AKRON – After the two previous meetings were decided by a total of nine points, this year's high school football game between the Bremen Lions and Tippecanoe Valley Vikings was a little more lopsided. Scoring 13 points before Valley ever touched the ball, Class 2A No. 10 Bremen led 41-13 after three quarters of play and went on to beat the Vikings 48-20 Friday at Death Valley. "They've got 14 starters and 18 seniors back from a team that lost in overtime of the regional championship last year," Valley coach Jeff Shriver said of Bremen. "They're very talented, and they're a senior-laden group. That's the kind of team we thought we'd have. Unfortunately, some things happened, and we're a very young team and we're incosistent at times." The Lions, fresh off their first win over Marshall County rival Plymouth since 1988, improved to 2-0 on the season, while the Vikings fell to 0-2. Bremen took the opening kick to the 24-yard line, and then scored on the first play from scrimmage when Nate Leeper tossed a 76-yard touchdown pass to Zack Renner. On the ensuing kickoff, the Lions opted for an onside kick, which they recovered and turned into a touchdown five plays later when Braxston Miller pounded his way in from three yards out. Just over two minutes into the game, Bremen was up 13-0. That was the kind of night it was for the Vikings, who turned the ball over on Bremen's 1-yard line and also had two passes picked off. "Bremen is back," Shriver said of the Lions' tradition-rich program, which appears to be climbing back toward the top of the Class 2A heap. "From what we heard, they had a great offseason in the weight room. They've got things going. They've got some very talented athletes." One of those very talented athletes is Leeper, who threw four touchdown passes and scored on and scored on an 8-yard run. In all, Leeper completed 9 of 16 passes for 241 yards. He did most of his damage in the first half, as he completed 6 of 8 passes for 190 yards and three touchdowns in the first 24 minutes of play. Miller finished the game with 124 yards on 20 carries for Bremen, while Eric Knepper pounded out 83 yards 11 carries. Ben Hueni led Bremen's receiving corps with four catches for 92 yards and two scores. Valley trailed 13-6 after one quarter, 27-13 at halftime and 41-13 after three quarters of play. Trailing 13-6, the Vikings forced Bremen into a three-and-out. Valley put together an impressive drive and moved the ball down to the Lions' 1-yard line, but a fumble right at the goal line changed things drastically. Rather than the game possibley being tied, Bremen took a 20-6 lead with 3:18 remaining in the first half when Leeper connected on a 35-yard touchdown toss to Hueni. "We're unhappy with the outcome," Shriver said of his team. "We're unhappy we lost. But Bremen is a very good team. Their quarterback is very good. They've got some good receivers. We got beat by a very good team. We've got to come out next week in practice and get after it. And we've got to come out next Friday against Manchester and get after it. There were a couple big plays in the first half that really helped Bremen, and there were a couple big plays in the first half that hurt us." Justin Gunter led Valley's rushing attack with 19 carries for 130 yards, while Wade Cave carried the ball 11 times for 51 yards. Tanner Andrews caught five passes for 88 yards. Ben Shriver completed 7 of 13 passes for 94 yards. He threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Andrews that cut the deficit to 41-20 with 8:06 remaining in the game. Cave scored the Vikings' other two touchdowns, powering his way in to the endzone on 1- and 7-yard runs.
