Valley Offense Explodes In Win Over Norse
August 28, 2021 at 3:19 a.m.
Valley Offense Explodes In Win Over Norse
By Dale [email protected]
That was the story Friday night as the Vikings blasted Three Rivers Conference guest Northfield 44-13 in high school football action.
Improving to 2-0 for the first time since 2007, Valley flexed its big-play muscle, scoring four of its six touchdowns from at least 54 yards out.
The Vikings led just 6-0 with four minutes remaining in the first half, but pushed their advantage to 28-0 when Jamasyn Virgil broke free for a 74-yard touchdown run on the first play of the third quarter.
Northfield simply had no answer, as the Norsemen fell to 0-2.
“Our explosiveness with so many different athletes that we have, and our ability to get the ball in space, certainly does pay off and help us when we can’t run up the middle like we normally can,” said Valley coach Stephen Moriarty, whose team rushed for 337 yards on 34 carries.
On a halfback pass, Virgil threw a 54-yard scoring strike to senior classmate Braden Shepherd for the first touchdown of the game with 8:46 left in the first quarter.
Shepherd raced 56 yards to paydirt with 4:00 left in the second stanza.
Starting quarterback Branson McBrier found fellow senior Rex Kirchenstien for a 20-yard pass that made it 20-0 in Valley’s favor with 1:13 remaining in the first half.
In the third quarter, Virgil sprinted in from 74 yards out, sophomore Nate Parker went on a 58-yard touchdown run, and junior Karl Parker pounded his way in from three yards out to account for the final score.
“When you have the opportunity to have some explosive players to break plays like that, it’s special,” said Moriarty.
“Rex when he caught the ball and took off, or going deep when Rex caught the ball, Braden breaking one on a long run. Every time they punt to Braden it’s a show. What a unique situation, and great for a coach to have such a special player like that to return the ball, and there’s a possibility at anytime he could get loose.”
The possibility to get loose at any time was exactly what the Vikings as a collective offense had going Friday night.
Nate Parker tallied 101 yards on just five carries.
Virgil racked up 83 yards on four carries.
Shepherd finished with eight carries for 81 yards, and had two catches for 57 yards to go with it,
Kirchenstien led Valley’s receivers with two catches for 69 yards.
McBrier completed 4 of 7 pass attempts for 76 yards in the win, with one TD and no interceptions,
Virgil was 1 of 1, with the 54-yard scoring strike to Shepherd.
Northfield tallied 128 yards on the ground on 42 carries, and completed 4 of 9 passing attempts for 64 yards.
Northfield senior quarterback Jake Halderman, who was picked off by Wade Jones, threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to junior Eli Kroh in the third quarter to break up the shutout.
Halderman later ran in from three yards out for a Northfield touchdown.
Senior Jaydan Goshert led the Norsemen with 61 yards on seven carries, while junior Jordan Kinsey had 19 yards on five carries.
Valley travels to Peru in Week 3, while Northfield is slated to host Maconaquah.
That was the story Friday night as the Vikings blasted Three Rivers Conference guest Northfield 44-13 in high school football action.
Improving to 2-0 for the first time since 2007, Valley flexed its big-play muscle, scoring four of its six touchdowns from at least 54 yards out.
The Vikings led just 6-0 with four minutes remaining in the first half, but pushed their advantage to 28-0 when Jamasyn Virgil broke free for a 74-yard touchdown run on the first play of the third quarter.
Northfield simply had no answer, as the Norsemen fell to 0-2.
“Our explosiveness with so many different athletes that we have, and our ability to get the ball in space, certainly does pay off and help us when we can’t run up the middle like we normally can,” said Valley coach Stephen Moriarty, whose team rushed for 337 yards on 34 carries.
On a halfback pass, Virgil threw a 54-yard scoring strike to senior classmate Braden Shepherd for the first touchdown of the game with 8:46 left in the first quarter.
Shepherd raced 56 yards to paydirt with 4:00 left in the second stanza.
Starting quarterback Branson McBrier found fellow senior Rex Kirchenstien for a 20-yard pass that made it 20-0 in Valley’s favor with 1:13 remaining in the first half.
In the third quarter, Virgil sprinted in from 74 yards out, sophomore Nate Parker went on a 58-yard touchdown run, and junior Karl Parker pounded his way in from three yards out to account for the final score.
“When you have the opportunity to have some explosive players to break plays like that, it’s special,” said Moriarty.
“Rex when he caught the ball and took off, or going deep when Rex caught the ball, Braden breaking one on a long run. Every time they punt to Braden it’s a show. What a unique situation, and great for a coach to have such a special player like that to return the ball, and there’s a possibility at anytime he could get loose.”
The possibility to get loose at any time was exactly what the Vikings as a collective offense had going Friday night.
Nate Parker tallied 101 yards on just five carries.
Virgil racked up 83 yards on four carries.
Shepherd finished with eight carries for 81 yards, and had two catches for 57 yards to go with it,
Kirchenstien led Valley’s receivers with two catches for 69 yards.
McBrier completed 4 of 7 pass attempts for 76 yards in the win, with one TD and no interceptions,
Virgil was 1 of 1, with the 54-yard scoring strike to Shepherd.
Northfield tallied 128 yards on the ground on 42 carries, and completed 4 of 9 passing attempts for 64 yards.
Northfield senior quarterback Jake Halderman, who was picked off by Wade Jones, threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to junior Eli Kroh in the third quarter to break up the shutout.
Halderman later ran in from three yards out for a Northfield touchdown.
Senior Jaydan Goshert led the Norsemen with 61 yards on seven carries, while junior Jordan Kinsey had 19 yards on five carries.
Valley travels to Peru in Week 3, while Northfield is slated to host Maconaquah.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092