Vikings end Tri-Valley’s bid for undefeated season with 21 to 14 win !

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Daniel Reed | October 29, 2022

Vikings end Tri-Valley’s bid for undefeated season with 21 to 14 win in Hegins on Bulldogs Senior Night, behind big night from Sr-Ezi Hite, and Jr-Alex Achenbach !

It wasn’t pretty but Williams Valley found a way to regain focus and overcome mental mistakes in the second half to hold on for the victory in front of a packed house at Tri-Valley’s home-field Friday night, taking down the undefeated Bulldogs 21 to 14 on Senior Night.

Things started out slowly for both teams, as on the first possession for the Vikings, and then the Bulldogs, we saw punts. It wasn’t until the next possession for the Bulldogs, we would see the games first score when senior RB-Kameron Wetzel would take the handoff up the middle and race 34 yards for the score with 4:54 left in the opening quarter. Williams Valley would respond on the next possession, looking at 3rd down and 8, MVP of the game, Alex Achenbach hauled in a pass from Isaac Whiteash and took off, 64 yards for the score, tying the game at 7 with 3:09 left in the first quarter.

On the ensuing drive for Tri-Valley, they would suffer two crucial penalties that would have them looking at 3rd and about 29, Jacob Scheib would get the call but would only muster about 6 yards on the run setting up a long 4th down play, a punt that would be fumbled and recovered by the Vikings in Bulldogs territory at around the 40 with just :04 seconds to go in the quarter, tied at 7.

The second quarter would start a trend of costly penalties, leading to 4 punts, 2 by each squad. Williams Valley would regroup, begin to focus after a talking to from HC-Tim Savage. With just over 3 minutes to go in the half, the Vikings would put together a drive that would lead to the final score in the first half, finishing off the 7 play drive would be senior star receiver Brady Evans, hauling in the pass from Whiteash in the back corner of the endzone to retake the lead over the Bulldogs 14 to 7 with just :42 seconds to go in the first half. On the next play after the kickoff to Tri-Valley, Evans would give the Vikings another quick shot at another score when he would pick off the Cole Miller pass, giving Williams Valley great field position at the Bulldogs 16 with :26 seconds to play until halftime. Just three plays later however, it was Tri-Valley’s Jolton Flory returning the favor by intercepting the Whiteash pass in the endzone, returning it to his 3, eventually ending the half on the next play, with the score Williams Valley leading the Bulldogs 14 to 7 in front of a huge crowd.

At the half, both coaches weren’t happy with the play from their players, as Williams Valley HC-Tim Savage, even though leading 14 to 7, went on to say, ” we’re making some really bad mistakes, one guy at a time, 10 guys doing things well, 1 guy taking a play off, or losing his mind and it’s costing us. ” He’d go on saying, ” this is Tri-Valley, we gotta stop making mistakes, clean things up, be efficient, and capitalize on their mistakes.”

Coach demanded, the players responded. The Bulldogs would get the ball to start the second half of play, and on the 4 play of the drive, Tri-Valley would fumble, and the Vikings big Sophomore would recover, giving Williams Valley decent field position at the Viking 44. Just four plays later, Achenbach would score his second touchdown of the game, on an 18 yard run extending the lead to 21 to 7 with 8:31 to go in the 3rd. I’m not sure what happened after that touchdown but suddenly, both teams seemed to want to just each other the ball, offering a chance to respond. Play after play, we would see either a penalty, or some sort of turnover. A Viking punt partially blocked by the Bulldogs junior DE-Shawn Bowman, two back to back interceptions thrown from Tri-Valley’s Cole Miller, who ended with 4 ints on the night, one more fumble by each team, let’s just that third quarter wasn’t pretty.

In the fourth and final quarter of play, after that quarter of disaster, it wasn’t looking much better as Miller would throw his 4th int, a quarterback to quarterback pass, Miller to Whiteash… Wait What ? Williams Valley would take over at the Bulldog 36, about 9 and a half minutes to go in the game, and Whiteash would throw a pick of his own, Kash Tobin, a junior LB for the Bulldogs, would take it back all the way down to the Vikings 10 before being dragged down from behind at the 9, giving life back in the Tri-Valley sideline and stands as the crowd began to get loud. Two plays later, the Bulldogs would close the gap to 7, 21 to 14 after two Kameron Wetzel runs for 9 yards and the score with 8:41 still to play. On the Vikings ensuing drive, Williams Valley would begin to run time off the clock, using up over 4 minutes of time, 8 plays, all runs from Alex Achenbach, eventually turning the ball over on downs at their own 46 on a 4th and 3 play. Alex would finish the night with 29 carries for 154 yards, and 1 touchdown, on the ground, and 2 receptions for 71 yards, and a score. Tri-Valley had the ball with 4:15 to go, but on 4th and 10, Achenbach would break up the pass play, taking over on downs with 3:21 to go. The Vikings would once again run time off the clock but not before having to give the ball back to the Bulldogs via the punt, down to the Tri-Valley 25 with 1:39 to play. One last hope, one last drive for the Bulldogs, in hopes to remain undefeated on the season, and remain the number one seed in the upcoming district playoffs next week. two runs and two passes later, it was over, Tri-Valley would suffer yet another turnover on downs, setting up victory formation for the Vikings on the next two plays, Williams Valley earning a good, hard fought win over the rival, Tri-Valley, now 9-1 on the season and Class 1A District XI qualifiers.

With the win, the Vikings improve to 8-2 on the season, also, District XI qualifiers, but this year, in Class 2A, as they were moved up in class by 1 person. Williams Valley Vikings are the defending District XI Class 1A Champions, hoping to add to the trophy case, a 2022 District XI Class 2A Championship. After the game, Coach Savage, always a class act, wishing the Bulldogs the best in the playoffs, saying, ” They’re going to win the District Championship in 1A, and we’re going to win the District Championship in 2A.”

UnOfficial Stat Studs:
OFFENSE-Williams Valley
Passing: Isaac Whiteash – 6-15-2=112(2TDS)
Rushing: Alex Achenbach – 29-154(1TD)
Receiving: Alex Achenbach – 2-71(1TD), Brady Evans – 3-41(1TD)
DEFENSE INTS: Isaac Whiteash, Evan Achenbach, Brady Evans, and Aiden Miller… all with (1)

OFFENSE-Tri-Valley
Passing: Cole Miller – 10-25-4=121
Rushing: Kameron Wetzel – 13-67(2TDS), Jacob Scheib – 9-14
Receiving: Layne Yoder – 4-62, Jolten Flory – 3-47
DEFENSE INTS: Jolten Flory, Kash Tobin… each with (1)

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

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