AKRON — The Tippecanoe Valley Vikings can only hope all they lost Friday night at home against Bremen was a football game. Struggling to get a consistent offensive attack going against the Bremen Lions (1-1), the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings (0-2) lost 22-7, but also lost three key players in the process. First, junior offensive lineman Austin French’s night wrapped up early with a concussion, then Class 3A first-team all-state wide receiver Tanner Andrews suffered a groin injury on a failed 4th-down conversion late in the third quarter. Following a 30-minute delay due to lightning, senior quarterback Ben Shriver drove the Vikings down the field, trailing 22-7, but after a scramble that was negated by an illegal shift penalty, he suffered a knee injury and limped off the field. “We didn’t get a lot of things going,” Tippy Valley head coach Jeff Shriver said. “We had Tanner out with an injury, we lost a lineman to a concussion and then Ben late there, with a knee, when it probably didn’t matter. We just didn’t get a lot going, and that’s something we need to work on.” Even with the star receiver and quarterback in the game, it was tough sledding against the Lions. Before leaving the game on Valley’s last possession, Andrews was limited, catching just three passes for five yards and rushing the ball twice for three yards. Shriver completed 15 of 25 pass attempts for 117 yards, but most of those came late, after Bremen had grabbed a 19-0 lead. Getting into that 19-0 hole took some time, as Bremen tallied just two total yards in the opening quarter, but things began to take off in the second behind the running of senior Jon Stoller. Rushing the ball just once for three yards in the first quarter, Stoller excelled in the second, running the ball six times for 80 yards, ultimately going for 158 yards on 15 carries. “Jon Stoller did a great job of running the football for us tonight,” Bremen head coach Robert Holmes said. “He established the inside run and that opened up everything else. That’s what our running game does. We run a little play-action offense, and when we could establish the run, we also have some good pass completions.” Stoller ran almost exclusively inside traps, which garner big chunks of yards. “It was hard (to stop) and it shouldn’t have been,” Shriver said. “Their kids executed and ours did not. That’s a disappointing thing. When you look at the chalkboard, you look at film and things like that, so you know what’s coming, then a team still comes out and executes. We just did not play well on the inside part of the defense at times.” Stoller’s running first set up a 1-yard touchdown run by senior Ryan Zellmer, then a 1-yard plunge by senior quarterback Kai Slough with 39 seconds remaining in the first half. In the second half, Stoller began a Bremen drive with a 44-yard scamper, which senior Josh Fuchs used to score on a 1-yard run two plays later, resulting in the 19-0 Lions’ lead. In the big hole, Valley had its best possession, as Shriver completed his first five passes, driving the ball from the Vikings’ own 31 to Bremen’s 13. After an incompletion and a three-yard run by sophomore Garrett Bell, Valley was set up with a 3rd-and-7 from the Bremen 10-yard line. From there, Shriver had a pass to Andrews broke up in the end zone, followed by a another pass break up in the end zone to Andrews, the play in which he injured himself. On Bremen’s next possession, it was forced into a three-and-out, but Valley sophomore Alex Brown blocked the punt, setting the Vikings up with a 1st-and-goal at Bremen’s 9-yard line. One play later, Shriver had his team on the board with a 9-yard touchdown run. Things really began to look up for Valley after it recovered a fumble at it’s own 11-yard line, but soon after regaining possession, fans and players had to vacate the field because of lightning. Following the mandatory 30-minute waiting period following a lightning sighting, play resumed. However, the layoff seemed to make Valley a bit rusty, and on the second play out of the break, a shotgun snap was misplayed, and Bremen recovered the ball and later turned it into the 25-yard field goal by senior Lucas Schlarb with 3:12 remaining in the game. “Our center snapped the ball early,” Shriver said. “The center thought he heard something when he didn’t and he snapped the ball, and it’s a turnover. Yeah, that was a tough one right there.” Valley would make another nice drive late, but it too turned into a failed fourth down conversion and Shriver limping off the field. “We need to be a more consistent football team and that’s something we’re going to work on this week,” Shriver said. “As we kick off the conference, we have a very quality opponent in Manchester. My message to the team this week is to get a little bit hungry and not be satisfied with where we are right now.” Against Bremen, Valley rushed for just 91 yards on 27 attempts, while the Lions shook off the slow start to run for 208 yards on 42 carries. “We have five returning guys up front that started for us last year at the offensive line,” Holmes said. “We’re going to have to be able to run between the tackles if we’re going to have any success this year.” Bremen begins Northern State Conference play Friday at home against New Prairie, while Valley begins Three Rivers Conference action at Manchester.
BREMEN 22, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 7 B 0 12 7 3 — 22 TV 0 0 0 7 — 7
B TV 1st downs 14 14 Rushing yds 208 91 Passing yds 101 117 Comp-Att-Int 6-13-0 15-27-1 Total yds 309 208 Fumbles/lost 1/1 1/1 Penalties/yds 9/83 7/70 Punts/avg 4/40 5/33.4
Second Quarter B – Ryan Zellmer 1 run (kick blocked) 7:58, 6-0 B – Kai Slough 1 run (conversion failed) 0:39, 12-0 Third Quarter B – Josh Fuchs 1 run (Lucas Schlarb kick) 4:02, 19-0 Fourth Quarter TV – Ben Shriver 9 run (Brandon Webster kick) 11:16, 19-7 B – Schlarb 25 field goal 3:12, 22-7
