NORTH JUDSON - If anyone doubts that inexperience can kill a football team, a quick look at the season opener for Tippecanoe Valley is all the proof one would need.

Valley ventured to North Judson with one of its smallest and least experienced teams in years, and it showed.

The Vikings turned the ball over six times and gave up some big plays in a hard-fought 29-19 loss. And while there were some bright spots in the defeat, Tippecanoe Valley head coach Scott Bibler knew that his squad missed a great chance at beating a tough school on the road.

"We knew coming into this game that we were going to have our hands full, and I just wanted to see if we were going to fight for four quarters," Bibler said. "You'll hear it over and over for a while (about the inexperience), but there's going to be a point in time when I'm going to stop saying it. I'm going to expect these guys to become experienced."

Bibler might have known it was going to be a long, interesting and sometimes frustrating night from the first play of the game.

Justin Wright of North Judson returned the opening kickoff 95 yards to paydirt, one of four times during the game when he would score. Valley just couldn't handle the second and third efforts of Wright - the Fighting Bluejay rolled past the Viking defense like no other player has in recent memory, breaking open for 222 yards. The Vikings as a team got 157 yards on the ground.

Tippecanoe Valley did put together decent drives to combat the Bluejay wishbone attack, but even then, the Vikes killed themselves with turnovers. Valley fumbled the ball eight times, losing five, and threw one interception. Bibler was disappointed with his club's mental mistakes.

"In big games like this, you can't afford to give up a touchdown on a kickoff return," Bibler said. "Here you are, you're psyched up, it's the first play of the new season, the kids are pumped up, we're fired up, the helmets are up, and all of a sudden, boom, they score a touchdown. Man, that just takes a while to recover from.

"Fumbles hurt us big time tonight - we had times when we were driving, having big plays, and then all of a sudden, we have a fumble. If we could have just kept the ball, maintained the drive, and took it down and scored, we would have had a chance to get up on these guys. Maybe the tide could have changed. That's where the lack of experience hurts."

The Vikings answered Judson's opening touchdown with a score of their own, getting in the endzone with 5:53 left in the first quarter on a one-yard run by Eric Prater. Valley decided to go for two and failed, leaving the score 7-6 in favor of the host Bluejays.

North Judson took over following the Valley score and continued its drive into the second period, finding paydirt again with 11:37 on the clock. Wright's second touchdown and ensuing two-point conversion run by quarterback Jared Dietrich made the game a two-score affair at 15-6.

Valley drove much of the field but fumbled deep in Judson territory, giving the ball back to the Bluejays with five minutes left in the half. The defense held firm this time, forcing a 4th and nine with minutes to play in the half. North Judson attempted to punt, but the snap was bobbled and the ball rolled to the back of the endzone.

The Judson punter stared at the football at his feet, but made no attempt to grab it, which would have resulted in a safety. Instead, Valley senior Joey Manns landed on the loose pigskin and gave Valley its second touchdown of the game with 2:26 to play in the half. The score, coupled with a missed fieldgoal by Judson in the waning seconds, allowed the Vikings to go into halfdown down just 15-12.

Tippecanoe Valley needed to make its move at the start of the second half, but it didn't happen.

The Vikings' first three possessions of the third frame were 3-and-out, fumble and fumble. Meanwhile, the Bluejays got a 55-yard jaunt from Wright for another touchdown, and Valley faced a 21-12 deficit with less than three minutes to play in the third stanza.

In what might have been the brightest spot offensively all night for the visitors, the Vikings put together an 11-play, 94-yard scoring drive culminated by a 5-yard run by Prater with 9:24 left in the game. The Vikings got two big receptions by Adam Smith and Matt Baker from junior quarterback R.J. Hutchinson in the drive, and more importantly, cut the North Judson lead to 21-19.

The defensive effort by Valley, though - normally a force to be reckoned with - just wasn't up to the task for the Vikings, and North Judson sealed the win with a touchdown by Wright and two point conversion for a 29-19 lead with less than six minutes to play Tippecanoe Valley was intercepted and fumbled twice more in its last three possessions of the game.

Hutchinson, in his first varsity game, ended the night seven of 12 with one interception and 114 of yards to his credit. He connected with six different receivers, and threw four passes for more than 21 yards each. Bibler, who said in the preseason that he was willing to rotate his three quarterbacks - Hutchinson, Brandon Eaton, and Craig Kuhn - each week if that was what it took, was still sticking to that idea.

"Hutch, I thought had an average game," Bibler said. "By my calculations ... I have high expectations for my quarterbacks. The stats look good, he did do a good job at times, but those balls that were high and late were wrong reads. Other guys were wide open. He could have been outstanding tonight, so I think it balanced out. It's his first varsity game, he had the jitters, and he had a tough week. He has the potential to be a great quarterback, but so do our other quarterback subs too. I think it's a battle."

Valley got some solid rushing efforts from Prater, who finished with 12 carries for 88 yards, and Jason Parker, who got 42 yards on seven carries. The problem with the rushing attack was that it usually ended in a fumble.

Tippecanoe Valley will try to rebound when it battles county rival Warsaw at Death Valley Friday. Both the Vikings and Tigers are 0-1 on the season. [[In-content Ad]]