North Miami Routs Valley Vikings
September 3, 2016 at 6:48 a.m.
By Mark [email protected]
The Warriors scored all seven times their first-teamers had the ball en route to a 55-13 rout of the Vikings in the Three Rivers Conference opener for both teams.
Valley did close a 14-0 gap to a single-possession game late in the first quarter when Chris Secrist caught a pass from Alec Craig and scampered in for a 22-yard touchdown. But the Vikings’ chance for victory faded like the sun setting in the west, when the Warriors exploded for 24 second-quarter points to put the game well out of Tippecanoe Valley’s reach.
North Miami won its first two games without the benefit of a completed pass. True to form, the Warriors rushed for 418 yards on the night. Senior Jeff Eckrote cleared the 100-yard mark on his fourth carry, and finished the night with 162 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Senior Trevor Linn added 122 yards on seven carries and found the end zone twice.
Warrior quarterback Zane Briggs did complete three passes, but Valley and head coach Darin Holsopple knew what had to happen for the Vikings to get a homecoming win.
“We knew coming in to this game that if we were going to be competitive with them, we had to stop the run,” Holsopple said. “It’s kind of been the same stories all year; we didn’t make tackles. There were a lot of times where we made good contact on the ball carriers and just didn’t bring them down.
“And once again, it showed up on the scoreboard. We were not able to stop their run at all tonight.”
When Valley had the ball, the offensive line struggled to hold back the rush of the North Miami defense without being called for penalties. Craig scrambled to make something out of nothing on many occasions, but he missed several passes, and had another picked off, when he couldn’t set his feet before throwing.
Valley’s offensive highlight came early in the fourth quarter, when DJ Heckman broke away to the right and galloped 65 yards for a touchdown. But by then the Warriors had completed their scoring and sent in their second teams. Their limited roster kept them from playing more reserves earlier, with a junior varsity game Saturday morning.
“We had trouble handling their physicality up front, and that caused us fits,” Holsopple said. “We were able to make some blocking adjustments at halftime, and we had a little bit of success in the first half running a new wrinkle, with two guys in the backfield. But we struggled tonight; we had trouble getting guys open, finding guys, and all around we just struggled tonight.”
It’s not so much the Vikings are 0-3 on the season as much as it is being outscored 165-27, an average of 56-9, that prompted Holsopple to say he will look for ways to turn the Viking ship around.
“After these first three weeks, there’s not much more to say. We’ve talked about tackling, we’ve talked about blocking, we’ve talked about what we need to do to get better,” he said. “It’s not new news to the guys.
“We’ve gotta take a long, hard look at what we’re doing, and figure out what’s working and what’s not. We’ve gotta make some changes. I don’t know what those will be, but we gotta make some changes to become more competitive. I told the guys I loved them, that I’m with them, but we gotta change some stuff.”
The road doesn’t get easier for the Vikings, with a visit to Northfield, the No. 16 team in Class 1A in the AP poll, looming on Friday.
NORTH MIAMI 55,
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 13
NM 14 24 14 3 – 55
TV 6 0 0 7 – 13
NM TV
1st downs 21 6
Rushing yds 418 133
Passing yds 77 35
Comp-Att-Int 3-3-0 3-10-1
Total yds 495 177
Fumbles/lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties/yds 7/75 6-40
Punts/avg. 1/21.0 5/24.2
First Quarter
NM – Jeff Eckrote 23 run (Conner Hanaway kick) 8:02 7-0
NM – Shane Holden 5 run (Hanaway kick) 4:51 14-0
TV – Chris Secrist 22 pass from Alec Craig (kick failed) 1:16 14-6
Second Quarter
NM – Trevor Linn 3 run?(Hanaway kick) 10:52 21-6
NM – Eckrote 1 run (Hanaway kick) 4:46 28-6
NM – Holden 58 run (Hanaway kick) 1:57 35-6
NM – Hanaway FG 31 :00 38-6
Third Quarter
NM – Linn 1 run (Hanaway kick) 8:01 45-6
NM – Zane Briggs 20 run (Hanaway kick) 4:47 52-6
Fourth Quarter
NM – Hanaway FG 20 11:56 55-6
TV – DJ Heckman 65 run (Domingo Santiago kick) 11:45 55-13
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: North Miami – Holden 7-122, Briggs 3-23, Linn 12-44, Eckrote 13-162, Tristin Working 5-6, Lucus Garrison 1-2, Alex Kuhn 1-25, Dakota Rivera 1-12, Jacob Shurboff 8-15, Greg Sonafrank 3-3, Jackson Holland 1-4; Valley – Craig 10-27, Jonathon Fields 4-3, Heckman 6-81, Jayden Conley 6-6, Jalen Potter 1-6, Jace Potter 2-2, Genoah Meloremi 3-13.
Passing: North Miami – Briggs 3-3-77 yds, 0 TD, 0 Int.; Valley – Craig 3-10-35 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int.
Receiving: North Miami – Garrison 1-34, Eckrote 1-15, Linn 1-28; Valley – Secrist 2-29, Jarod Duzenbery 1-6.
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The Warriors scored all seven times their first-teamers had the ball en route to a 55-13 rout of the Vikings in the Three Rivers Conference opener for both teams.
Valley did close a 14-0 gap to a single-possession game late in the first quarter when Chris Secrist caught a pass from Alec Craig and scampered in for a 22-yard touchdown. But the Vikings’ chance for victory faded like the sun setting in the west, when the Warriors exploded for 24 second-quarter points to put the game well out of Tippecanoe Valley’s reach.
North Miami won its first two games without the benefit of a completed pass. True to form, the Warriors rushed for 418 yards on the night. Senior Jeff Eckrote cleared the 100-yard mark on his fourth carry, and finished the night with 162 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Senior Trevor Linn added 122 yards on seven carries and found the end zone twice.
Warrior quarterback Zane Briggs did complete three passes, but Valley and head coach Darin Holsopple knew what had to happen for the Vikings to get a homecoming win.
“We knew coming in to this game that if we were going to be competitive with them, we had to stop the run,” Holsopple said. “It’s kind of been the same stories all year; we didn’t make tackles. There were a lot of times where we made good contact on the ball carriers and just didn’t bring them down.
“And once again, it showed up on the scoreboard. We were not able to stop their run at all tonight.”
When Valley had the ball, the offensive line struggled to hold back the rush of the North Miami defense without being called for penalties. Craig scrambled to make something out of nothing on many occasions, but he missed several passes, and had another picked off, when he couldn’t set his feet before throwing.
Valley’s offensive highlight came early in the fourth quarter, when DJ Heckman broke away to the right and galloped 65 yards for a touchdown. But by then the Warriors had completed their scoring and sent in their second teams. Their limited roster kept them from playing more reserves earlier, with a junior varsity game Saturday morning.
“We had trouble handling their physicality up front, and that caused us fits,” Holsopple said. “We were able to make some blocking adjustments at halftime, and we had a little bit of success in the first half running a new wrinkle, with two guys in the backfield. But we struggled tonight; we had trouble getting guys open, finding guys, and all around we just struggled tonight.”
It’s not so much the Vikings are 0-3 on the season as much as it is being outscored 165-27, an average of 56-9, that prompted Holsopple to say he will look for ways to turn the Viking ship around.
“After these first three weeks, there’s not much more to say. We’ve talked about tackling, we’ve talked about blocking, we’ve talked about what we need to do to get better,” he said. “It’s not new news to the guys.
“We’ve gotta take a long, hard look at what we’re doing, and figure out what’s working and what’s not. We’ve gotta make some changes. I don’t know what those will be, but we gotta make some changes to become more competitive. I told the guys I loved them, that I’m with them, but we gotta change some stuff.”
The road doesn’t get easier for the Vikings, with a visit to Northfield, the No. 16 team in Class 1A in the AP poll, looming on Friday.
NORTH MIAMI 55,
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 13
NM 14 24 14 3 – 55
TV 6 0 0 7 – 13
NM TV
1st downs 21 6
Rushing yds 418 133
Passing yds 77 35
Comp-Att-Int 3-3-0 3-10-1
Total yds 495 177
Fumbles/lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties/yds 7/75 6-40
Punts/avg. 1/21.0 5/24.2
First Quarter
NM – Jeff Eckrote 23 run (Conner Hanaway kick) 8:02 7-0
NM – Shane Holden 5 run (Hanaway kick) 4:51 14-0
TV – Chris Secrist 22 pass from Alec Craig (kick failed) 1:16 14-6
Second Quarter
NM – Trevor Linn 3 run?(Hanaway kick) 10:52 21-6
NM – Eckrote 1 run (Hanaway kick) 4:46 28-6
NM – Holden 58 run (Hanaway kick) 1:57 35-6
NM – Hanaway FG 31 :00 38-6
Third Quarter
NM – Linn 1 run (Hanaway kick) 8:01 45-6
NM – Zane Briggs 20 run (Hanaway kick) 4:47 52-6
Fourth Quarter
NM – Hanaway FG 20 11:56 55-6
TV – DJ Heckman 65 run (Domingo Santiago kick) 11:45 55-13
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: North Miami – Holden 7-122, Briggs 3-23, Linn 12-44, Eckrote 13-162, Tristin Working 5-6, Lucus Garrison 1-2, Alex Kuhn 1-25, Dakota Rivera 1-12, Jacob Shurboff 8-15, Greg Sonafrank 3-3, Jackson Holland 1-4; Valley – Craig 10-27, Jonathon Fields 4-3, Heckman 6-81, Jayden Conley 6-6, Jalen Potter 1-6, Jace Potter 2-2, Genoah Meloremi 3-13.
Passing: North Miami – Briggs 3-3-77 yds, 0 TD, 0 Int.; Valley – Craig 3-10-35 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int.
Receiving: North Miami – Garrison 1-34, Eckrote 1-15, Linn 1-28; Valley – Secrist 2-29, Jarod Duzenbery 1-6.
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