Redbank Valley Overcomes Slow Start to KO Keystone 42-9
Tagged under: District 9, Gameday Hub, News, pfn
Phil Myers | September 16, 2023
Redbank Valley is ranked #9 in the state by PFN in Class 1A and for good reason. They have an explosive offense that can beat you a number of ways. The Bulldogs also have a tenacious defense that seems to get better as games progress. But Saturday afternoon in Knox at Keystone’s home field, Redbank had to not only overcome a fired-up Panther squad, but also a slow start that was in part due to Keystone playing so well and in part due to a couple of mental mistakes according to Coach Blane Gold of the winning team. The Panthers were looking to record their first win of 2023 by upending the state ranked Bulldogs and things looked good for Keystone early on.
The fired up Keystone Panthers take the field.
The home team recovered an onside kick to begin the game and later after that drive stalled, Keystone’s Drew Slaugenhaupt intercepted a pass on Redbank’s first possession. Those two plays, plus the Panthers’ ability to control the clock with their running game resulted in Keystone having the ball for all but 40 seconds of the opening thirteen and a half minutes of the game. The Keystone scoring drive was a thing of beauty as they used up 10:58 of the clock. On the 18th play of the drive, Josh Beal nailed a 25-yard field goal early in the second quarter to give his team a 3-0 lead.
Redbank rallied though and grabbed a 13-3 halftime lead and then came out smoking in the second half. After Keystone went up 3-0, Redbank embarked on a 50-yard, 3-play drive that was capped by Braylon Wagner’s 37-yard run when he couldn’t find an open receiver. Later in the quarter, Wagner did find an open Ashton George from 5 yards out to give the Bulldogs the 10-point cushion at intermission.
Wagner scores his second TD of the game and as teammate signals touchdown.
After the Bulldog defense did its job and stopped Keystone on the opening drive of the second half, RBV went 68 yards on 6 plays, scoring on Wagner’s one-yard run. The Redbank quarterback hit Mason Clouse for 2 points and Redbank led 21-3. Late in the third, the Bulldogs scored two times in nine seconds to ice the game. Their second consecutive 68-yard TD drive was of the one play variety when Mason Clouse caught a little look-in pass, picked up a block and outraced the rest of the Keystone defense. Owen Clouse then pooched the kickoff and Rylan Rupp recovered for the Bulldogs. On the next play, Drew Byers went the distance of 30 yards to extend Redbank’s lead to 35-3.
Drew Byers #3 and Ashton Kahle #0 relax a minute, after Byers scored his second TD.
Byers scored again on a 12-yard run early in the 4th quarter to put Redbank Valley on top 42-3. That gave him 152 yards on 12 carries for the day. “Drew does things you can’t teach,” said Coach Gold in praising his junior running back. Eli Nellis scored for Keystone with 39 seconds left in the game to set the final score at 42-9 as the 2-point conversion came up short. Keystone’s coach Todd Smith said that he was proud of his team’s effort, that they are a young team that has been improving each week. He feels they can be very competitive as the year progresses.
Redbank Valley outgained Keystone 435 yards to 269, but the Panthers had the ball for over 38 minutes while the Bulldogs only had it for a total of 9 minutes and 40 seconds. Redbank is now 4-0 and will host Ridgway next Friday, while Keystone falls to 0-4 and will be home to Smethport on Friday also.
Score by Quarters:
Redbank – 0 13 22 7 – 42
Keystone – 0 3 0 6 – 9
Scoring Summary:
First Quarter:
No Scoring
Second Quarter:
K – Josh Beal 25-yard FG, 10:22
RV– Braylon Wagner 37-yard run, (Owen Clouse PAT), 9:27
RV – Ashton George 5-yard pass from Wagner, (PAT failed), 3:35
Third Quarter:
RV – Wagner 1-yard run (Wagner to Mason Clouse – 2 points), 7:32
RV – M. Clouse 68-yard pass from Wagner, (O. Clouse PAT), 1:53
RV – Drew Byers 30-yard run, (O. Clouse PAT), 1:44
Fourth Quarter:
RV – Byers 12-yard run, (O. Clouse PAT), 11:03
K – Eli Nellis 5-yard run (2-point conversion failed), 0:39
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