By RICHIE HALL
sports@readthereporter.com
SHERIDAN – The Sheridan football team soared to its fifth straight win Friday night.
The Blackhawks have been in rarified air over the past five weeks, and they added to their victory streak by beating Taylor 48-0 at Bud Wright Stadium. Sheridan scored its first three touchdowns within the first eight minutes of the game and never looked back.
“Their skill people were good, and we knew we had to stop the skill people,” said Wright. “I told them, we’d come out and hit them hard right at the start. That takes the steam out of them and we had an excellent start.”
Peyton Cross, Jacob Jones and Caleb Alexander each rushed for one touchdown during that start. Cross scored from four yards, Jones took a 65-yard run into the end zone, and Alexander was the middle distance runner, scoring from 39 yards.
Jacob Jones scored two touchdowns on long breakaway runs during Sheridan’s 48-0 win over Taylor Friday at Bud Wright Stadium. The Blackhawks have won five straight games, scoring at least 40 points in all of them. (Kirk Green)
Sheridan kept up the pace in the second quarter, adding another 20 points. The ‘Hawks scored on the first play of the period, as Alexander found Jones for a 19-yard touchdown pass. Cross and Alexander later added two rushing touchdowns, with Cross making an 18-yard scoring run and Alexander jogged in from 37 yards.
With the score 41-0 at halftime, the entire second half was played under a running clock. Sheridan added one more touchdown, with Jones taking off on a 61-yard run to score. Owen Bell made six extra point kicks on the night.
Meanwhile, the Blackhawks’ defense was relentless. Wright said he thought the defense did “pretty good most of the night.” Friday’s game was the second consecutive contest where Sheridan did not give up a point.
The ‘Hawks now have three shutouts this season, having blanked Clinton Central 47-0 in Week 2. If that’s not enough, Sheridan also surpassed the 40-point mark for the fifth consecutive game. The last time the Blackhawks had all three of those achievements was the 2018 season.
Sheridan improved to 5-0 in Hoosier Heartland Conference play and continues to sit atop the league’s leaderboard. The Blackhawks will take a break from HHC action next week, traveling to North Central Farmersburg.
SHERIDAN 48, TAYLOR 0
Score by Quarters
Taylor 0 0 0 0 – 0
Sheridan 21 20 7 0 – 48
Team Stats TAY SHER
First Downs 5 15
By Rush 2 14
By Pass 2 1
By Penalty 1 0
Rushes-Yards 19-20 34-393
Yards Passing 36 29
Comp-Att-Int-TD 6-17-1-0 3-6-0-1
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-0
Penalties-Yards 1-5 6-45
Punts-Average 5-24.2 0-0.0
Sheridan Scoring
First Quarter
9:29 – Peyton Cross 4-yard run (Owen Bell kick)
7:23 – Jacob Jones 65-yard run (Bell kick)
4:43 – Caleb Alexander 39-yard run (Bell kick)
Second Quarter
11:53 – Jones 19-yard pass from Alexander (Bell kick)
7:41 – Cross 18-yard run (Bell kick)
5:34 – Alexander 37-yard run (kick blocked)
Third Quarter
9:52 – Jones 61-yard run (Bell kick)
Sheridan individual stats
Rushing: Jones 2-126, Cross 10-104, Alexander 6-83, Jonathan Barnes 7-44, Zach Bales 4-23, Gavin Schwedtfeger 5-13.
Passing: Alexander 2-4-17, Mason Robinson 1-2-12.
Receiving: Jones 1-19, Trent DeCraene 1-12, Cross 1-minus 2.