DELPHOS — The Delphos Jefferson one-two punch of Hunter Binkley and Brenen Auer proved to be too much to handle for Shawnee as the Wildcat running back tandem combined for 422 total yards and five touchdowns to propel the Wildcats past the Indians, 34-6, Saturday night.
Auer did most of the damage as the versatile junior running back collected 114 yards on 16 carries for two touchdowns and caught two touchdown passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns.
Binkley, who had one touchdown, wore down the Shawnee defense as he pumped out 190 yards on 21 carries and one touchdown.
Not too be overlooked was the dominating performance by the Delphos defense that held Shawnee down most of the game and limited the Indians to 216 total yards. The Wildcats forced two turnovers including an interception by Auer who showed he can also produce on the defensive side of the ball.
Shawnee quarterback Ray Manley was inconsistent in the pocket, going 17 of 37 for 152 yards with one touchdown and two interception.
Shawnee’s lone score came late in the fourth quarter when Manley connected with Jayvon Daniels for 63 yards with 5:32 remaining in the game in one of the few offensive bright spots for the Indians.
Eleven penalties totaling more than 100 yards also did not help Shawnee’s cause.
The Delphos defense was tested early in the game when the Wildcats fumbled the ball on the opening kickoff and Shawnee recovered at the Jefferson 20-yard line. However, the Jefferson defense turned back the Indians on four plays and regained possession of the ball to prevent an early Indian uprising.
Due to penalties and and some aggressive defensive play by Shawnee, the Wildcat offense had a tough time getting out the gates. But once the ground game began to take hold, the Indians could only watch the Binkley-Auer show consistently chew up yardage.
On their third offensive possession of the game after a poor punt, Delphos found itself at its own 41-yard line. Riding the legs of Auer, Delphos marched 59 yards on six plays to score. Auer was the workhorse on the drive, carrying the ball five times on the six-play drive, including the 11-yard run for the touchdown, to give Delphos the early 6-0 advantage with 1:49 left in the first quarter.
While the ground game was kicking into full gear, it was actually a pass that accounted for Wildcats second score. Facing a third and 24 at their own 38, Jace Stockwell went to the air and found Auer wide open in the seam and the Auer hauled in the pass around the 50 and outraced the Indians for the Wildcats’ second touchdown. After a failed 2-point conversion. Delphos led 12-0 with just under eight minutes left in the first half.
Delphos went back to the ground game for its third score when the marched 65 yards on 12 plays, all on the ground, that was capped off when Auer raced in from 20 yards out to make it 18-0 with 32 seconds left in the half.
Auer capped off big night when he once again scored on a mirror image of his other receiving touchdown. This time Auer went 66 yards for the touchdown.
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