Ark Valley News - Hornets draw positives from loss

Chase Crawford (left) and Tyler Boone bring down Andover Central quarterback Peyton Huslig Sept. 4. Valley Center stopped Huslig's legs, but had trouble with his arm. Huslig passed for 245 yards and three touchdowns.

Hornets draw positives from loss
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: September 10, 2015

The Valley Center High School football team couldn't get a ground game going and couldn't cage Andover Central's potent offense Sept. 4. It led to a 54-31 loss in the Hornets' season opener on the road.

Still, the Hornets' head coach, Caleb Smith, found a silver lining.

"They're an experienced team," Valley Center coach Caleb Smith of Andover Central. "We have two returning starters on offense and four on defense, so I was really proud of how we came out and adjusted to the speed of the game. A lot of positives to take from this game."

Andover Central, the defending Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League II champion, trailed briefly in the second quarter, but essentially put the game away with a 21-3 run to end the first half up by a comfortable margin, 34-17.

"The nice thing about playing a team of that caliber the first game is now we know what we need to work on," Smith said. "They exposed a lot of things you can't really expose when you play yourself in practice. I think it was a really good first game for us as far as we have a lot that we can take back as positives and a lot we can learn from."

Valley Center used a no-huddle offense in attempt to tire Central's two-way starters.

It appeared to work early.

After getting down 13-0, Valley Center scored two straight touchdowns to take a 14-13 lead in the second quarter.

"I really thought our game plan was playing out well because, even though that first series we didn't score, we got a lot of plays in and got a lot of (Central players) tired," Smith said. "… I think our kids did a good job executing our game plan."

Central regained the lead and held onto it for the rest of the night. The Hornets got to within three with 3:20 left in the first half.

Defensively, the Hornets appeared to play inspired football for a couple of quarters, before Andover Central's size wore them down.

"I thought the defense played excellent in the first half, really flew around," Smith said. "We put them in bad spots offensively. Second half we didn't tackle well. Part of that is a conditioning aspect and part of that is they've got some cats over there and they're good football players. Late in the game when we got a little tired, we were bouncing off of them quite a bit. Overall, our defense had a lot of positives tonight."

Valley Center cut the lead to 10 in the third quarter, but Central scored the next 20 points to take the lead for good.

Valley Center's defense gambled a few times, pressuring Andover Central quarterback Peyton Huslig into a hurry-up style. Though Huslig was thrown for a loss of 34 total yards on the ground and pressured into one fumble, the senior burned the Hornets for a couple of big passes over the middle.

"Our defense is really high risk and high reward," Smith said. "That really played out that way tonight. I think if our offense doesn't put them in bad situations, there's 14 to 21 points off that board right there. To beat a team like that, an experienced team that's got all those guys back and all that talent, you've got to have a lot of things go right. We had some things, but not enough. This is going to be really good film for us to learn from and improve from."

Valley Center got points from its passing game, its defense and its special teams.

In the second quarter, sophomore quarterback Wyatt Lange threw a bomb to Keyon Saunders for a 58-yard touchdown. Saunders led the Hornets with 107 yards on six catches.

Collin Sharp scored a special teams touchdown in the second quarter when he picked up a fumble on a punt attempt and ran eight yards for the score.

Nathan Eckert kicked a 31-yard field goal in the second quarter.

Valley's defense scored its touchdown when linebacker Tyler Boone scooped up a fumble by Huslig and ran 82 yards for a touchdown.

Valley Center's final touchdown came with 5:45 left in the game. Josh Roeser, who came in at quarterback for Lange, threw a strike to Thayer Terwilliger, who ran for the 59-yard score.

Valley Center's running game was anemic. Last year's leading rusher, Isziah Hurtt, had just 11 yards on 12 carries behind a completely new offensive line. For the game, the Hornets had just 65 yards of offense on the ground.

Lange, making his first start for the Hornets, completed nine passes for 140 yards. He also threw two picks.

"I think he did a good job," Smith said. "He had one bad read on the pick-six. Besides that, he did a pretty good job for it being his first start and under the lights. Really, all these guys, it was their first start."

Valley Center had its hands full with Jordan Birch. The Andover Central senior scored two rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown to lead the Jaguars. He had 112 yards on the ground. For his part, Huslig hurt the Hornets as well. The returning starter completed 16 passes for 245 yards and three touchdowns.

The Hornets will return home to host Ark City Sept. 11, when Smith will vie for his first home win as the Hornet head coach.

"Our kids are going to be jacked for it," Smith said. "It's going to be a packed house. They're going to respond from this game and try to learn from some of things we did wrong. I think it's going to be a good game. I think it's going to be one of those that goes down to the wire again."

Valley Center defeated Ark City 14-13 on a 37-yard field goal by Eckert with nine seconds remaining in last year's game. It was Valley Center's first win since 2012.

Ark City, which returns two-year starting quarterback Josh Dowler, beat Winfield, 42-25, at home last week.

Valley Center and Ark City have a long history of close contests.

"We're two teams that have struggled the last few years as a program," Smith said. "I think that really gets both of us up, to think one of us is getting a win this Friday. … I think it being a home opener is more of a motivator for our guys. They're ready to get in front of that home crowd and try to get W for our home crowd. … Hopefully, we can get a team home win this week."

Junior varsity — The Valley Center junior varsity squad opened the season at home against Andover Central Sept. 7.

The game was called after the first quarter because of lightning. It will not be made up.

Valley's defense held Andover Central to two three-and outs, while the Hornets moved the ball well against the wind, said coach Jeff Sells. There was no scoring in the game.

Freshmen — The Valley Center freshman team defeated Andover Central 6-0 at home Sept. 7. Larry Russell scored a touchdown on a punt return.

Coach Chad Baalman said the Hornets played well and with good energy in the first half, but struggled to sustain the energy in the second.

"It's nice for them to get their first win as high-schoolers under their belts," Baalman said.

The junior varsity and freshman teams will play at Ark City on Sept. 14.

Andover Central 54,

Valley Center 31

Valley Center 0 17 7 7 — 31

Andover Central 13 21 7 13 — 54

Scoring

AC — Darraja Parnell 37-yard pass from Peyton Huslig (kick blocked) :42 1st.

AC —Thomas Graham 24-yard interception return (Clark Schoonover kick) :35 1st.

VC — Keyon Saunders 58-yard pass from Wyatt Lange (Nathan Eckert kick) 11:52 2nd.

VC — Collin Sharp 8-yard fumble return (Eckert kick) 10:04 2nd.

AC — Jordan Birch 1-yard run (Schoonover kick) 6:13 2nd.

VC — Eckert 31-yard field goal 3:20 2nd.

AC — Isaac Anthemides 73-yard pass from Huslig (Schoonover kick) 1:45 2nd.

AC — Birch 19-yard run (Schoonover kick) 1:02 2nd.

VC — Tyler Boone 82-yard fumble return (Eckert kick) 6:17 3rd.

AC — Graham 15-yard run (Schoonover kick) 2:10 3rd.

AC — Birch 26-yard pass from Huslig (kick blocked) 10:37 4th.

AC — Parnell 81-yard interception return (Schoonover kick) 7:00 4th.

VC — Thayer Terwilliger 59-yard pass from Josh Roeser (Eckert kick) 5:45 4th.

Team stats

First downs — VC: 9; AC: 15. Rushing — VC: 35-65; AC: 40-138. Passing — VC: 10-18-199; AC: 11-18-261. Total yards — VC: 264; AC: 399. Fumbles lost — VC: 0; AC: 2. Interceptions — VC: 3; AC: 1. Punting — VC: 3-25.3; AC: 2-35.5.

Individual stats

Rushing — VC: Hurtt 12-11, Lange 13-10, Coultis 3-4, Roeser 2-21, Ramirez 2-5, Soles 2-7, Rains 1-7. AC: Birch 20-112-2, Huslig 7-(-)34, Langhofer 4-3, G. Schoonover 3-16, Graham 2-18-1, Clark Schoonover 1-9, Stamp 1-4, Page 1-10, Taylor 1-0.

Receiving — VC: Saunders 6-107-1, Skaff 3-33-0, Terwilliger 1-59-1. AC: anthemides 2-81-1, Parnell 2-65-1, Graham 3-47, Rafferty 1-23, Cade Schoonover 1-16, Birch 1-26-1, Clark Schoonover 1-3.

Passing — VC: Lange 9-16-140-0-2, Roeser 1-2-59-1-1. AC: Huslig 10-16-245-3-0, Page 1-1-16-0-0, Taylor 0-1-0-0-1.

VC scoring drives

•Down 13-0 and starting at its own 39 with 24 seconds left in the first quarter. On first down, quarterback Wyatt Lange gained three yards on a run up the middle. Time expired in the first quarter. On second-and-seven from the 42, Lange threw a pass to Keyon Saunders who was racing down the left sideline. Saunders caught the ball in stride and ran for the 58-yard touchdown. Nathan Eckert kicked the extra point. Score: AC 13, Valley Center 7.

•Down 13-7 with 10:04 left in the second quarter. Valley Center's defense forced Andover Central to punt from its 41-yard line. The ball slipped through the punter's hand as R.J. Hoyt pressured the punter. The ball fell to the ground and Collin Sharp scooped it up and ran eight yards for the touchdown. Eckert kicked the extra point. Score: VC 14, AC 13.

•Down 20-14 and starting at its own 44 with 6:02 left in the second quarter. Andover Central is flagged for a personal foul as a defender hit Lange after the play was whistled dead. On first down from the Andover Central 36, running back Isziah Hurtt gained three yards to the left side. Lange threw an incomplete pass to tight end Andrew Skaff. Valley Center called a timeout with 5:38 on the clock. On third-and-eight, Lange threw an incomplete pass to Dalton Cross down the middle, setting up fourth-and-eight from the Andover Central 33. Lange completed a 16-yard pass to Saunders for the first down. Lange gained three up the middle and Hurtt tacked on two, getting inside the Andover Central 15. Lange lost a yard on third down. On fourth-and-six at the 13, Eckert kicked a 31-yard field goal. Score: AC 20, VC 17.

•Down 34-17 with 6:17 left in the third quarter. Andover Central drove to the Valley Center three-yard line and was threatening to score on fourth-and-goal. Chase Holle, however, hit Andover Central quarterback Peyton Huslig who dropped the ball. Valley Center's Tyler Boone picked up the ball and ran 82 yards for the touchdown. Eckert kicked the extra point. Score: AC 34, VC 24.

•Down 54-24 and starting at its own 20 with 7:00 left in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Josh Roeser gained 20 yards up the middle and another yard to get to the 41. On second down, Roeser found Thayer Terwilliger over the middle. Terwilliger ran in the 59-yard touchdown. Eckert kicked the extra point. Score: AC 54, VC 31.