CMA Slows Valley Vikings
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Hosting the CMA Eagles (1-0) in Week 1 of the season, the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings (0-1) rushed for just 30 yards on 29 carries, losing 27-22.
“For the most part, they were able to control the line of scrimmage a little bit better than we were — on both sides of the ball,” Valley coach Jeff Shriver said. “It’s something we’re going to work on. They had some older, more experienced players in there, and that’s only an excuse for a little bit.”
Along with stopping Valley’s running game, junior quarterback Ben Shriver was never able to get comfortable in the pocket, although he did complete 9 of 16 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns.
“(Pressure) hurt us when we were trying to throw the ball,” Shriver said about the heat put on his son. “We had a couple times when we had to pull the ball down because we had someone in our face — then we take a sack. When we’re on the three-step passing system, we need to do a better job of preventing that pressure right away. It can’t be water through a sieve.”
On the other side of the ball, CMA had success moving the ball, rushing for 229 yards on 50 carries.
However, despite outgaining Valley 332-148 in total yardage, CMA could never shake their hosts.
In a game that featured six lead changes, the two squads exchanged blows the entire night.
For CMA, it was junior quarterback Hayes Barnes doing all the scoring, finding the end zone four times, the last being a 35-yard scamper with 54 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The score proved to be the final one of the game.
“We know the type of athlete that Barnes is,” Shriver said. “He made plays when he needed to and we missed some tackles when we stepped up.”
While Barnes was carrying the scoring load for the Eagles, Valley spread it out a little more.
Ben Shriver’s two touchdown passes went to senior Mason Teel in the first quarter and junior Tanner Andrews in the third.
Andrews’ score was achieved using just one hand along the sideline, and took place on 4th-and-21 late in the period.
The spectacular play gave his team a 22-20 lead, but that evaporated on CMA’s ensuing drive when Barnes scored from 35 yards out.
Valley’s other score was an 85-yard kickoff return in the second quarter by junior Nolan Sponseller.
“Nolan’s a competitor,” Shriver said. “He left it all on the field — cramping up at the end. We had to take him out for a few plays, but we were able to get him back in there. Nolan did play a really good football game for us.”
And CMA coach was aware of Sponseller, as well as Valley’s other weapons.
“Ben Shriver’s a nice quarterback,” CMA coach Andy Dorrel said. “Of course he has Tanner Andrews and Nolan Sponseller, which are fantastic players. Then, they were mixing in (Chris Thorpy). We were just dodging bullets there at the end.”
Those bullets came in the fourth quarter when Valley had the ball at the CMA 7-yard line, but failed to get into the end zone on four tries.
After forcing the turnover-on-downs, CMA had the ball at its own 6 with 4:10 remaining.
From there, senior Joel Tinney gashed the Vikings defense off the side and junior David Dilts did damage between the tackles until the clock ran out.
“Joel Tinney, David Dilts and Hayes Barnes all had some outstanding runs for us, but it was all made possible by those five guys up front,” Dorrel said. “They just controlled the fourth quarter. We pushed them down the field and directed tempo the way we wanted to.”
Up next for Valley is a road trip to Indianapolis on Aug. 25, when it takes on Bremen at Lucas Oil Stadium.
While the experience will be a nice one for the players, Shriver doesn’t want to fall to 0-2 on the season.
“Bremen’s a very good football team,” Shriver said of a Lions team that defeated Plymouth 42-26 in Week 1. “We’re going to have our work cut out for us down at Lucas Oil next week. We’re going to go to work this week and get better.”[[In-content Ad]]
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Hosting the CMA Eagles (1-0) in Week 1 of the season, the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings (0-1) rushed for just 30 yards on 29 carries, losing 27-22.
“For the most part, they were able to control the line of scrimmage a little bit better than we were — on both sides of the ball,” Valley coach Jeff Shriver said. “It’s something we’re going to work on. They had some older, more experienced players in there, and that’s only an excuse for a little bit.”
Along with stopping Valley’s running game, junior quarterback Ben Shriver was never able to get comfortable in the pocket, although he did complete 9 of 16 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns.
“(Pressure) hurt us when we were trying to throw the ball,” Shriver said about the heat put on his son. “We had a couple times when we had to pull the ball down because we had someone in our face — then we take a sack. When we’re on the three-step passing system, we need to do a better job of preventing that pressure right away. It can’t be water through a sieve.”
On the other side of the ball, CMA had success moving the ball, rushing for 229 yards on 50 carries.
However, despite outgaining Valley 332-148 in total yardage, CMA could never shake their hosts.
In a game that featured six lead changes, the two squads exchanged blows the entire night.
For CMA, it was junior quarterback Hayes Barnes doing all the scoring, finding the end zone four times, the last being a 35-yard scamper with 54 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The score proved to be the final one of the game.
“We know the type of athlete that Barnes is,” Shriver said. “He made plays when he needed to and we missed some tackles when we stepped up.”
While Barnes was carrying the scoring load for the Eagles, Valley spread it out a little more.
Ben Shriver’s two touchdown passes went to senior Mason Teel in the first quarter and junior Tanner Andrews in the third.
Andrews’ score was achieved using just one hand along the sideline, and took place on 4th-and-21 late in the period.
The spectacular play gave his team a 22-20 lead, but that evaporated on CMA’s ensuing drive when Barnes scored from 35 yards out.
Valley’s other score was an 85-yard kickoff return in the second quarter by junior Nolan Sponseller.
“Nolan’s a competitor,” Shriver said. “He left it all on the field — cramping up at the end. We had to take him out for a few plays, but we were able to get him back in there. Nolan did play a really good football game for us.”
And CMA coach was aware of Sponseller, as well as Valley’s other weapons.
“Ben Shriver’s a nice quarterback,” CMA coach Andy Dorrel said. “Of course he has Tanner Andrews and Nolan Sponseller, which are fantastic players. Then, they were mixing in (Chris Thorpy). We were just dodging bullets there at the end.”
Those bullets came in the fourth quarter when Valley had the ball at the CMA 7-yard line, but failed to get into the end zone on four tries.
After forcing the turnover-on-downs, CMA had the ball at its own 6 with 4:10 remaining.
From there, senior Joel Tinney gashed the Vikings defense off the side and junior David Dilts did damage between the tackles until the clock ran out.
“Joel Tinney, David Dilts and Hayes Barnes all had some outstanding runs for us, but it was all made possible by those five guys up front,” Dorrel said. “They just controlled the fourth quarter. We pushed them down the field and directed tempo the way we wanted to.”
Up next for Valley is a road trip to Indianapolis on Aug. 25, when it takes on Bremen at Lucas Oil Stadium.
While the experience will be a nice one for the players, Shriver doesn’t want to fall to 0-2 on the season.
“Bremen’s a very good football team,” Shriver said of a Lions team that defeated Plymouth 42-26 in Week 1. “We’re going to have our work cut out for us down at Lucas Oil next week. We’re going to go to work this week and get better.”[[In-content Ad]]
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