By Cody Wright — Football Correspondent

Rochester Adams rolled into town Friday night and handed Oxford’s varsity football team its second loss of the season in a 17-8 game.

The game was scoreless until the second quarter. With the Cats starting on Adams’ 38-yard line, a strong offensive run by Trent Myre, and a beautiful pass from quarterback Drew Carpenter to Grant Kornburger, put Oxford in scoring position.

With the ball spotted on the 25-yard line, the Cats made a field goal attempt, however it was very windy in the stadium and the kick was no good.

Adams picked the ball up on their own 20-yard lin, and Ethan Mccoy came out of the gate with an impressive run, more than 30 yards. Mccoy finished the possession off with the first touchdown of the night, putting Adams up by seven.

The Wildcats faced some adversity in their next possession, fumbling the ball on the first play and handing it over to Adams.

The Cats defense hit the field without much rest, and proved once again to be well conditioned, holding off the Highlanders, forcing a turnover on downs at the 42-yard line. Oxford’s Jerome Roberson stood out defensively by coming up with a great tackle.

With time running out in the half, the Wildcat offense took the field for one last possession. Oxford gained big yards when Carpenter passed to Kornburger and gained 42 yards.

Adams pulled it together and remained defensively strong, forcing Oxford to a fourth-and-ten situation on the 19-yard line. With only 10 seconds remaining, Oxford kicked a field goal, giving the Cats 3 points to end the half.

The third quarter started out with the Adams offense unable to get by the Cats defense and turning the ball over on their own 30-yard line.

Adams defense was strong all night as well and put Oxford in another fourth down situation.

With the ball spotted on the 21-yard line, Oxford kicked another field goal, putting the Cats down by 1 point.

Adams offense answered back immediately with a 69-yard run.

The Highlanders came close to scoring position early in the possession, however Oxford’s defense held things together all the way to fourth and goal.

With the distance so short, Adams went for it and made it through Oxford’s defensive wall for their second touchdown of the night.

For the remainder of the third quarter, both sides were unable to score, however, Oxford’s offense made some great runs, especially Carpenter. All season long, Carpenter has shown his versatility as quarterback. Whatever the situation demands, whether it’s throwing or running the ball, he can do it well.

In the early parts of the fourth quarter, Oxford continued to see flags on the field against them. Both sides battle for possessions, the Wildcats capitalizing on an Adams fumble, however still struggling to gain yards on offense.

With Adams out of downs, a field goal attempt is set up and the kick is good.

However on the play, Myre is injured and taken off the field in an ambulance. He was sitting up and pointing at his teammates when they put him in which was a good sign overall, and the Wildcats came out strong when the game resumed.

Myre had back-to-back runs, and Carpenter with a keeper put Oxford inside the five, but once again a turnover on downs was forced by Adams’ defense and a entire football field stood before them.

Oxford’s defense answered back, hardly budging, only giving Adams a total of three yards on four plays. Adams coach, with a smart call, intentionally takes a safety, giving the Cats 2 points, making the score 17-8.

With time running out, Oxford was unable to make anything else happen.

The Wildcats’ record is now 2-2 in the OAA Red Division and 3-2 overall.

Oxford will hit the road this Friday to take on Stoney Creek at 7 p.m.