Valley Wins Thriller, AdvancesSOUTH BEND — A few minutes south of the University of Notre Dame’s campus, the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings football team was soaking everything in as they visited South Bend for the first time in school history. The coaches and players walked around and talked about how amazed they were by the atmosphere.
Alas, they were not there to tour, but they had one goal in mind: Win.
They did just that.
After taking a late lead in the third quarter, the Vikings defense stopped the South Bend Washington Panthers on 4th and short to escape with a 19-14 opening round win at TCU School Field.
“It was a very good game, [Washington] is the real deal,” said Tippecanoe Valley head football coach Stephen Moriarty. “They had a will to win, and it was hard to beat them.”
Valley (7-3) managed to rush for 201 yards on the Panthers, who in turn rushed for 274 yards on the Vikings.
Senior halfback Dakota Gaff notched Tippecanoe Valley’s first two touchdowns of the night, giving the Vikings a 13-6 lead with less than two minutes before halftime. Gaff ended his night with 67 yards on 14 carries to go along with his pair of scores.
The Panthers (6-4) then pulled off a wild two-minute drill, which included a defensive pass interference call on the Vikings with no time remaining. Granted one last play before the half, senior quarterback Kenyon Grant found Sy’Air Agnew in the corner of the end zone for a 12-yard scoring play. Grant then kept the ball for himself and gave the Panthers a 14-13 halftime lead.
“Them scoring at the end of the half, I will still be having nightmares about that tonight,” said Moriarty. “That drove me nuts.
Late in the third quarter, Valley had retaken the lead as senior quarterback Tanner Trippiedi sneaked in for a one-yard touchdown. The two-point attempt failed, and the Vikings needed to keep the Panthers out of the end zone.
Washington, relying on their strong run game, had gotten deep into Valley territory with nearly a minute remaining in regulation. Facing 4th and 2, sophomore defensive lineman Wade Melanson came up with a massive stop on Washington’s Ta’Ron Bradshaw to force the turnover on downs and punch their ticket for the next round of sectionals.
The Vikings finished the night with a 70% success rate converting on third downs, while the Panthers were 2-for-13. Additionally, the Panthers were 3-for-6 on fourth down, including the stop by Melanson.
For Washington, Bradshaw finished the night with 114 yards on 22 carries. Fellow senior Deonte' Williams finished with 91 yards on 14 carries, and Grant with 69 yards on 17 carries.
Tippecanoe Valley will host their sectional semifinals game Friday night as they will face off against Jimtown. The Jimmies rolled over Garrett 30-6 in their first round game.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 19,
SB?WASHINGTON 14
TV 0 13 6 0 - 19
W 0 14 0 0 - 14
V – Dakota Gaff 2 run (10:13) Domingo Santiago kick is good
W – Deonte’ Williams 27 run (5:58) Sy’Air Agnew kick is no good
TV – Dakota Gaff 8 run (1:50) Domingo Santiago kick is no good
W – Sy’Air Agnew 12 pass from Kenyon Grant (0:00) Kenyon Grant 2 pt conversion
TV – Tanner Trippiedi 1 run (3:04) 2 pt conversion fails
