Valley View Online

Justin Griffiths goes for the catch as Clayton Minton tries to defend. Griffiths scored on the 73 yd pass play from Spartan QB, Kyle Pohl.

The Valley View Spartans scored on every possession in the first half  Friday night, including pass plays of 69 and 73 yards on their first two drives, to down the Milton Union Bulldogs 42 -20 in SWBL Southwestern action.

The Spartans also scored on a 16 yard run by Joe Kelly and a 3 yard pass over the middle to  Tyler Schenck who cut through to the middle of the end-zone untouched for the reception.

The Bulldogs scored twice in the first half, aided each time by Spartan defensive miscues. A pass interference penalty against Chris Lykins (DB, so.) at the end of the first quarter setup the Bulldogs first TD. Then a Hail Mary, with no time left in the first half, was tipped by a Spartan defender and into the arms of a Bulldog receiver. Valley View 35, Milton-Union 14.

The Bulldogs took the second half kick off and marched down the field in 8 plays for the touchdown and even though the PAT was blocked, the momentum of scoring two unanswered touchdowns had changed the atmosphere of the game on both sides of the ball.

Milton Union chewed up the clock for most of the third quarter, keeping the Spartan offense off the field while the Spartan defense, bending on some occasions, did not break completely. The Bulldogs only other scoring opportunity came on yet another pass interference penalty that set them up at the 18 yard line, only to have their hopes dashed when Bulldog QB, Chris McCoy’s pass was picked off in the end-zone.

In the fourth quarter, defensive coach Butch McKinney shut down any comeback aspirations the Bulldogs may have been thinking, with an all out blitzkrieg on the Milton quarterback.

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The Monroe Hornets picked up their second win of the young season at the expense of the Valley View Spartans, 41-26, in Southwest Buckeye League cross-over play Friday night. The win also gave the Hornets (2-1) their first victory over Valley View (2-1) in 4 years.

“There’s not a whole lot to say about this one,” Valley View coach Jay Niswonger said.

Valley View struggled from the opening kickoff, mustering a measly 6 yards before punting to Monroe. The Hornets wasted no time with their first possession, marching 45 yards to open the scoring, 7-0.

The Spartans first score came on a Hornet fumble. Two plays later QB Kyle Pohl threw a perfect strike 35 yards to freshman wide receiver, Andrew Zellner. The failed point after brought the Spartans within one, 7-6.

The rest of the first half scoring was all controlled by the Hornets, mostly relying on Valley View miscues, but helped by a battle on the front line that the Spartans were losing.

Monroe’s first half scoring was largely a result of a faulty Pohl pass to Brandon Fox (when the Hornet defender took advantage of Fox’s lack of awareness and raced in to pick of the pass for a TD) and a fumble recovery deep in Spartan territory. Sr. Zac Eckert punched in a picture perfect field goal from 43 yards out to help the Hornets to a 24-6 halftime lead.

“Monroe took advantage of two interceptions we threw and a fumble we gave them, and that’s what good teams do. You take away those three turnovers and it’s a 10-6 game at halftime and we’re still in it,” Niswonger said.

And even down 18 points, the Spartans still had a chance to start playing football in the second half. That is until Hornet safety Ben Leahy (sr.) returned the second-half kickoff 85 yards for a TD.

“Our inexperience showed tonight and Monroe really took it to us.” The Spartans started the season with only two returning starters.

Another aspect that stopped the Spartans were the 28 penalties called, including six unsportsmanlike penalties. While Valley View racked up 96 yards in fouls to the Monroe’s 70, the flags kept flying at the most inopportune times for the Spartans. Such as, an incomplete pass on a tight end screen that incurred intentional grounding.

Valley View did provide the crowd with some excitement in the fourth period, scoring on each of their last three possessions of the game, including a 32 yard TD strike to Jordan Crouse with no time remaining on the clock.

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Valley View relied on a couple of big plays to come from a 20-15 deficit to defeat the Indian Hill Braves (0-2) 37 – 27 in non-league action Friday night.

The Spartans scored first on a 12 yard pass from Kyle Pohl to Robbie Skidmore but Indian Hill took the ensuing kickoff 85 yards to keep the game in check (extra point failed) 7-6.

The Braves had an opportunity to blow it open when the Spartans fumbled away their next possession at their own 26 yard line, but two motion penalties and a strong Spartans defense forced an Indian Hill field goal attempt that fell several yards short.

That's Going To Leave A Mark

Valley View squandered a scoring opportunity on an interception that put them at the Braves five-yard line. Four plays later the Spartans turned the ball over on downs, moving only 2 yards in the proces.

“This is a good team (Indian Hill) but we still have some problems when we can’t move the ball three yards behind two 300 lb. linemen,” said Spartan coach, Jay Niswonger, about the wasted opportunity.

The Spartans got another opportunity, on Valley View’s next possession, with :22 to go in the half when Pohl rolled left and scampered 16 yards into the end zone  to give the Spartans a 15-6 half-time lead.

The Braves struck fast to open the third quarter, with two unanswered scores, on runs of 15 and 83 yards by QB Sam Hendricks to give the Braves a 20-15 lead.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Valley View picks up a  safety, on a bad snap, making the score 20-17 and on the ensuing free kick Brandon Fox returns it 80 yards for the TD to push the Spartans back in the lead 24-20.

Indian Hill rebounds, scoring on an 80 yard drive, culminating in a 5 yard Hendricks run to regain the lead 27-24.

No to be outdone, Valley View comes back to regain the lead for good on a 50 yard TD pass from Pohl to Justin Griffiths with 7:03 to go in the game.

The Braves squandered their last chance on a Hendricks fumble at their own 15 yard line that was recovered by Andy Allen.

Valley View (2-0) will travel to Monroe (0-2)  next to take on the Hornets in SWBL crossover play. The Hornet are coming off a 30-42 loss to next door neighbor, Fenwick.

“The next four weeks on the road are going to be tough and it all starts next week against Monroe,” commented Niswonger.

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