Spartans Down The WildCats In Season Opener
Franklin, OH — In a game that took 2 days to play, the Valley View Spartans took their fourth straight opening day victory against the Franklin Wildcats by a score of 58 -6.
An hour lightning delay at the begininning of the third quarter, followed by torrential rains, forced suspension of play until Saturday morning.
It didn't take the Spartans long to score their first TD of the season. A Teddy Buehner pass to Zack Cline set up the quarterback to score two plays later at the 7:48 mark to give Valley View a 7-0 lead. Four minutes later, on a fourth and one, Buehner scored again from 12-yards out to up the score 14-0. The junior quarterback finished the first half with three touchdowns.
Junior fullback Brock Bolen, held to 50 yards on 8 carries Friday night, returned Saturday to score three touchdowns to give him a total of four for the game. Ross Peters also scored during the first half on a 16-yard pass play from QB Buehner.
While the officials did a good job of keeping the scoring down (calling back four Valley View touchdowns), it was the defensive effort of the Spartans that kept the Spartan faithful on their feet.
Led by All-SWBL LB Joe Swanson, the Spartan defensive unit held the Wildcats to 25 first-half yards and three first downs. Juniors Ryan Clark and Josh Deeter filled this years DB vacancies in spectacular fashion, carrying on a Spartan tradition of tough defensive play, although it was junior Stephen Moyer (who rotates with Deeter) that helped the Spartans stall a Wildcat drive with his first interception of the year.
Kicker Justin Givens figured into the Spartan scoring with seven straight extra points and a 38-yard field goal. His eight extra point was blocked leaving him just two shy of the record held by Jeremy Partin, Trevin Sears, and Tyler Boyd.
West Carrollton Preview
The West Carrollton Pirates travel to Barker Field for their second meeting with the Spartans in as many years. Valley View took the first meeting between the two in 2001 by a score of 46-0. The Pirates went on to a 3-7 season.
Key returners in 2002 include, Sr. WR-DB Jordan Biggs, jr. OL-DL Robert Holbrook, sr. OL-DL Tommy Lucas, and jr. HB-DB Dewayne Purter. Biggs (5-7, 160), rushed for nearly 700 yards in 2001 despite missing much of the season with a thigh injury. Look for the offense to line up in an I-option look while the defense will feature five linemen.
The Pirates come off an uplifting win over Northeastern (2-8 in 2001) 40- 0, before the game was called with 10 minutes remaining to play. Biggs scored two TDs on a 32-yard pass interception during the Pirates 28-point second quarter scoring and another TD on a 62-yard kick-off return to start the second half. He'll need to be part of the Spartan's defensive focus in this week's matchup.
Look for W. Carrollton to improve over the 2001 season, but not vastly enough to overwhelm the Spartans. Valley View should be able to compete easily if the same defense shows up that almost blanked the Wildcats (although it was a special teams snafu that gave up the lone TD). Our on-staff sports guru's are calling for a Valley View victory, 49-7 (hey, that's what they predicted last week).
