Vikings Win A Laugher, 54-8

July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.

By DALE HUBLER, Times-Union Sports Writer-

AKRON - Before Tippecanoe Valley's last home football game of the season Friday with Three Rivers Conference nemesis North Miami, Viking coach Scott Bibler gave his players an ultimatum.

"I challenged the kids before the game," said Bibler. "Tippecanoe Valley has a great tradition here. Since we started playing football here 24 years ago, we've only had five losing seasons. At 3-4, the kids could either end up winners or be the sixth team with a losing record. They've gone through a lot of adversity, but they hung tough. I hope they set their sights high."

The Vikings met Bibler's challenge last night with a 54-8 shellacking of the Warriors. The win improves Valley's overall season record to 4-4 and 3-3 in league play. North Miami falls to 3-5 and 3-3.

The host team wasted no time in setting the tone. After Derek Eby took the opening kickoff to the North Miami 26, senior signal caller Brandon Eaton hooked up with Ryan Pritchett for a 25-yard reception that set up a 1-yard Nathan Patterson touchdown plunge on Valley's second play from the line of scrimmage.

This was just the beginning of Valley's offensive fireworks.

In all, Valley racked up 338 yards of total offense, while the Viking defense gave up only 257 yards, 247 on the ground, to a North Miami team that put up 50 points and rushed for all 489 of its total yards in a 50-48 win over Whitko a week ago.

Bibler was asked where this Valley team, the one that showed up last night, has been hiding all season.

"I finally saw this team play four quarters of football," said Bibler. "It's been a long time coming. It's was about time to quit making excuses and get the job done. North Miami is a good offensive team that has racked up some points, but our defense played great and our offense kept the game in our hands."

Patterson led the Viking ground game with his 57 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries. Pritchett added five carries for 45 yards and one rushing touchdown. Pritchett had one other score on the evening, an 11- yard catch from Eaton at the 7:42 mark of the second stanza that extended Valley's lead to 28-8.

Senior triggerman Derek Hagen led the Warriors on the ground with 11 carries for 116 yards. More than half of those yards came on a 74-yard, first-quarter scamper that gave North Miami its only score of the game. Derek Nolley added 44 yards on nine carries.

Eaton completed 8 of 11 passes in the win for 123 yards with two touchdown tosses and no interceptions. Bibler spoke highly of his senior quarterback after the win, but he was just as quick to hand out compliments to the offensive line as well.

"Brandon played a great game," said Bibler. "He looked relaxed. The reason for that is the offensive line. When he has time, he feels more confident. I can't give the offensive line enough credit. It's not a one-man show, it's a total team effort."

North Miami attempted just one pass, good for a 10-yard completion.

The Viking defense stymied the Warriors much of the night and either tackled them for a loss or no gain 10 times.

"Coach (Jeff) Shriver does a great job preparing the defensive game plan," said Bibler. "I thought the defense played exceptionally well. I can't give them enough credit. They fired off the ball hard."

This was the highest offensive output for the Vikings since they steamrolled Northfield 52-7 in 1997.

"Our offense took advantage and capitalized," said Bibler. "This is a great team win. It looked like shades of the old tradition. We have to get that tradition back. We're looking forward to it."

Valley (4-4, 3-3 TRC) will travel to Whitko Friday. Whitko fell to 2-6 and 2-4 in the TRC last night with a 41-6 loss to conference leader Rochester.

TIPPECANOE VALLEY 54 NORTH MIAMI 8

N. Miami 8 0 0 0 - 8

T. Valley 14 20 13 7 - 54

NM TV

First Downs 4 13

Rushes-yards 52-258 32-165

Passing yards 10 178

Total offense 268 343

Comp.-Att.-Int. 1-1-0 11-15-0

Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-1

Punt-Avg. 3-19 0-0

Penalties-yards 4-20 2-10

First Quarter

TV - Nathan Patterson 1 run (Derek Eby kick), 11:17

NM - Derek Hagen 74 run (Derek Nolley 2 pt conversion), 7:12

TV - Patterson 3 run (Eby kick), 4:58

Second Quarter

TV - Ryan Pritchett 1 run (Eby kick), 11:57

TV - Pritchett 11 catch from Brandon Eaton (Eby kick), 7:42

TV - Patterson 1 run (kick failed), 3:18

Third Quarter

TV - Craig Kuhn 12 catch from Eaton (Eby kick), 7:57

TV - Eby 25 pass from Shawn Severns (kick failed)

Fourth Quarter

TV - B.J. Cunningham 2 run (Eby kick)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing - N. Miami, Hagen 11-116, Nolley 9-44; T. Valley, Patterson 9-57, Pritchett 5-45

Passing - N. Miami, Hagen 1-1-10-0; T. Valley, Eaton 8-11-123

Receiving - N. Miami, Matt Deeds 1-10; T. Valley, Pritchett 4-47, Eby 2-33, Snyder 1-28 [[In-content Ad]]

AKRON - Before Tippecanoe Valley's last home football game of the season Friday with Three Rivers Conference nemesis North Miami, Viking coach Scott Bibler gave his players an ultimatum.

"I challenged the kids before the game," said Bibler. "Tippecanoe Valley has a great tradition here. Since we started playing football here 24 years ago, we've only had five losing seasons. At 3-4, the kids could either end up winners or be the sixth team with a losing record. They've gone through a lot of adversity, but they hung tough. I hope they set their sights high."

The Vikings met Bibler's challenge last night with a 54-8 shellacking of the Warriors. The win improves Valley's overall season record to 4-4 and 3-3 in league play. North Miami falls to 3-5 and 3-3.

The host team wasted no time in setting the tone. After Derek Eby took the opening kickoff to the North Miami 26, senior signal caller Brandon Eaton hooked up with Ryan Pritchett for a 25-yard reception that set up a 1-yard Nathan Patterson touchdown plunge on Valley's second play from the line of scrimmage.

This was just the beginning of Valley's offensive fireworks.

In all, Valley racked up 338 yards of total offense, while the Viking defense gave up only 257 yards, 247 on the ground, to a North Miami team that put up 50 points and rushed for all 489 of its total yards in a 50-48 win over Whitko a week ago.

Bibler was asked where this Valley team, the one that showed up last night, has been hiding all season.

"I finally saw this team play four quarters of football," said Bibler. "It's been a long time coming. It's was about time to quit making excuses and get the job done. North Miami is a good offensive team that has racked up some points, but our defense played great and our offense kept the game in our hands."

Patterson led the Viking ground game with his 57 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries. Pritchett added five carries for 45 yards and one rushing touchdown. Pritchett had one other score on the evening, an 11- yard catch from Eaton at the 7:42 mark of the second stanza that extended Valley's lead to 28-8.

Senior triggerman Derek Hagen led the Warriors on the ground with 11 carries for 116 yards. More than half of those yards came on a 74-yard, first-quarter scamper that gave North Miami its only score of the game. Derek Nolley added 44 yards on nine carries.

Eaton completed 8 of 11 passes in the win for 123 yards with two touchdown tosses and no interceptions. Bibler spoke highly of his senior quarterback after the win, but he was just as quick to hand out compliments to the offensive line as well.

"Brandon played a great game," said Bibler. "He looked relaxed. The reason for that is the offensive line. When he has time, he feels more confident. I can't give the offensive line enough credit. It's not a one-man show, it's a total team effort."

North Miami attempted just one pass, good for a 10-yard completion.

The Viking defense stymied the Warriors much of the night and either tackled them for a loss or no gain 10 times.

"Coach (Jeff) Shriver does a great job preparing the defensive game plan," said Bibler. "I thought the defense played exceptionally well. I can't give them enough credit. They fired off the ball hard."

This was the highest offensive output for the Vikings since they steamrolled Northfield 52-7 in 1997.

"Our offense took advantage and capitalized," said Bibler. "This is a great team win. It looked like shades of the old tradition. We have to get that tradition back. We're looking forward to it."

Valley (4-4, 3-3 TRC) will travel to Whitko Friday. Whitko fell to 2-6 and 2-4 in the TRC last night with a 41-6 loss to conference leader Rochester.

TIPPECANOE VALLEY 54 NORTH MIAMI 8

N. Miami 8 0 0 0 - 8

T. Valley 14 20 13 7 - 54

NM TV

First Downs 4 13

Rushes-yards 52-258 32-165

Passing yards 10 178

Total offense 268 343

Comp.-Att.-Int. 1-1-0 11-15-0

Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-1

Punt-Avg. 3-19 0-0

Penalties-yards 4-20 2-10

First Quarter

TV - Nathan Patterson 1 run (Derek Eby kick), 11:17

NM - Derek Hagen 74 run (Derek Nolley 2 pt conversion), 7:12

TV - Patterson 3 run (Eby kick), 4:58

Second Quarter

TV - Ryan Pritchett 1 run (Eby kick), 11:57

TV - Pritchett 11 catch from Brandon Eaton (Eby kick), 7:42

TV - Patterson 1 run (kick failed), 3:18

Third Quarter

TV - Craig Kuhn 12 catch from Eaton (Eby kick), 7:57

TV - Eby 25 pass from Shawn Severns (kick failed)

Fourth Quarter

TV - B.J. Cunningham 2 run (Eby kick)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing - N. Miami, Hagen 11-116, Nolley 9-44; T. Valley, Patterson 9-57, Pritchett 5-45

Passing - N. Miami, Hagen 1-1-10-0; T. Valley, Eaton 8-11-123

Receiving - N. Miami, Matt Deeds 1-10; T. Valley, Pritchett 4-47, Eby 2-33, Snyder 1-28 [[In-content Ad]]

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