Sun Valley Vanguards take care of business on homecoming night against Penn Wood Patriots

Tagged under: District 1, Gameday Hub, News

Ted Podberesky | September 30, 2023

It was a gloomy homecoming night with the Sun Valley Vanguards hosting the Penn Wood Patriots at Dr.Wally field. Both teams came into this game with the same record (1-4), with intentions for somebody to get their second win of the season. The Sun Valley Vanguards pull through in tonight’s game beating the Penn Wood Patriots 29-6, taking home a rainy homecoming win. 

Penn Wood started with the ball and immediately started out in their passing set. Quarterback Taj Cobbs quickly showed why the Patriots offense was built for throwing the ball. Cobbs connected on two pass plays, before being intercepted down the sideline by cornerback Jack Penzone.

Sun Valley started with mostly runs to running back Noah Griffin, until quarterback RJ Sharrer tried to find receiver Josh Yanonis on third down. The pass ended up being incomplete and the Vanguards punted the ball back.

The Patriots started to mix in plays and got running back Jahlil Green involved, who started to chip off a couple good runs. Defensive ends Elijiah Jones and Danny Digan for the Vanguards had career nights stopping the run and rushing the passer. Green was stopped on third down shortly after, Jones led the way on a gang tackle to stop the Patriots offense and get the ball back.

It wasn’t long before Noah Griffin had his way on the ground, breaking off a run for 30 yards before punching in a one yard touchdown. This put the Vanguards on the board for the first points of the game, leading the Patriots 7-0 with just under three minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Penn Wood quickly went back to their air raid attack picking up some yardage to end the first quarter. With ten minutes remaining in the second quarter Sun Valley blitzed on a third and short and got to Cobbs. Cobbs scrambled around the pocket trying to find one of his receivers downfield before being sacked from behind by linebacker Ryder Strickland. 

Sun Valley went into the passing game getting tight end Aidan Cook and receiver Josh Yanonis involved. Sharrer completed two passes for big gains, before being faced with a third down inside Patriot territory. Sharrer tried to find Yanonis over the middle once again, but the pass was tipped into the air and intercepted by safety Kevin Hurley. 

The Patriots offense took over with five minutes remaining in the quarter and stuck to the ground game. Penn Wood picked up a couple first downs before being stopped by linebacker Ryan Creegan on a big tackle for loss. This forced Penn Wood to punt the ball and give the Vanguards a shot at scoring before halftime.

The Vanguards did just that with Noah Griffin rushing for a total of 58 yards on the drive. Which set up RJ Sharrer to throw a beauty into the endzone for Josh Yanonis who scored on a 28 yard over the shoulder touchdown grab. 

Penn Wood tried to air the ball out to get down field and end the quarter but ended up in completing multiple passes, giving up the ball again to the Vanguards offense. After a bad punt Sharrer and the Vanguards took advantage of this opportunity, scoring again after a couple runs. Sharrer ran in for a touchdown and a two point conversion with under twenty seconds remaining in the second quarter. Cobbs was then shortly picked off in the middle of the field by linebacker Rocco Radico with two seconds left to go into halftime. 

Most of the third quarter was back and forth with Sun Valley starting with the ball. Eventually, a bad snap was fumbled and linebacker Ryan Creegan recovered inside Penn Wood territory. It wasn’t long before Sharrer had his second rushing touchdown of the game, who also punched in Sun Valley’s two point conversion. 

Sun Valley led 29-0 with four minutes remaining in the quarter. Cobbs started to get going again, completing multiple passes to receiver Rashon Sanders. Sun Valley dropped back, guessing pass and safety Matt Jackson came away with another interception for the Vanguard defense.

With time winding down in the third quarter, the Vanguards kept it simple and ran the ball heading into the fourth. Looking to secure their win, Sun Valley continued their game plan. Until, linebackers Shyheim Poe and Mohamed Bangura combined for a tackle for loss to force a Vanguard punt.

Neither team had a lot going for them in the fourth, It came down to the end of the quarter where Taj Cobbs threw a cross body dart into the endzone for Zowah Woinewala. After getting the ball back, Sun Valley’s Noah Griffin then picked up first down after first down. This set up RJ Sharrer to secure their win on homecoming night 29-6 with one final kneel.

Sun Valley Vanguards running back Noah Griffin who eclipsed for another game over 200 yards and one touchdown states that, “ The guys up front lead the way every down, I try my best staying on page with them and reading their hips so I can find an opening “.

Head Coach Ernie Ellis kept it short and sweet talking about running back Noah Griffin saying that, “ He’s our most consistent player, he always finds a way to make something out of nothing “.

Both teams travel away next week with Sun Valley taking on West Chester East, while Penn Wood heads on to face Chester.

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews