ROCHESTER — Against its biggest rival, the Tippecanoe Valley football team posted a dominant victory, staying in the hunt for a Three Rivers Conference championship. Scoring touchdowns on six of its 11 drives, the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings (4-3, 4-1 TRC) controlled the battle for the bell trophy Friday, downing the host Rochester Zebras (5-1, 4-1 TRC) by a count of 42-21. Entering Friday night, Rochester and Whitko were the lone undefeated TRC teams, while Valley had one loss, a 34-33 setback on Sept. 13 at home against Southwood. With only two weeks remaining in the season, a loss to Rochester would have all but ended the Vikings’ shot at a title, as Rochester is at Whitko (5-2, 5-0 TRC) this Friday, then wraps up its season with a very winnable game at North Miami (1-6, 1-4 TRC) in Week 9. “A nice win to keep us in the conference hunt,” Valley coach Jeff Shriver said. “The next time we lose, we’re done. “We stubbed our toe (against Southwood) and that was the only time we could stub it,” he added. “We had to play better football. We had to play better consistently. Tonight, we did that.” Beginning the game with a 10-play, 55-yard drive that was capped by a three-yard touchdown pass from senior Ben Shriver to classmate Tanner Andrews, the tone was set. The Shriver-to-Andrews connection resulted in three first-half touchdowns, going for 3, 34 and 5 yards, while senior Chris Torpy also had a 1-yard TD plunge, helping the Vikings take a 28-7 lead at the half. After seeing its lead cut to 28-14 following a 5-yard touchdown pass from Rochester senior Cyrus Holland to junior Jacob Howdeshell on the Zebras’ opening drive of the second half, Valley then used six minutes of clock on a 12-play, 65-yard drive that ended on a 5-yard TD run by senior Nolan Sponseller to regain momentum. The touchdown run was just one of Sponseller’s highlights, as he rushed for 84 yards on 10 carries, recovered two fumbles and posted two interceptions. “Nolan is a tremendous athlete,” Shriver said of the 5-foot-11, 165-pound running back/defensive back. “He’s a tremendous competitor. The thing about Nolan is, he’s smart. Nolan knows what we’re trying to do. “He’s like having a coach on the field,” Shriver added. “Tonight, what I think you saw was Nolan anticipating what was going to come, based on tendencies that we put together during the week. He executed.” Another player to shine with his all-around game was Andrews. Along with his six receptions for 76 yards and three scores, Andrews also had four rushes for 34 yards and created problems for the Zebras with his consistent pass rush from the outside on defense. “We rolled him up like a strong safety and let him play outside linebacker instead of in the secondary,” Shriver said of Andrews, who also saved a touchdown by running down Rochester’s Carter Screeton when it looked like he was in the open field for a long touchdown. “That’s a place we’ve really struggled at times. That gave us a little more depth and he made some big plays.” Valley’s scoring came to an end with 3:14 remaining in the game, when fittingly, sophomore Garrett Bell punched it in from five yards out, helping Valley retain the bell trophy. The win over Rochester is Valley’s third-straight, a feat the Vikings hadn’t done since the 1994-97 seasons. “One of the goals we have each year is to win the bell,” Shriver said. “We put a patch on our letter jacket if we win the bell game, and these seniors now have three of those. It’s the first time since coach (Darren) Parker graduated high school that we’ve won three-in-a-row. When I took over the program, we weren’t that successful against Rochester. We hadn’t had the bell since our seniors were in fifth grade. None of the stories about the rivalry are lost on these players.” One of those seniors is Shriver’s son, Ben, and he was a big part of the latest win, completing 15 of 20 pass attempts for 181 yards, three scores and one pick, despite getting shaken up in the second quarter. “I thought Ben had a real good game,” Shriver said. “He got tossed on his head earlier in the game, and he went out for a couple plays and Tanner went in (at quarterback). But he came back in and ended up converting the touchdown (when Torpy scored from one yard out).” For Rochester, Howdeshell was the standout, running for 122 yards and two scores on 19 carries, while also catching three passes for 10 yards and another touchdown. Rochester must now try to keep its TRC title hopes alive with a win at Whitko Friday, while Valley looks to extend its three-game winning streak at North Miami before heading to Whitko for its final game of the regular season. Even if Whitko remains undefeated in the TRC with a win over Rochester this week, Valley can still earn a share of the title with a win over North Miami then in South Whitley the following week, as both Valley and Whitko would then be 6-1 in the conference. “What we have to do is take care of business from here on out, and that’s what we’re going to do,” Shriver said.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 42, ROCHESTER 21 TV 14 14 7 7 — 42 R 7 0 7 7 — 21
TV R 1st downs 17 10 Rushing yds 190 211 Passing yds 181 50 Comp-Att-Int 15-21-1 5-16-2 Total yds 371 261 Fumbles/lost 2/0 6/3 Penalties/yds 4/30 9/65 Punts/avg 2/25.5 2/16.5
First Quarter TV – Ben Shriver 3 pass to Tanner Andrews (Brandon Webster kick) 8:00, 7-0 TV – Shriver 34 pass to Andrews (Webster kick) 3:57, 14-0 R – Jacob Howdeshell 15 run (Wilson Lee kick) 1:38, 14-7 Second Quarter TV – Chris Torpy 1 run (Webster kick) 11:02, 21-7 TV – Shriver 5 pass to Andrews (Webster kick) 2:03, 28-7 Third Quarter R – Cyrus Holland 5 pass to Howdeshell (Lee kick) 6:49, 28-14 TV – Nolan Sponseller 5 run (Webster kick) 0:47, 35-14 Fourth Quarter TV – Garrett Bell 5 run (Webster kick) 3:14, 42-14 R – Howdeshell 16 run (Lee kick) 2:16, 42-21
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing — Valley, Sponseller 10-84, Torpy 9-70, Andrews 4-34, Bell 11-23, Jarred Littlejohn 1-(-3), Shriver 9-(-18); Rochester, Howdeshell 19-122, Carter Screeton 9-64, J. Heckathorn 6-39, Holland 2-(-14). Passing — Valley, Shriver 15-20, 181 yds, 3 TDs, INT, Andrews 0-1; Rochester, Holland 5-15, 50 yds, TD, 2 INTs, Luke Cannedy 0-1. Receiving — Valley, Andrews 6-76, Webster 5-49, Jonah Mikel 2-48, Brandon Murphy 1-4, Landin Madsen 1-4; Rochester, Gavin Bennett 1-22, Alec Gehrich 1-18, Howdeshell 3-10.
