Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
MENTONE - Much like the quarter used to start a football game, Three Rivers Conference rivals Southwood and Tippecanoe Valley were on different sides of the coin entering Friday night's clash.
The Vikings, who won their first game of the season, were on a two-game skid with a season record of 1-2 and 0-1 in the TRC. On the other hand, the Knights who lost their first game of the season, came to Valley last night with an overall record of 2-1 and 1-0 in the TRC.
After a 34-21 Southwood win, the two football teams remain on opposite ends of the spectrum.
"We shot ourselves in the foot," said Valley coach Scott Bibler. "We made mistakes you can't make and beat a good team. We took a step towards the right direction but we killed ourselves."
Valley fumbled the ball a total of four times in the contest, allowing Southwood to recover twice. Valley senior quarterback Craig Kuhn, making his second start in the place of the injured Brandon Eaton, threw three interceptions, including one that Southwood quarterback/defensive back Tom Wright returned 40 yards for a touchdown.
Wright scored three touchdowns on the evening, a 20-yard scamper at the 11:28 mark of the second quarter, the interception return with 11:12 remaining in the second quarter and a 41-yard trot with 3:32 left to play in the contest.
Wright finished with 78 yards on the ground on eight carries and 34 yards through the air on 3 of 13 passes with two interceptions. Shawn Zellers led the Knight ground game with his 21 carries for 129 yards and one touchdown. Clint Marshall added 16 carries for 89 yards and one touchdown.
The Vikings were led on the ground by senior Nathan Patterson's 10 carries for 70 yards. Patterson scored on a nine-yard run and a 19-yard reception from Kuhn in the fourth quarter. Kuhn went 10-of-22 passing with 178 yards and three interceptions with one rushing and one passing touchdown in the loss. Valley senior Dax Snyder caught three passes for 52 yards.
After falling behing 28-7 on a Marshall nine-yard touchdown trot at the 3:43 mark of the third quarter, Valley came back with a nine-yard touchdown run by Patterson cutting the deficit to 28-14 after Derek Eby's extra-point kick.
After the game Bibler went on to say that he wouldn't make excuses but one more quarter of action and the Vikings could've won.
"You don't get five quarters," said Bibler. "You have to get the job done in four quarters. Southwood is a great football team. You can't give them opportunities like we did. We gave them two dropped punts, a bobbled punt return and a pass that looked like a touchdown that came back as a fumble."
Other than Eaton, who paced the sidelines with his broken right thumb in a cast, Eric Carlin, Matt Shilling, and others were still out with injuries.
"Every week the injuries kill us less," said Bibler, "but when you face Warsaw, Manchester and Southwood this early in the season it's unfair to the kids who aren't experienced. If the kids were healthy this could've been a different ball game."
Valley (1-3, 0-2) will be at Northfield on Friday.
SOUTHWOOD 34
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 21
Southwood 0 14 14 6 - 34
T. Valley 7 0 0 14 - 21
SW TV
First Downs 11 11
Rushes-Yards 48-294 31-112
Passing Yards 34 178
Comp.-Att.-Int. 3-13-2 10-22-3
Total Offense 328 290
Fumbles-Lost 2/2 4/2
Punts-Avg. 3-24.7 4-28
Penalties-Yards 3-20 4-28
First Quarter
TV - Craig Kuhn 1 run (Derek Eby kick) 5:19
Second Quarter
SW - Tom Wright 20 run (kick failed) 11:28
SW - Wright Int. return (2 pt. conversion pass from Wright to Nick Dawson) 11:12
Third Quarter
SW - Shawn Zellers 3 run (Clint Marshall kick) 9:13
SW - Marshall 9 run (Marshall kick) 3:43
Fourth Quarter
TV - Nathan Patterson 9 run (Eby kick) 6:56
SW - Wright 41 run (kick failed) 3:32
TV - Patterson 19 catch from Craig Kuhn (Eby kick) 2:15
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing - Southwood, Zellers 21-129, Marshall 16-89, Wright 8-78; Valley, Patterson 10-70, Eby 4-23
Passing - Southwood, Wright 2-8-23-2; Valley, Kuhn 10-22-178-3
Receiving - Southwood, Dawson 2-23; Valley, Dax Snyder 3-52, Patterson 1-19
