Victory over North Miami gives Vikings chance to win TRC title
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Anthony Gadson-agadson@timesuniononline.com
AKRON — The Tippecanoe Valley Vikings are one win away from earning at least a share of their third-straight Three Rivers Conference championship. Following a 34-33 home loss to Southwood on Sept. 13, Valley (5-3, 5-1 TRC) needed to win its final five games to get a chance to win the TRC crown, and now the Vikings need just one more victory. Downing the North Miami Warriors (1-7, 1-5 TRC) at Death Valley Friday by a score of 45-13, the Vikings need to win at Whitko in the regular-season finale Friday to earn at least a share of the TRC crown. “We came out last week and got an emotional win at Rochester, getting the Bell (Trophy),” Valley coach Jeff Shriver said. “Then we had to get grounded and we had to come out and play against a very much-improved North Miami team. We’ve just had to make sure we were playing our best football each week, because that’s what’s given us life for winning the TRC championship.” With a win at Whitko, which fell 29-6 at home against Rochester Friday night, Valley would finish 6-1 in the conference, and if Rochester defeats one-win North Miami, it too would sit at 6-1 and earn a share of the title. If that scenario plays out, it would be the third-straight season that the two rivals shared the conference championship with 6-1 records. But before worrying about the showdown with Whitko, Valley had to put North Miami away, which it did pretty quickly. Scoring touchdowns on its first five possessions, Valley built a 32-6 lead midway through the third quarter. On the night, senior Nolan Sponseller had a 35-yard touchdown run, as well as 65-yard interception return for a touchdown, senior Ben Shriver threw touchdown passes to senior Tanner Andrews (41 yards) and sophomore Brandon Webster (12 yards), while Andrews also had a 5-yard rushing TD, as did senior Chris Torpy (5 yards) and sophomore Garrett Bell (3 yards). In all, Valley put up 485 yards, 260 on the ground, led by Torpy’s 66 on 11 carries, while Shriver completed 10 of 21 pass attempts for 185 yards and the two scores through the air. The Warriors did rush for 255 yards on 47 attempts, but had no passing game, as junior quarterback Jacob White was 1 of 4 with two interceptions. Running a triple-option offense, North Miami was able to move the ball on a few drives, but turnovers were costly. Early in the second quarter, North Miami lost a fumble at the Valley 24. White threw his first interception later in the quarter after the team had driven to the Valley 19, then White threw the pick that Sponseller returned 65 yards to the end zone on the Warriors’ opening possession of the second half. Each turnover ended any momentum North Miami had garnered and nullified strong drives. “We played some good football tonight,” Shriver said. “There were some things we want to improve on, obviously. We want to improve every week, and I think we did in a lot of ways.” North Miami’s offensive attack was led by junior Dakota Ribble’s 92 yards on four carries and White ran for 86 yards on 21 attempts, using shifty quickness to get past tacklers. Against Whitko, the Vikings will face another triple-option offense, but one Shriver sees as different than North Miami. “It is a similar type of offense, but I think the three backs at Whitko probably run a little bit harder, as far as physicality,” he said, speaking of Tanner Hughes, Devin Gerding and Trace Killian. “They’re a little bit bigger backs. Their quarterback (Ethan Nicodemus) may not be as quick, but he runs the ball very, very hard and they run the ball.” In a big game for each team, as Whitko is looking to get its first piece of a TRC title since 2010, it should be a good one Friday night in South Whitley. “The team that shows up and plays the most mistake-free football, is probably going to put a (Three Rivers Conference championship) patch on their (letter) jackets,” Shriver said.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 45, NORTH MIAMI 13 NM 0 0 6 7 — 13 TV 14 12 13 6 — 45
First Quarter TV – Ben Shriver 12 pass to Brandon Webster (kick failed) 7:34, 6-0 TV – Nolan Sponseller 35 run (Shriver conversion pass to Tanner Andrews) 3:34, 14-0 Second Quarter TV – Chris Torpy 5 run (kick failed) 4:51, 20-0 TV – Andrews 3 run (conversion failed) 0:16, 26-0 Third Quarter NM – Damon Gipson 2 run (kick failed) 8:17, 26-6 TV – Shriver 41 pass to Andrews (kick failed) 7:37, 32-6 TV – Nolan Sponseller 65 interception return (Andrews kick) 0:09, 39-6 Fourth Quarter TV – Garrett Bell 3 run (kick failed) 5:46, 45-6 NM – Anthony Tooley 1 run (Caleb Rexroad kick) 3:04, 45-13
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing — Valley, Torpy 11-66, Shriver 5-47, Bell 7-37, Alec Craig 3-32, Andrews 5-28, Sponseller 4-27, Brandon Murphy 2-18, Nick Feldman 3-5; NM, Dakota Ribble 4-92, Jacob White 21-86, Tooley 3-42, Keith Rouch 12-22, Gipson 6-9, Todd Pocock 1-4. Passing — Valley, Shriver 10-21, 185 yds, 2 TDs; NM, White 1-4, 21 yds, 2 INTs. Receiving — Valley, Andrews 3-80, Michael Thacker 1-51, Jonah Mikel 1-19, Webster 1-12, Sponseller 2-10, Jarred Littlejohn 1-7, Murphy 1-6; NM, Colton Ferrand 1-21.
