AKRON — Even though it consisted mostly of running the ball, Tippecanoe Valley’s offense still qualified Friday night as a study in “diversity” as far as Jimtown football coach Cory Stoner was concerned.
“The diversity is in the different counter plays they run, the scissor looks, the way they use the wings, the way (their line does) a great job pulling,” an impressed Stoner gushed after the Class 3A No. 9-ranked Vikings downed his Jimmies 35-14 at Smith-Bibler Memorial Field.
Valley improved to 6-0 on the season and beat Jimtown (2-4) for the first time ever across seven meetings, the other six all coming in postseason from 1993 to 2019.
The Vikings churned for 358 yards and five touchdowns on the ground to go with another 84 yards through the air.
Shifty senior Nate Parker led the way at 164 yards rushing and three TDs on 24 carries. Classmate Trent Marshall added 93 yards on just six attempts, including a 53-yard burst that set him up for a 2-yard TD on the next play.
Junior fullback Brock Derf “bulldozed,” as coach Steve Moriarty put it, for 60 yards and a touchdown on eight tries, while sophomore Grady Moriarty added 33 yards on just four carries before suffering a right leg injury midway through the third quarter.
“It may be pretty serious,” Steve Moriarty said of his son, who was taken to a nearby hospital. “He’s in a lot of pain … could be out for a while.”
The injury was one of very few negatives for Valley.
“Overall, great win,” the senior Moriarty said. “We didn’t play clean (including eight penalties for 90 yards), so it’s kind of an unsatisfying victory there, but, Jimtown, a storied tradition, and to put 35 on them, and in the first half to hold them to (26) yards rushing, I think we came out defensively and did a good job, and offensively we did well.”
Parker put forth another dazzling display, pushing his season rushing total in six games to over 900 and his TD count between running and receiving to 17.
“I don’t think there’s a class for that,” Moriarty said of the vision Parker demonstrated to accompany his elusive running.
The coach also had high praise for the other offensive backs.
“We’re lucky to have depth at that position,” Moriarty said. “Our wings, fullbacks, everybody did well. Normally, people try to stop Nate and that allows Trent to do great things and Brock to do his thing.”
Parker tallied from 18 yards out late in the first quarter to get the scoring started.
Three plays later, senior cornerback Cody Black intercepted a Jimmie pass to help set the stage for Derf’s 3-yard touchdown in the final seconds of the opening period.
Marshall added his TD at the 7:34 mark of the third quarter for the 21-0 spread.
After Jimtown closed to 21-7 in the final seconds of that quarter, the Vikings responded with a 12-play, 60-yard scoring drive that chewed 5:34 off the clock, capped by a 3-yard Parker TD run. The hosts overcame three penalties along the march.
Each team then scored once over the final 5:03, with Bishop Williams getting his second TD of the night for the Jimmies to make it 28-14, before Parker got his third, a 7-yarder, for Valley at 33 seconds left.
Viking senior quarterback Cody Eastgate finished 7-of-14 throwing for 82 yards with one interception.
Jimtown closed at 173 total yards, and just 41 in the first half. The Jimmies, typically a run-first team, wound up at 106 through the air to 67 on the ground.
“You could see their grit,” Moriarty said of his team’s defense. “They did a good job handling their assignments. The D-line held their own, so (Jimtown) had to try to beat us left-handed almost, (doing) something they’re not used to.”
Landon Durkes notched one sack for Valley, while Dalton Alber and the younger Moriarty paired for another. Derf and Parker registered tackles for loss.
“That’s a really good football team,” Stoner said of the Vikings, who are No. 12 in the coaches’ poll and finally moved into the AP top 10 for the first time just this week. “I don’t care what the coaches’ rankings are. They don’t watch everybody. I was very adamant (earlier in the week) in saying that’s the best team we’ve played all year (the Jimmies also have played 4A NorthWood and 5A Concord, both 4-2), and I’m sticking to that. Top to bottom, that’s a physical and athletic team.”
Valley figures to get its own stiffest test next week when it visits 3A No. 4 West Lafayette (4-1). The Red Devils were off Friday before visiting Benton Central on Saturday.