Eagles Soar Past Valley Vikings
August 20, 2016 at 7:02 a.m.
By Ryan Villanueva-
For this year’s Tippecanoe Valley football team, things did not go quite how head coach Darin Holsopple imagined for he and his Vikings.
In a game Valley committed seven turnovers and lost several key players to injury, the Vikings were battered and bruised as they fell 47-0 to the visiting Culver Academy Eagles.
From the start, things did not go Valley’s way. On the opening kickoff, senior slot receiver and defensive back Shane Ellis went down with a knee injury. The Vikings were unable to score on their opening possession, and from there Culver Academy dominated.
It took one play for the Eagles to get on the board – a 61-yard touchdown run by junior running back Tommy Polhamus. The Eagles scored three more times before the half, and the Vikings lost two more players.
Sophomore lineman Jose Rivera had to be removed from the field by stretcher, and senior lineman Dalton Prater suffered a hand injury.
“I’m just broken for those guys right now,” said Holsopple. “It’s hard right now. We are going to be tested mightily this next week to see how we bounce back from this one.”
With the absence of those players, it meant that underclassmen had to step up.
“They had to play. [Jon] Humes had to come in at safety when Shane Ellis went out,” said Holsopple. “Jon is going to be a pretty good player but he is still a sophomore. He’s young, and that showed, but he had flashes tonight where he was really good.”
Even with the players showing flashes of brilliance, the lack of depth showed.
“When those guys went out, we didn’t have any more depth,” said Holsopple. “This early in the season, we are just not in good enough shape and it showed that we were really hurt. We just had to roll with the guys that we have.”
By the end, the Vikings were blitzed in total offensive yardage, as they were outgained by the Eagles 445-136.
“There is not going to be a shortage of things that we can do better,” said Holsopple. “We didn’t execute on either side of the ball. We didn’t tackle, we didn’t block and we struggled to run and catch as well.”
It wasn’t all good for Culver Academy across the stat line. The Eagles committed 14 penalties for 150 yards, and the Viking defense was able to force three fumbles on the night and recover each of them.
“I expected to fight with them, and I still think we have a pretty good team. I like our team – but that wasn’t our team tonight,” said Holsopple.
The Vikings will regroup and travel next Friday to Russiaville to take on Western. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
CULVER ACADEMY 47, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 0
CA 14 12 14 7 — 47
TV 0 0 0 0 — 0
CA TV
1st downs 16 8
Rushing yds 300 30
Passing yds 145 106
Comp-Att-Int 8-13-0 8-25-1
Total yds 445 136
Fumbles/lost 3/3 2/2
Penalties/yds 14/150 10/80
First Quarter
CA – Tommy Polhamus 61 run (Danny Baker kick) 8:16, 7-0
CA - Jakob Young 3 run (Baker kick) 3:40, 14-0
Second Quarter
CA – Trent Lipsett 11 run (PAT failed) 6:41, 20-0
CA – Michael Bocker 11 pass to Kirby Hart (PAT failed) 0:05, 26-0
Third Quarter
CA – Polhamus 20 run (Baker kick) 11:23, 33-0
CA – Bocker 82 run (Baker kick) 3:27, 40-0
Fourth Quarter
CA – Jacob Bird 5 run (Baker kick) 47-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Passing — Culver Academy, Michael Bocker 8-13-0, 145 yds 1 TD; Tipp. Valley, Alec Craig 8-15-1 113 yds 0 TD.
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For this year’s Tippecanoe Valley football team, things did not go quite how head coach Darin Holsopple imagined for he and his Vikings.
In a game Valley committed seven turnovers and lost several key players to injury, the Vikings were battered and bruised as they fell 47-0 to the visiting Culver Academy Eagles.
From the start, things did not go Valley’s way. On the opening kickoff, senior slot receiver and defensive back Shane Ellis went down with a knee injury. The Vikings were unable to score on their opening possession, and from there Culver Academy dominated.
It took one play for the Eagles to get on the board – a 61-yard touchdown run by junior running back Tommy Polhamus. The Eagles scored three more times before the half, and the Vikings lost two more players.
Sophomore lineman Jose Rivera had to be removed from the field by stretcher, and senior lineman Dalton Prater suffered a hand injury.
“I’m just broken for those guys right now,” said Holsopple. “It’s hard right now. We are going to be tested mightily this next week to see how we bounce back from this one.”
With the absence of those players, it meant that underclassmen had to step up.
“They had to play. [Jon] Humes had to come in at safety when Shane Ellis went out,” said Holsopple. “Jon is going to be a pretty good player but he is still a sophomore. He’s young, and that showed, but he had flashes tonight where he was really good.”
Even with the players showing flashes of brilliance, the lack of depth showed.
“When those guys went out, we didn’t have any more depth,” said Holsopple. “This early in the season, we are just not in good enough shape and it showed that we were really hurt. We just had to roll with the guys that we have.”
By the end, the Vikings were blitzed in total offensive yardage, as they were outgained by the Eagles 445-136.
“There is not going to be a shortage of things that we can do better,” said Holsopple. “We didn’t execute on either side of the ball. We didn’t tackle, we didn’t block and we struggled to run and catch as well.”
It wasn’t all good for Culver Academy across the stat line. The Eagles committed 14 penalties for 150 yards, and the Viking defense was able to force three fumbles on the night and recover each of them.
“I expected to fight with them, and I still think we have a pretty good team. I like our team – but that wasn’t our team tonight,” said Holsopple.
The Vikings will regroup and travel next Friday to Russiaville to take on Western. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
CULVER ACADEMY 47, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 0
CA 14 12 14 7 — 47
TV 0 0 0 0 — 0
CA TV
1st downs 16 8
Rushing yds 300 30
Passing yds 145 106
Comp-Att-Int 8-13-0 8-25-1
Total yds 445 136
Fumbles/lost 3/3 2/2
Penalties/yds 14/150 10/80
First Quarter
CA – Tommy Polhamus 61 run (Danny Baker kick) 8:16, 7-0
CA - Jakob Young 3 run (Baker kick) 3:40, 14-0
Second Quarter
CA – Trent Lipsett 11 run (PAT failed) 6:41, 20-0
CA – Michael Bocker 11 pass to Kirby Hart (PAT failed) 0:05, 26-0
Third Quarter
CA – Polhamus 20 run (Baker kick) 11:23, 33-0
CA – Bocker 82 run (Baker kick) 3:27, 40-0
Fourth Quarter
CA – Jacob Bird 5 run (Baker kick) 47-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Passing — Culver Academy, Michael Bocker 8-13-0, 145 yds 1 TD; Tipp. Valley, Alec Craig 8-15-1 113 yds 0 TD.
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