Jones Comes Up Big In Valley Win Over Garrett
October 23, 2021 at 4:25 a.m.
Jones Comes Up Big In Valley Win Over Garrett
By Dale [email protected]
The 6-foot-5, 186-pound sophomore caught passes from quarterbacks on both teams, setting a school record for interceptions in a game with four and added 31-yard touchdown catch, as the Vikings beat the host Railroaders 22-8 and set up a 3A Sectional 26 semifinal game with Mishawaka Marian next week at Death Valley.
Jones tied former Valley standout Ray Davis’ school record for picks in a game when he picked off Garrett sophomore signal caller Aaden Lytle on the final play of the third quarter.
Davis had three interceptions against North Miami in 1981.
Jones put his name on the record alone with a pick in the fourth quarter, bringing his season total to 10 interceptions and his career number to 13.
The school record for INTs in a career is 14, held by Rick Shoemaker.
“He is a special kid,” Valley coach Stephen Moriarty said of Jones.
“We joke around with him all the time and call him Drago, because he reminds me of (the movie) Rocky IV. He is a machine. He just flies to the ball, and he does his job.”
With the win, the seventh-ranked Vikings improved to 10-0, while Garrett ended its season with a record of 4-6.
Garrett fumbled the ball away on the 10th play of the game’s first possession, and Valley capitalized when senior Jamasyn Virgil sprinted in from 69 yards out on the Vikings’ third play from scrimmage.
Jones picked off Lytle on Garrett’s second and fourth offensive possessions, with the home team’s third possession resulting in a punt, but Valley’s high-octane offense that outscored its opponents 420-70 in the regular season struggled in the redzone.
The Vikings were stopped on fourth-and-goal from Garrett’s 3-yard line, and then turned away on fourth-and-goal from Garrett’s one on their next possession.
“I’ll be honest, that was very frustrating,” Moriarty said of being turned away at the goal line on back-to-back possessions.
“We moved the ball well on them, and then it seemed like every time we got to the 1-yard line it had a lid on it, and we couldn’t get it in. It was very frustrating, but in the second half we finally figured it out a little bit, spread them out a little bit, and hopefully that won’t happen again.”
After moving the ball up and down the field in the first half but only leading 8-0 at the intermission, Valley took a 16-0 lead when senior quarterback Branson McBrier completed a short pass to classmate Braden Shepherd, who did the rest to finish off 78-yard score with 3:27 left in the third quarter.
Valley pushed its advantage to 22-0 when Jones caught a 31-yard pass from McBrier with 9:52 remaining in the game.
Robert Koskie scored Garrett’s only touchdown with a short run at the 7:57 mark of the fourth quarter.
Koskie finished the game with 113 yards on 20 carries for the Railroaders.
Lytle completed 21 of 33 pass attempts for 165 yards, a performance that was marred by Jones’ four picks.
Trey Richards led Garrett’s receiving corps with eight catches for 45 yards.
For Valley, Virgil tallied 185 yards on 17 carries, while Shepherd had 12 carries for 58 yards.
McBrier completed 7 of 11 pass attempts for 162 yards.
Shepherd had four catches for 108 yards.
Next week’s game with Marian is a rematch of last year’s sectional semifinal in Akron, which Marian won 41-24.
“We earned it,” Moriarty said of advancing in the playoffs, “It’s like we talked about in the huddle right after the game, now it happens … we’ve worked for this all season.
“We had a huddle after the game last year when Marian beat us, and we said this day will come again, and we worked our rear ends off in the weight room. We came out and went 9-0 in the regular season, won a sectional game to set up a rematch with Marian, we’re excited about the opportunity next week.”
Valley is 10-0 for the first time since 1981, and has 10 wins in a season for the first time since 1983.
The 6-foot-5, 186-pound sophomore caught passes from quarterbacks on both teams, setting a school record for interceptions in a game with four and added 31-yard touchdown catch, as the Vikings beat the host Railroaders 22-8 and set up a 3A Sectional 26 semifinal game with Mishawaka Marian next week at Death Valley.
Jones tied former Valley standout Ray Davis’ school record for picks in a game when he picked off Garrett sophomore signal caller Aaden Lytle on the final play of the third quarter.
Davis had three interceptions against North Miami in 1981.
Jones put his name on the record alone with a pick in the fourth quarter, bringing his season total to 10 interceptions and his career number to 13.
The school record for INTs in a career is 14, held by Rick Shoemaker.
“He is a special kid,” Valley coach Stephen Moriarty said of Jones.
“We joke around with him all the time and call him Drago, because he reminds me of (the movie) Rocky IV. He is a machine. He just flies to the ball, and he does his job.”
With the win, the seventh-ranked Vikings improved to 10-0, while Garrett ended its season with a record of 4-6.
Garrett fumbled the ball away on the 10th play of the game’s first possession, and Valley capitalized when senior Jamasyn Virgil sprinted in from 69 yards out on the Vikings’ third play from scrimmage.
Jones picked off Lytle on Garrett’s second and fourth offensive possessions, with the home team’s third possession resulting in a punt, but Valley’s high-octane offense that outscored its opponents 420-70 in the regular season struggled in the redzone.
The Vikings were stopped on fourth-and-goal from Garrett’s 3-yard line, and then turned away on fourth-and-goal from Garrett’s one on their next possession.
“I’ll be honest, that was very frustrating,” Moriarty said of being turned away at the goal line on back-to-back possessions.
“We moved the ball well on them, and then it seemed like every time we got to the 1-yard line it had a lid on it, and we couldn’t get it in. It was very frustrating, but in the second half we finally figured it out a little bit, spread them out a little bit, and hopefully that won’t happen again.”
After moving the ball up and down the field in the first half but only leading 8-0 at the intermission, Valley took a 16-0 lead when senior quarterback Branson McBrier completed a short pass to classmate Braden Shepherd, who did the rest to finish off 78-yard score with 3:27 left in the third quarter.
Valley pushed its advantage to 22-0 when Jones caught a 31-yard pass from McBrier with 9:52 remaining in the game.
Robert Koskie scored Garrett’s only touchdown with a short run at the 7:57 mark of the fourth quarter.
Koskie finished the game with 113 yards on 20 carries for the Railroaders.
Lytle completed 21 of 33 pass attempts for 165 yards, a performance that was marred by Jones’ four picks.
Trey Richards led Garrett’s receiving corps with eight catches for 45 yards.
For Valley, Virgil tallied 185 yards on 17 carries, while Shepherd had 12 carries for 58 yards.
McBrier completed 7 of 11 pass attempts for 162 yards.
Shepherd had four catches for 108 yards.
Next week’s game with Marian is a rematch of last year’s sectional semifinal in Akron, which Marian won 41-24.
“We earned it,” Moriarty said of advancing in the playoffs, “It’s like we talked about in the huddle right after the game, now it happens … we’ve worked for this all season.
“We had a huddle after the game last year when Marian beat us, and we said this day will come again, and we worked our rear ends off in the weight room. We came out and went 9-0 in the regular season, won a sectional game to set up a rematch with Marian, we’re excited about the opportunity next week.”
Valley is 10-0 for the first time since 1981, and has 10 wins in a season for the first time since 1983.
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