WABASH — When it rains, it pours. That was the story of the night as the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings executed well on offense and made big plays on the defensive side of the ball that allowed the them to silence the Southwood Knights 45-0 in a rain-shortened ballgame Friday in Wabash that was called after two quarters. "I wish we could have played the whole game for some of the younger kids, but there's probably no point in coming back the next day," Tippy Valley coach Jeff Shriver said. "But it was a really good football game from the standpoint of offense, defense and special teams." With 10:24 remaining in the second quarter, inclement weather was passing through the area and delayed the game for a little over two hours. By then, Valley was already up big. The Vikings had a very sharp start to the game when Southwood's Nathan Hollars was stripped of the ball by junior Tanner Andrews, in which Andrews returned it 31 yards before being brought down at the Southwood 4-yard line. Junior halfback Nolan Sponseller rushed it in to score on the very next play. Valley's suffocating defense held the Knights to a three-and-out on the ensuing possession, and the running game took the reins from there as senior fullback Justin Gunter scored from four yards out on their next drive. "Our running game really took off," said Shriver. "We've got some great athletes that are able to touch the football and do things for us." The passing game was not given much of a chance to flourish when the rain fell. Junior quarterback Ben Shriver completed 5 of 9 passes for 84 yards and a score to finish one half of play. "It was tough to throw the football tonight, and that's what we hung our hat on this season," said coach Shriver. "But we did a great job running the football and our offensive line was outmanned size-wise but did an outstanding job protecting and run-blocking." Five minutes into the game, the Vikings were up 14-0 and the rain was starting to pick up. Another three-and-out from Southwood led to Sponseller's second score of the night — a 13-yard run to make it 21-0 with under three minutes left in the first quarter. Andrews made a terrific play on Southwood's next possession, knocking the ball free from Hollars to force a fumble that would be recovered again by the Vikings. The Vikings capped a two-minute drill when Gunter rushed for his first score of the night with seven-tenths of a second left in the quarter. One quarter of action, and it was 27-0 Valley. At the start of the second quarter, the Knights tried to generate a drive to give them some motivation, but would be thwarted as Hollars was stopped short on 4th-and-1. Valley had the ball yet again, but for the first time in the game, they were stopped by mother nature when a lightning strike caused the two-hour delay. Kickoff was 7 p.m., play was resumed just before 10 p.m. and it was still the second quarter. The Vikings did not skip a beat as they stuck to the ground game, with Sponseller scoring his third touchdown of the night on a 9-yard rush. Jacob Ritchey also scored for the Vikings, as well as quarterback Ben Shriver connecting with Mason Teel on an 18-yard pass play and Dan Miller recorded an interception to ensure themselves of a victory. The team defense also finished with four forced fumbles, while not even allowing the Knights to finish with positive yardage. Once the game was called, Southwood had just 21 passing yards and negative-23 rushing yards, leaving the Knights with negative-two total yards. The Vikings return home next Friday when they host Northfield.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 45, SOUTHWOOD 0 V 27 18 x x — 45 S 0 0 x x — 0
V S Rushing yds 135 -23 Passing yds 90 21 Total offense 225 -2
First Quarter TV — Nolan Sponseller 4 run ( Jacob Ritchey kick) 10:54, 7-0 TV — Justin Gunter 4 run (Ritchey kick) 7:00, 14-0 TV — Sponseller 13 run (Ritchey kick) 2:48, 21-0 TV — Gunter 8 run (kick failed) 0:00.7, 27-0 Second Quarter TV — Sponseller 9 run (kick failed) 8:17, 33-0 TV — Ritchey 2 run (kick failed) 5:27, 39-0 TV — Ben Shriver 18 pass to Mason Teel (kick failed) 1:00, 45-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing — Valley, Gunter 9-59, Sponseller 7-36, Ritchey 5-19, Chris Torpy 2-12, Shriver 2-11; Southwood, Nathan Hollars 13-(-23). Passing — Valley, Shriver 5-9, 84 yds, TD; Southwood, Robbie Cole 1-8, 21 yds. Receiving — Valley, Dayton Cohagen 2-30, Teel 2-26, Andrews 1-28.
