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With first place in the Indiana Northern State Conference on the line on Friday night, Tippecanoe Valley and Jimtown delivered a game that lived up to the height. The Vikings dominated the first half, the Jimmies turned things around in the second, but in the end, it was one final stop by the Valley defense that clinched the 17-15 road victory.
“I think this is a huge win for this program. Playing a team like Jimtown on the road, with first place on the line, to get that victory, it means a lot,” Valley head coach Steve Moriarty said after the game.
The Vikings defense began the game by bailing out the offense. On the team’s first drive of the night, an errant snap to quarterback Hunter Randall threw off the timing of a pitch play, resulting in the ball ending up on the ground before eventually being recovered by the Jimmies. Getting the ball near midfield, the home side marched into the red zone before the Valley defense stood them up on third down to force a field goal attempt. The 28-yard attempt sailed wide, allowing the visitors to get away with the early turnover unscathed.
With only one pass being thrown in the opening 12 minutes, the first quarter came to an end with the Vikings moving the ball well. Momentum shifted on a dime when play resumed, as Jimtown used a massive tackle for loss to stop the drive in its tracks, leading to a Viking punt. Once again, the defense stepped up when called on, forcing a three-and-out immediately afterwards to give the visitors the ball right back.
The third time was the charm for the Valley offense, as on the second play of the ensuing drive, the visitors ran a trap play that put the ball in the chest of playmaker Owen Omondi. Getting a great block from his linemen, the senior made a pair of defenders miss and was off to the races. He went on to scamper 43 yards into the end zone to put six points on the board with seven minutes until halftime. Moments later, he’d cross the goal line again, scoring the octopus to make it 8-0.
Valley’s defense continued to frustrate their opponent on their next drive, as the Jimtown offense had to punt after minimal gains for the second straight drive. Getting the ball at their own 20 with a little over five minutes left in the half, the Vikings got the ball back and held it until the break. It was as methodical a drive as you can ask for, as Randall Omondi and Hunter Paxton marched the ball down the field at will. A big passing play to Paxton put Omondi in field goal range with four seconds left, and he made good on the 28-yard attempt to make it an 11-0 game at the break.
Getting the ball to begin the third quarter, the Jimmies finally got the spark they desperately needed on a 50-yard run Nash Hamby on the first play from scrimmage. After one senior running back put his team into the red zone, another put them on the scoreboard, as Nathan Guthrie crossed the plane from three yards out for the touchdown. After a successful two-point conversion, it was suddenly an 11-8 game just two minutes into the third.
Things went from bad to worse for the Vikings from there, as the team gave the ball right back to their opponent after picking up just one first down. Another long run by Hamby kept the Jimmies in a rhythm, and this time it was the passing game that found the end zone. A 26-yard touchdown pass to Murphy DiPiro sent the crowd into a frenzy and gave Jimtown its first lead of the night. After dominating the first half, the Vikings had now surrendered their lead in just seven minutes, trailing 15-11.
“They made a lot of adjustments in that second half, took away our running game for a bit and burned us on a couple themselves,” Moriarty said. “At that point it's about adjusting back and finding something else that’s going to work for you. It’s like a boxing match. You’re going to take some punches, and it’s about how you react to those punches.”
It continued to be all Jimmies in this second half, as Valley punted for the second time in the quarter upon getting the ball back. After getting burned twice in a row,the defense responded well by forcing a three-and-out of their own immediately after. Then, the game flipped on its head once again, as a bad snap on the punt sent the ball over DiPiro’s head in the backfield. Colter Blackburn hustled back there and dove on it, giving the visitors the ball back inside the 10-yard line as the third quarter came to an end.
Just 38 seconds into the fourth quarter, Valley took advantage of the turnover. A three-yard sneak up the middle by Randall was enough to reach the end zone. Up by two at 17-15, the Vikings elected to go for two, and were denied.
The Valley defensive line disrupted the next Jimtown series before it even got going, as two big negative plays resulted in a punt from the end zone. The visitors were unable to take advantage of the great starting field position that followed, as they turned the ball bacl over on downs with just over five minutes left in the game.
Viking defenders smother the Jimtown quarterback, forcing him into an intentional grounding penalty in the fourth quarter...Nieter
The craziness of the game continued from there, as Jimtown turned it back over with a little under three minutes remaining, as Max Ganger dropped a ball wide open on fourth down. The Vikings didn’t celebrate for long, as they fumbled it on the very next play. The man who recovered it? Ganger himself.
This essentially gave the home team a restart at midfield with two and a half minutes left. Over the next 80 seconds, they were able to get just outside of the red zone, but the Viking defense was able to hold from there. This led to a 33-yard field goal attempt for DiPiro. He never got a leg on it. The snap was high, and leading to holder Kolton Vitali to have to improvise. It didn’t end well, as the defense collapsed and got the turnover on downs to seal the deal.
“You have to be gritty. You can’t let things rattle you. The defense took a gut punch. They did their job and then did it again. A huge testament to those guys.”
Tippecanoe Valley (5-1, 3-0 INSC) returns home to take on Woodlan next week.
