Ark Valley News - HORNET FOOTBALL: Hornets win second straight

Keyon Saunders celebrates a 99-yard return for a touchdown on the game's opening kickoff. Saunders did the same thing on the kickoff to start the second half.

HORNET FOOTBALL: Hornets win second straight
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: September 24, 2015

Keyon Saunders returned two kickoffs for touchdowns and the Hornets finally found their running game as the Valley Center High School football team defeated Newton at home Friday, 35-14.

Valley Center, which improved to 2-1 with its second straight win, never trailed.

"It's a special feeling to win two in a row with these guys," said Valley Center coach Caleb Smith, whose Hornets are 2-1. "It's tough when you come in three years ago and you preach something you believe in and you don't get to see the rewards for a while. This one is for more than just these guys in the locker room. This is for those guys the last two years that bought into what we're doing and it's starting to pay off for us."

Saunders took the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. Newton tied the game late in the second quarter.

Saunders repeated the feat to start the second half, returning the ball 95 yards for a score and a 14-7 lead.

"The first one I thought it was going out of bounds," Saunders said. "It had a rough bounce and I was like, ah, snap, I gotta pick it up. I saw a cut-back lane, but I couldn't do it without them blocking. … The second one was all my brother Isziah (Hurtt's) block right there. He had a heck of a block."

The Hornets then mounted a 91-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter that ended with a 10-yard run by quarterback Wyatt Lange. The drive served to frustrate the Railers and give the Hornets a 21-7 lead.

On Newton's next possession, quarterback Cole Koerner broke out of a pack of tacklers and ran for a 61-yard touchdown, cutting Valley's lead to 21-14.

Valley quickly answered with backup QB Josh Roeser at the helm. The Hornets finished a 59-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown run by Roeser, who completed a key screen pass to Cole Coultis as he was being pulled from behind.

Valley's all-league safety Chase Crawford squashed all of Newton's hopes of getting any closer. On fourth-and-goal at the 3, Crawford grabbed Newton running back Luke Porter around the ankles to save a touchdown with less than 8 minutes left in the game.

Valley Center running back Isziah Hurtt capped the scoring with a 37-yard touchdown run against the sagging Newton defense with 3:37 left in the game. Hurtt led the Hornets with 128 yards on 17 carries.

Newton's Kade Remsberg had 127 yards on 26 carries.