Bolen Breaks The Arrows

Camden, OH — Jr. running back Brock Bolen rolled over the Preble Shawnee defensive line on his way to 188-yards and four touchdowns to give the Valley View Spartans a 61-12 win in SWBL play. Bolen also scored a fifth touchdown when he returned a kickoff 73-yards bringing his total to 26 for the season.

The Spartans began the scoring when the Valley View defense intercepted on the first play of the game. Minutes later a 9-yard pass from QB Teddy Buehner to Brad Abner found the endzone. Shawnee roared right back when sr. running back James Kirk raced untouched 75 yards to knot the score at 6-6 with less than two minutes into the game. The second team also allowed him to scramble for a 43-yard TD in the fourth quarter. Kirk holds the school's all-time rushing record.

The Spartan defense however was pure stingy the rest of the game. The Arrows could ony muster 66 yards rushing and 50 yards passing despite Kirk's efforts.

Valley View grounded out 349 yards of total offense and Bueher threw for another 110 yards to help up their record to 7-0. 69 of those yards came on a beautifully executed pass to jr. WR Ross Peters who raced to the endzone helping the Spartans to five touchdowns in the first quarter. Buehner also had a score of his own to raise his total to nine on the year.

The Spartan scoring machine will need to maintain the same momentum as they head into the last three weeks of the season against Eaton, Bellbrook, and Oakwood.

Notables

Eaton - It's time to get busy

Valley View takes their show on the road for the second week in a row to battle the Eaton Eagles. Eaton (4-3, 1-1) is coming off a 68-13 drubbing from Bellbrook. This will be a critical game for the Spartans as they tune up for their own meeting with the Bellbrook Eagles.

Key returners are sr. RB-DB Jimmy Wellbaum, sr. OL-LB Brad Creech, jr. QB Tyler Christello, sr. WR-DB Rusty Smith, sr. RB-LB Scotty Hauser, sr. RB-LB Chad Maggard, and sr. DL Ryan Brooks.

The Eagles feature one- and two-back sets on offense and a 4 0 front on defense. Keys will be how well the running game opens up the play-action passing. The offense has struggled for the past couple of years. QB Christello, a third-year starter, is one of 13 returning regulars.

The Eagles started the season off slow with two losses (Oxford Talawanda and Brookville) but came back to win four straight before this weeks' disaster. Eaton will be looking to get back in the playoff race with a win against the Spartans. They are currently in 14th place in the computer rankings. A win could them closer to the top eight.

The Spartans will do their best to spoil any aspirations the Eagles have of making the 2002 playoff scene. Despite an undulating field, limited visitor seating, and no parking, Valley View looks a whole lot of good on paper. The hurry up, no-huddle offense continues to allow little rest for opposing defenses giving the Spartans additional scoring opportunities as the game wears on.

Valley View's defensive unit continues to be the stingiest in the league, not only in points allowed, but in first downs, total yardage, and the number of times they allow their opponents to cross the 50-yard line. This defense continues the blitzkreig attack of former coordinator Denny Good that wreaked havoc among offenses throughout the decade of the 90s. It will be difficult for Eaton to score without solid execution and play calling.

Coach Niswonger will be looking to repeat Eaton's misery this week, if for nothing else, the physcological message it will send to the othe Eagle team. It will be important for the Spartans to focus on this week's task and not look too far forward. It will be equally important to come out of this week's game with everyone healthy and intact.

Week eight will see the Eagles even their record at 4-4 and the Spartans remain undefeated. The defense stiffens even further and will end up scoring a touchdown (maybe two) in this week's win. We like the visiting team, 63-0.