High school football: White carries unbeaten Xenia to another win

Xenia junior Deaunte White slipped through a crack on the left side of the line for six yards on fourth-and-1 with under two minutes to go, following tight end Cayden Jenkins and pulling guard AJ Anderson to ice a 21-18 victory for Xenia over Troy.

“He looked at me in my face, and he said, ‘Coach I got you,’” said Xenia coach Maurice Harden. “... So we ran God’s favorite play to the left, which is ‘Power.’ That’s our number one play, that’s our identity. That’s who we are. That’s what we stand on, right? And that’s what we ran for that fourth-and-1. And he was able to get it and make things happen.”

White entered the night leading the area with 1,164 yards and 21 touchdowns.

He added 204 more on 38 carries as Xenia improved to 7-0 overall and 6-0 in the Miami Valley League Valley Division.

“I’d like to thank No. 85, Cayden, CJ Johnson, 61 (Stephan) Gunnar, 60 AJ, 66 Tommy and 62 Max (Johnson) for blocking and opening holes,” White said. “Without them, I couldn’t have got it.”

Xenia struck first on an 11-yard touchdown run by White, who pulled through a couple of arm tackles on his way to his 22nd of the year.

Credit: Marcus Hartman

Credit: Marcus Hartman

That was the 12th play of the game-opening drive for the Buccaneers.

Troy struck back late in the first half when Karson York get behind the Xenia defense for a 28-yard touchdown catch from Aiden Kirkpatrick with 45 seconds left in the second quarter.

That capped an 11-play, 67-yard drive and came after a holding call set the Trojans back for a second-and-20.

Xenia and White went to work early again in the third quarter, driving 85 yards after forcing the Trojans to punt away the opening possession of the half.

White carried five times on the drive, including an 18-yarder to get it going and another 18-yarder to finish it. For his second touchdown of the night, White showed off his cut-back ability, starting to the left then slicing through the Trojan defense against the grain to find open field and the end zone.

“I always come in the game with a chip on my shoulder,” said the 5-foot-10, 180-pound White. “I feel like everybody gonna give me their best shot, but if I just play how I play today, and my offensive line blocks how we do, they can’t stop us. They can’t stop me. They can’t stop our offense. They can’t stop nothing.”

Troy drove to the Xenia 1-yard line on the ensuing possession, but Ronnie Butler flashed into the backfield to throw Kayden Franklin for a 3-yard loss on third-and-goal.

That forced the Trojans to settle for a 21-yard field goal by Cameron Stoltz, a play that proved pivotal when Xenia answered with another touchdown.

White did much of the heavy lifting again, but he was a decoy on a third-and-4 play from the 26. Gavin McManus faked a handoff then went deep down the sideline, where Trimonde Henry fended off tight coverage to haul in a 26-yard touchdown catch.

That gave the Buccaneers a 21-10 lead with 9:57 left, but Troy responded quickly when Kirkpatrick found Michael Tucker all alone deep down the field for a 45-yard touchdown that brought the Trojans within five.

They cut it to three when Franklin took a toss to the right and squeaked the ball over the goal line with 8:21 on the clock.

Credit: Marcus Hartman

Credit: Marcus Hartman

That was the last time the Trojans would have the ball.

Xenia took over at the Bucc’s 18 and handed the ball to White on 14 straight plays before taking a knee to run out the clock.

Although White took it home in the end, McManus had a strong night for the Buccs, completing 14 of 15 passes for 160 yards while Henry caught nine passes for 114 yards.

“Kudos to Troy,” Harden said. “I mean, they had the mindset of, ‘We got to stop No. 24 (White) if we’re going to win this football game, so Gavin McManus and our receivers on the perimeter had to make plays, and I think they did just that. So I’m super proud of him tonight.”

Kirkpatrick ran for 87 yards for the Trojans, who fell to 3-4 on the year and 3-3 in the MVL Miami division.

They will head to Stebbins next week while Xenia is set to play host to Piqua.