Blue Devils Fall to Spartans at Season's Half-Way Mark
Brookville, OH (September 25, 2004) Ignoring the fact that it takes the Spartans the entire first frame to warm-up, (and sometimes well into the second), the young squad continues to improve each week.
Friday night against Brookville was no different.
The Blue Devils busted out early, scoring just minutes after the first quarter began. The remainder of the quarter, the Spartan defense held as possession was tossed back and forth with neither team providing the ability to score.
"They took it right down there. We didn't make any adjustments after that. We knew they weren't a big passing team, but when they did move it on us, it was always on pass plays," Coach Jay Niswonger said.
The sleeping Spartans defense definitely woke up after Brookville made the score 7-0 and through big hits by Todd Bowling, Mitch Howard, Chase Collins and Eliot Boyd they couldn't find the enzdone again before the half ended.
Valley View wasn't particularly impressive moving the ball either. When they die, they were being pushed back by penalties.. But, then with only 0:13 remaining in the first half, QB Blake Newsock drilled Michael Clark in the endzone on a six-yard pass play to make the score 6-7.
"There is a lot of pressure that comes with playing that position (QB) and Blake is doing a good job," Niswonger commented.
It all started when a bad Blue Devils snap was recovered by Valley View. Curtis Moore then rushed 19 yards, putting the Spartans just six short yards from the promise land.
The extra point try didn't have enough height to clear the posts, but with the clock running down, it was too late for Brookville to score again.
Valley View recovered the ball from the ensuing kickoff, but immediately turned the ball over on a Blue Devilinterception. Their possession didn't last much longer, when Matt Cornett stole the ball from a Brookville receiver and ran down the field. He failed to score but the Valley View fans could tell the momentum had turned in their favor.
After the break, the Spartans and the Blue Devils traded possessions brought on by tremendous defense. Spartan LB, Chase Collins, smacked down a Devil passing attempt thatat one point had the navy blue crowd roaring.
The Spartans finally put some points on the board in the third quarter when Moore rushed for 11-yards on three consecutive plays for a first down, followed by by a 6-yard gainer on the back of Robby. Valley View continued to slowly ball down the field but couldn't find the end zone. The Spartans had to settle for an Elliot Boyd field goal to gain a two-point advantage, 9-7.
The Blue Devils opened the fourth quarter with touchdown making the score 13-9. The two-point conversion was blocked by Brandon Deaton.
With over eight minutes remaining the Spartans knew they had to score. Valley View moved closer through a combination of runs (by Lucas Kramer, Cottingim and Moore) and into the end zone when Newsock shot a fireball to Kramer's chest for 31 yards. The Spartans jumped back out front, 16-, with still 6:07 remaining in the game.
Brookville took the ball again, but didn't have it long when Brian Parker recovered a fumble leading to another Spartan touchdown.
Zach Steinmetz put the game away when he intercepted a pass to give the ball back to the Spartans once again. Newsock dropped to his knee on the next three downs to run down the clock and finish the game giving the Spartans a 4-1 record.
The offense continues to gain valuable experience as the season progresses and Niswonger continues to be pleased with the progress they have made.
"We have ten new bodies out there. What's important is that our kids are playing hard and winning. There is a lot of pressure floating around the community. These guys have got to be able to have fun. It's not hard to execute when there isn't pressure coming from external sources," Niswonger noted.
