ROCHESTER - On paper and on the field Friday night, Three Rivers Conference rivals Tippecanoe Valley and Rochester were about as close as two teams could be.
So close that an unsportsmanlike penalty was extremely costly to Valley as the Class 3A No. 3 Vikings fell 14-13 to the Class 2A No. 5 Zebras at Barnhart Field in Rochester."The kids played hard and this was a hard-fought game," said second-year Valley head coach Jeff Shriver, whose team's conference winning streak ended at 13 games. "I'm disappointed in the outcome, but I'm not disappointed in the kids. They played hard."
After Zach Smith's 18-yard touchdown run gave the host Zebras a 14-13 lead with 5:46 to play in the game, Valley big-play threat Kyle Brady returned the ensuing kickoff 60 yards to Rochester's 36-yard line.
The Vikings seven running plays to advance the ball to the 3-yard line, but on Brady's six-yard burst that put Valley near the goal line, the Vikings were whistled for an unsportsmanlike penalty.
Rather than having a third-and-goal situation from the 3-yard line, the Vikings were faced with a third-and-goalf from the 18.
Brady was caught behind the line of scrimmage for a four-yard loss on the next play, and senior Chad Hoffer was sacked for a 10-yard loss on fourth down.
Rochester took the ball on its own 32-yard line with 1:43 remaining, but Valley's stingy defense forced the Zebras to punt with 52 seconds left in the game.
With 40 seconds remaining, Valley started a drive on its 15-yard line, but an incomplete pass on first down and an interception on second down cost the Vikings the game and ownership of the traveling Bell Trophy.
While the unsportsmanlike penalty late in the fourth quarter may have been the most costly miscue of the night, the Vikings were whistled for 11 penalties in all for 80 yards.
Rochester had just three penalties for 20 yards
"The 11 penalties were huge for us," said Shriver, whose team fell to 6-1 overall and 4-1 in TRC action. "Any time you have 11 penalties, that's hard to overcome. We played hard, we just couldn't overcome some mental mistakes."
The homecoming win improved the Zebras to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the TRC. Rochester and North Miami, which beat Whitko 22-6, are the only unbeaten teams left in the conference.
North Miami plays at Valley Friday, and then at Rochester in the regular-season finale on Oct. 12.
Not only was Friday's game critical to the TRC standings, it was also the Channel 46 Game of the Week and the 31st battle for the traveling Bell Trophy.
In 30 previous meetings for the Bell Trophy, Valley held an 18-12 advantage.
Following the 1-point victory, Rochester's student section rushed the field and there were fireworks to celebrate the win.
As Valley's players handed over the bell trophy to their rivals, Rochester students and fans celebrated as if they had just won a state championship.
"This game is huge," said Shriver, who lives in Rochester but was an assistant for 15 years for Valley unders Scott Bibler before taking over the head-coaching duties last year. "The kids and the communities love the rivalry. It means a lot to the kids in school and it means a lot to the kids on the team. They'll be talking about this in the coffee shops and at church. They'll be talking about this game all year."
The conversation surrounding Valley may be the what-ifs. What if the Vikings didn't shoot themselves in the foot with 11 penalties?
For now, though, Shriver was trying to look at the positives.
Things like his defense holding a potent Rochester offense to 14 points.
The Zebras came in averaging 40 points per game.
"I'm very happy with the way the defense played," said Shriver. "Rochester is very explosive, they're the most explosive team we've faced so far. And to hold them to 14 points and make them work at it, that's something I'm proud of."
Rochester scored the first points of the game when homecoming king Brandon Stuart barrelled his way in from 5 yards out in the first quarter.
The Vikings knotted the game at 7-all when Kyle Ritchey scored from 16 yards out with 3:23 to play in the third quarter.
Valley took a 13-7 lead when Hoffer ran in from 15 yards out on the first play of the third quarter, but Matt Smith's extra-point kick was blocked.
Smith led the Zebra offense with 24 carries for 113 yards, while Brady carried 16 times for 35 yards for the Vikings and Ritchey tallied 52 yards on 12 carries.
The two teams combined for just six completions.
ROCHESTER 14, VALLEY 13
Valley 0 0 7 6 - 13
Rochester 7 0 0 7 - 14
V R
First downs 9 10
Rushing yards 137 129
Passing yards 56 51
Comp.-Att.-Int. 3-7-1 4-11-2
Total offense 193 180
Fumbles/lost 1/1 0/0
Punts/avg. 1-30 4-33
Penalties/yards 11-80 3-20
First Quarter
R - Brandon Stuart 5 run (Casey Good kick) 7-0, 6:18
Third Quarter
TV - Kyle Ritchey 16 run (Matt Smith kick) 7-7, 3:23
Fourth Quarter
TV - Chad Hoffer 15 run (kick blocked) 13-7, 11:53
R - Zach Smith 18 run (Good kick) 14-13, 5:46
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Valley, Kyle Brady 16-35, Ritchey 12-52, Hoffer 7-26, Koser 6-19, Blake Moore 2-11, Ross Miller 1-(-6); Rochester, Smith 24-113, Stuart 7-33, Brody Schoen 4-(-22), Blayne Hammel 1-5
Passing - Valley, Hoffer 2-5-21, Ritchey 1-1-35, Miller 0-1-0, 1 INT; Rochester, Schoen 4-11-51, 2 INT
Receiving - Valley, Jared Baize 2-51, Keith Koser 1-5; Rochester, Jaron Strem 2-24, Carter Walley 1-23, Derek Nelson 1-4
