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Winners of five straight games heading into the sectional opener, the Tippecanoe Valley football team was riding high. That came to a screeching halt at Angola High School on Friday night, as the Hornets came out with something to prove, and had no problem proving it. Scoring on the first drive of the game and never looking back, the home team stunned the Vikings with a 21-6 wire-to-wire win in the quarterfinal to put an end to Valley’s season.
Angola got the ball to begin the game and they were able to cash in on the opening drive. The Viking defense got a healthy dose of the Hornets’ senior running back Hawk Hasselman, who got the ball on nearly every play as the home side marched down the field. Angola picked up first down after first down before Hasselman scored his 15th touchdown of the season to cap off a 17-play drive that spanned six and a half minutes.
It was the first time in four games that Valley had given up any points in the first half of a game.
The Viking drive started out promisingly, as the visitors picked up a pair of first downs before things stalled out at midfield. Valley was forced to punt the ball back to their opponents, setting up a critical defensive series.
Instead, the drive would result in a defensive breakdown. With their opponents facing third and long, the Vikings made the critical mistake of not covering Hasselman as a receiver out of the backfield. He caught the ball just a few yards beyond the line of scrimmage, but with plenty of room to work with. He’d pick up a great block and went 78 yards untouched into the end zone to make it a 14-0 game with a minute remaining in the first quarter.
The shellshocked visitors continued to struggle upon getting the ball back, quickly going three and out and punting for the second straight drive. Desperately needing something to stay in the game, Valley was able to force the first punt of the night for the home side to get the ball back, still trailing by two scores.
The Vikings’ third drive was their best of the game so far, but still did not result in any points. Wes Parker led the way as the visitors picked up a series of first downs and got into Angola territory for the first time. However, when faced with a 4th and 2 at the Hornet 40, the offensive line did not get the push it needed and Parker was swallowed up in the backfield for a turnover on downs with a little over two minutes to go in the first half.
In those final two minutes, each team possessed the ball one more time, but no more points were scored. After an incredibly rough start, Valley was down by just two scores and would get the ball to begin the second half.
On what was arguably the biggest drive of the season thus far, the Viking offense delivered. A long run by Grady Moriarty put his team back in Angola territory, and a play later, Parker found a big hole, cut to the outside and was gone on a 40-yard touchdown run to give the visitors their first signs of life in the game. The ensuing extra point was blocked, and after just 80 seconds of third-quarter play, the score was not 14-6.
Senior Diego Gonsalez of Valley fights for yardage during Friday night's sectional game at Angola...Nieter
There was also an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the play, which gave the Hornets some great starting field position. They were able to take advantage of it, feeding Hasselman as he churned more yardage and moved his team down the field. After a methodical drive that was awfully similar to their first of the game, Hasselman punched it in from a yard out for his third score of the night.
Now needing yet another score just to stick around, the Viking offense got right back to work. A big strategy change that Valley was using here was taking quarterback Hunter Stage out of the game to get an extra blocker on a direct snap to Parker. With Parker running the option with Moriarty, the Vikings were able to march down the field and get back into the red zone.
This is where things became much more challenging, with a third and two from the two-yard line, a costly false start penalty backed up the team and forced a 4th and 4 for the first play of the fourth quarter. The Hornets defense came up big here, perfectly reading the sweep play to Owen Omondi and coming up with an absolutely massive stop.
With time becoming a major factor, the Valley defense came up big by forcing a three and out to get the ball back after just a couple of minutes had gone by. The offensive struggles continued following the change of possession though, as Stage was picked off on fourth down to finish off another scoreless possession.
After another defensive stop, a long punt return by Hunter Paxton gave the Vikings another punchers chance with a little under five minutes to go in the game. Facing a fourth and long with three minutes to go, an incredible effort by Hudson Shepherd on a catch and run fell just a yard short of the sticks. Another turnover on downs would be the final nail in the coffin for the visitors, as the Hornets were able to control possession for the rest of the contest to run out the clock.
Tippecanoe Valley will return next season.
