Mistakes, Miscues and Misfortune
West Milton, OH — The SWBL opened up divisional play Friday night with surprising results for many of the teams. Unbeaten Preble Shawnee and Oakwood each suffered their first loss of the season. Northridge, winless in their first five starts captured their first victory of the season in resounding fashion, shutting out Waynesville, 28-0.
It was no surprise in West Milton however, as the Valley View Spartans beat the Milton-Union Bulldogs, for their first SWBL matchup since meeting them in non-league play in 1998, 75-12.
Milton mistakes and miscues helped the Spartans take an early lead when on the second play from scrimmage the Bulldogs fumbled the ball. Valley View scored on a 2-yard Brock Bolen run at 10:15 remaining in the first quarter and the Spartans would never look back.
On Milton-Union's next possession, abad snap from center on 4th and long gave the Spartans the ball on the 4-yard line. Three plays later, Tommy Byrd scored his first TD of the game with 8:49 remaining in the first quarter, and Valley View goes up 13-0.
Milton-Union's next possession fair equally bad when the defensive play of DL Lucas Shear forced another 4th and long punt, another bad snap from center, and another Spartan possession at the 2-yard line. QB Drew Smith scored one play later to up the Spartan score, 20-0, with less than six minutes to go in the first quarter.
Again the Bulldogs' next possession ended miserably with a Michael Whaley interception followed three plays later with Byrd's second TD of the evening. With 1:27 to go in the first quarter, the Spartans have only had the ball less than two minutes, and the score is 27-0.
After being forced to punt again, Byrd runs the ball back for a touchdown only to have it called back on a clipping penalty. Two plays later, the Bulldogs' recover a Spartan fumble and race to the endzone to notch their only score against the Spartan varsity. With the extra point attempted missed,Valley View's lead is shaved, 27-6 at the onset of the second quarter.
Undaunted, the Spartans moved the ball down field on their next possession culminating in a 30+ yard Drew Smith TD, his second of the game making the score, 34-6. Two plays later, Brandon Storer intercepts a Bulldog pass, running it back into the endzone and Valley View has now taken a commanding, 41-6 lead with 7:15 to go in the half.
Another Drew Smith TD puts the Spartans up 48-6 and then with 24 seconds left to go in the half, Michael Whaley playing prevent in the secondary, intercepts his second pass of the game and returns it for a TD. It's now uglier than anyone would have imagined with the score, 55-6.
Second half action saw the varsity open up the first two series and scoring two more TDs before taking a seat on the bench and giving way to the reserves. The JV squad took over with 8 minutes to go in the third quarter and traded a set of touchdowns with the Bulldogs' before the final whistle.
Noticeable in this week's performance was that of Danny King, wearing the injured Jeff Moler's number 75, at the center position. Workin on only 4 days of practice at the position, King's performance was near exemplary. Tommy Byrd regained the kind of intensity that's been his trademark throughout the season on both offense and defense. Michael Whaley also continues to excel in the defensive secondary.
Next week's game could see the return of Jeff Moler from the injured list, but Chris Collin's injury this past week has yet been determined as to his status. Curious is the absence of Daniel Gonzolez during the remainder of the game after the tackle he made on the opening kick-off. Whether he sustained injury or not is unknown.
Homecoming brings Preble Shawnee to town for next week's matchup. Shawnee, the No. 2 team in the Dayton Daily News Division III rankings, fell to 5-1 overall and 0-1 the Southwest Division of the SWBL with the upset loss to visiting Eaton, 35-7.
Going into the Eaton game, Shawnee's Alex Wall and James Kirk were among the top three leaders around the area in scoring, QB Matt Hopkins was ranked sixth in passing, and Kirk was sixth in rushing. The Arrows, off to their best start in school history was the favorite going into the Eaton game.
Where the wheels fell of against the Eagles is something that Shawnee's Coach Cottingim will evaluate and have to make adjustments for, in preparation for the matchup against the Spartans.
Are the Arrows' just another flash in the pan or are they for real in 2001? Their only real test has been against Carlisle, a game they won handily 35-13. Yet, they could only must 27 points against Dixie, 28 points against Waynesville (a team that Valley View crushed 61-0) and only 21 points against Madison, another Spartan crushing defeat.
While we have to give credit for the distance that Shawnee's come over the past decade, we still believe that this isn't their year. With homecoming, it's also do or die time for the Spartans. They have something to prove over the course of their remaining schedule. This is a much needed win as they begin the journey through the tougher teams in the division.
While Shawnee looks to regain the momentum lost from last week's defeat, the Spartans will be looking to keep that momemtum that they've built upon. We'll take the View, 56-13.
