AKRON -ÊComing into Friday's Three Rivers Conference clash with Oak Hill, Tippecanoe Valley coach Scott Bibler didn't quite know how his football team would respond.

For instance, this was homecoming week for the Vikings, and it turned out to be a very hectic, strange week for the Vikings.

"It has been a frustrating week, probably our worst week of practice," Bibler said. "We had so many activities interfere with our normal practice time, it was so crazy."

After getting off to a shaky start, the Vikings pleased the home crowd and pulled out an important 26-6 TRC win against Oak Hill.

"With homecoming, there is just so much hoopla,' Bibler said. "We just weren't as focused as we usually are."

Homecoming started out with a bang for the Vikings.

On the opening kickoff, Nathan Patterson fumbled the kickoff at the 13-yard line, then picked it up and dashed 84 yards for a quick Viking strike. Derek Eby's kick gave the home team an early 7-0 lead. It looked like the Eagles, who were looking for their first win, would leave Death Valley with a lopsided loss.

"That was a huge return from Patterson,' Bibler said. "It was a great start to the game, but I told our kids Oak Hill was hungry for this game."

The first quarter was won on the defensive end. Oak Hill ended up with 12 total yards, while Valley finished with 81.

After a six-play drive, Valley added to its 7-0 lead on a Nathan Moore 46-yard field goal with 16 seconds in the quarter to up the lead to 10-0. It looked like the Vikings clearly had momentum.

"We played a pretty good first quarter,' Bibler said. "We had some chances to capitalize on some situations, but we only got a field goal out of it.'

The second quarter started sour for the Eagles. Quarterback Ty Henderson threw an interception on the first play of the quarter as Dax Snyder picked him off. On Snyder's return, however, the Viking defender fumbled, giving the ball back to Oak Hill.

Oak Hill would later capitalize, marching 67 yards down the field and scoring on a 14-yard pass from Henderson to Tyler Planck to cut the lead to 10-6. The Eagles tried for two, but the pass failed.

"I tell you what, Oak Hill came ready to play,' Bibler said. "I really thought they played with more enthusiasm. The score was not any indication how close this game was."

After missing the last three weeks with an injury, Viking quarterback Brandon Eaton picked up the pace in the second half.

Neither team could manage to do much in the third quarter. Eby picked off Henderson at the 3-yard line as the Eagles were looking to take a bite out of the Viking lead.

"Eby really makes a lot happen for us,' Bibler said. "He really made some key plays for us, especially on the defensive end.'

After struggling most of the game offensively, the Vikings picked up the pace in the fourth quarter.

Nathan Moore, who hit from 46 yards earlier, connected again, this time from 39 yards out to up the lead to 13-6 with 8:44 to go.

After an Oak Hill fumble, the Vikings put the game out of reach. Eby dodged a couple of defenders and took the ball in from two yards out. He connected on the extra point to give the homecoming fans a 20-6 advantage.

"Oak Hill had a great game plan,'Bibler said. "We finally moved the ball in the fourth quarter."

After not giving the big crowd much to chear about early, the large homecoming crowd got another chance to roar, this time on the last play of the game. Matt Ryman scored on a 9-yard run to end it in dramatic fashion as the Vikings picked up their second win in a row, a much needed win.

"This was a big win for us tonight,' Bibler said. "We still have a lot to work on. It is a learning process. We did some things well, but we also made a lot of mistakes."

Eaton came back strong for the Vikings. He finished 11 of 18 and threw for 139 yards.

"He still is hurting,' Bibler said. "I was kind of worried as to how he would come out. He is a tough competitor, so I knew he would battle."

With the win, the Vikings improve to 3-3 (2-2 TRC) and face their biggest challenge of the year next week, a trip to Rochester to take on the Zebras.

"They are loaded," Bibler said. "They are a dynamite team. We are going to have to play our best football game of the year to beat them at their place."

T. VALLEY 26, OAK HILL 6

T.VALLEY 10 0 0 16 - 26

OAK HILL 0 6 0 0 -Ê6

TV OH

First downs 12 10

Rushing yards 33-73 36-96

Passing yards 139 106

Comp.-Att.-Int. 11-18-1 7-16-3

Total offense 212 202

Fumbles lost 2-1 2-1

Punts/avg. 3-31 6-38

Penalties/yards 4-37 7-65

First Quarter

TV -ÊNathan Patterson 84-yard kickoff return (Eby kick), 11:47, 7-0 TV

TV - Nathan Moore 47-yard field goal, :16, 10-0 TV

Second Quarter

OH -ÊTyler Planck 14 pass from Ty Henderson (pass failed), 1:18, 10-6 TV

Fourth Quarter

TV -ÊNathan Moore 39-yard field goal, 8:44, 13-6 TV

TV -ÊDerek Eby 2-yard run (Eby kick), 7:15, 20-6 TV

TV -ÊMatt Ryman 9-yard run, :00, 26-6 TV

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing - Valley: Nathan Patterson 14-53, Ryan Pritchett 4-15, Kevin Paxton 4-18, Brandon Eaton 5-30, Derek Eby 2-1, Derek Domenico 1-3, Aaron Zolman 2-6, Matt Ryman 1-9. Oak Hill: Ty Henderson 18-73, Kirk Winger 1-2, Ted Highley 7-24, Clint Dooley 5-1, Justin Johnson 1-4, Jared Stitz 2-0, Travis Owsley 2-4.

Passing - Valley: Brandon Eaton 11-18-139-1 int. Oak Hill: Ty Henderson 5-12-74-2 int, Travis Owsley 2-4-32-1 int.

Receiving -ÊValley: Trey Eaton 1-41, Kevin Paxton 1-11, Eric Carlin 6-72, Ryan Pritchett 2-10, Dax Snyder 1-5. Oak Hill: Justin Johnson 1-14, Lance Strange 2-54, Tyler Planck 3-30, Aaron Purvis 1-8. [[In-content Ad]]