a rhythm while both defenses played hard nosed football. The teams traded multiple 3 and outs throughout the third quarter as the game eventually went to the fourth and final quarter stilled knotted up at 0-0.Late in the third quarter however Sand Creek saw their offense begin to click as the long drawn out and physical game began to take its toll on both sides. The Aggies embarked on a very long and very physical drive heading into the end of the third and early in the fourth quarter.The Quincy defense looked to come up big again as Sand Creek faced a fourth down and very short at the 47-yard line as the end of the third quarter neared. Quincy put a big hit on the ball carrier but he had just enough yardage for the first down, extending the drive.After finally moving the football the Aggies did not let the effort go to waste, finally finding their into the end zone with a tough 5-yard touchdown run by Cody Prater. Prater ran in the 2 point conversion, giving Sand Creek the 8-0 lead with only 9:12 left in the contest.

After a bit of a poor kick off the Orioles found themselves with great feel position, taking over at the 40-yard line with roughly nine minutes to go in the game. Quincy also started to see a little success on the offensive side of the ball, picking up several first downs along the way, including on a long pass play from Allman to Brady Mescher, giving the Orioles a first down at the 28 yard line with just under six minutes left in the game.The once promising Quincy drive came to a halt after a short gain on an inside run play, followed by back-to-back negative plays, leading to a long fourth down attempt with just over four minutes left in the contest. Quincy looked to go back to the air once again for a first down however Allman was sacked by an Aggie defender, giving Sand Creek possession at the 37 yard line with 4:14 left in the game.Once more the Quincy defense came up absolutely huge in front of their home crowd. The Orioles stuffed a third down and short attempt from the Aggies as Sand Creek looked to ice the game with a first down. The third down stop forced the Sand Creek coaching staff’s hand, leading to an Aggie punt attempt from the 40 yard line. Disaster struck for Sand Creek as the snap on the punt attempt flew over the head of the punter, rolling its way back to well inside the Quincy red zone. After gathering up the loose ball, rather than attempt to kick it, the Sand Creek punter tried to run but he was met by a flock of Orioles who stopped him cold, giving Quincy the ball at the 15-yard line with 2:39 left on the clock in a clutch situation.

With one more chance at finding the end zone, the Oriole offense dug deep and began to slowly move the ball down the field. A long Sam Sawyer run on third down forced the biggest play of the game, a fourth down and two from the seven yard line for the Oriole offense.Both teams fired off the ball like a rocket, but a small miscommunication on the part of the Orioles led to a stumble in the backfield, a stumble the Aggies took advantage of, tackling the ball carrier for a loss on the play, leading to the final turnover on downs, with Sand Creek taking over at the 7 yard line with 1:30 left in the game.Sand Creek managed to run out the clock in victory formation, preserving the clutch 8-0 non-conference victory.“Sand Creek did exactly what we thought they were going to do tonight. We watched film on them, we studied it, and our scout team did a fantastic job of replicating it in practice and giving us a good look,’ said Quincy co-head coach Jeff Craig. “Their offense was somewhat similar to ours, they like to run up the middle a little more than we do, but it’s close. Our defense did a great job handling it, the guys did their job, they stayed low up front and chopped them down, keeping the blockers off of our backers who went out and made the plays. We got to the ball carrier and separated the ball, causing four turnovers in the first half which may be a school record. In the end, we like to play defense and the offense will get there, we are just a step away.”The Quincy defense was led on the night by linebacker Davin George who had six tackles while teammate Blaine Pish added five tackles.On the offensive side of the ball it was Pish leading the way with nine carries for 26 yards while Sam Sawyer added six carries for 27 yards.“The big thing on offense tonight was that we just had little break downs here and there at the wrong times,” said Quincy co-head coach Brett Allman. “I don’t know if it was something up front where we got confused with something they did or what, we just need to watch the film and fix it. We moved the ball at times and then we would have a silly penalty or a missed assignment that would put us behind the chains, causing us to stall out. In the end really this is a new offense and it’s early, there are going to be some growing pains and we will figure everything out. We just got to get back to work and execute when the time comes.”That time will come soon as Quincy will see action again next Thursday when they will take to the road to face off with long time Big 8 rival Union City at Alumni Field in a Thursday night battle. Union City also enters the game at 0-1 after falling to Centreville to open their season. Both teams will be looking to get in the win column and jump out to a hot start in the race for a Big 8 conference title.Sand Creek meanwhile improves to 1-0 and will next see action Friday when they travel to Blissfield for a non-conference contest.