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Valley Center linebacker Cooper Holdaway tackles Maize South quarterback Colin Shields. Holdaway had 13 tackles against the Mavericks.

Valley savors Maize South win
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: September 20, 2018

The Valley Center High School football team did something it has never done before — beat Maize South.

The Hornets were 0-4 all-time against the relatively young Mavericks until Sept. 14, when Valley Center started quick, staved off all Maize South challenges and won 23-13.

"It is nice to get a win against a team we've struggled against in the past, but ultimately, it's a new season," said Hornet coach Scott L'Ecuyer. "We didn't look at them as any different opponent."

It was the first Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League II win for the Hornets since the third week of the 2017 season.

"To me that's more important than the first win against them, that we got our first league win against them," L'Ecuyer said.

The Hornets improved to 2-1.

The Hornets lost to Maize South in 2012 through 2015. The teams didn't play the past two seasons.

"Valley did a great job," Maize South coach Brent Pfeifer said. "Big plays put us in a hole early. We thought we did a good job to pin them down. Big plays got us and that's kind of been our M.O. this year. We need to grow up a ton and learn how to fix things. We just haven't done that yet."

Senior linebacker Layton Lewis said winning two straight is the result of the team coming together to work hard and play with energy.

"All in all, it was just a good team effort," Lewis said. "We all worked together. We've come a long way."

It was Valley's first home game of the season.

"The home crowd packed the stands," L'Ecuyer said. "They're loud. They're excited. It's fun to be home. I'd like to be home more often. I wish we could be home all the time."

Like it did against Garden City the week before, Valley Center managed to stay a step or two ahead of Maize South all night. It started with a long touchdown run by Larry Wilson, who is making a habit of 99-yarders, and ended with a 31-yard score in the third. In between, Valley Center stopped key fourth-down tries and controlled the clock in the second half.

Wilson ran for 202 yards and scored three touchdowns for the Hornets.

"If you give him just an inch of room, he's gone," said junior offensive lineman Jerod Payne.

Valley Center had a season-high 225 yards on the ground.

"We knew it was going to be tough to get our run game going, but we did," L'Ecuyer said. "I think that speaks volumes to the fact that our offensive line is coming around, and our receivers are paying their dues and blocking out on the edge."

On Valley's first offensive play, Wilson turned a negative into a positive with his legs.

A Maize South punt pinned the Hornets at the 1, and L'Ecuyer made the appropriate call in that position — a trap up the middle. Wilson turned the dive into a 99-yard touchdown, giving the Hornets an early lead and firing up the home crowd.

After trading a couple of possessions, Valley Center converted a fourth-down try late in the first quarter that turned into a 45-yard Wilson touchdown run.

The play appeared finished as Wilson ran into a couple of defenders on the right side. He turned around, flipped the field and ran in for the score and a 13-0 lead.

Valley Center forced a turnover on downs as Maize South got inside the Hornet 40 to start the second quarter.

But Valley Center couldn't get traction and gave the ball back.

Maize South started its first touchdown drive near midfield, marching 53 yards in 11 plays for a score that almost didn't happen. The Mavericks had four cracks at the end zone from inside the Valley Center 5-yard line. Mason Edwards finally dove in for the score, cutting Valley's lead to 13-7.

Valley Center converted two fourth downs on its next possession, including a fake punt by Zach Williams that went for eight yards, and finished with a 28-yard field goal by Hunter Sharp.

The Hornets led 16-7 at the half.

In the third quarter, Williams recovered an Edwards fumble near midfield, setting up Valley Center's next scoring drive. The Hornets used six plays, including an 11-yard reception by Blayne Hightower, and three minutes to tack on another Wilson touchdown, a 31-yard run over a couple of defenders to find space.

Valley Center's 23-7 lead held up until late in the fourth quarter. After a missed field goal and a turnover on downs, Maize South scored a touchdown with 37 seconds left in the game, not enough time to further threaten Valley's lead.

"It's kind of a bend-but-don't break philosophy," L'Ecuyer said of the Hornet defense. "… We give up one late, but they burn valuable clock doing that and weren't able to come back."

Defensively, senior linebacker Blake Holt recorded 20 tackles to lead the Hornets. Cooper Holdaway had 13.

After a big passing week against Garden City, the Hornet air attack took a back seat. Quarterback Parker Schrater completed 14 passes for 88 yards. Amado Carillo was the leading receiver with seven catches for 35 yards. Maize South's Colin Shields completed 11 passes for 111 yards. Edwards rushed for 179 yards on 34 attempts.

It's a short week for the Hornets.

Valley Center will play a league game at Andover Central Sept. 20. Since Central and Andover share a stadium and both have home games this week, a Thursday night matchup is necessary.

"It's our turn to play on Thursday," L'Ecuyer said. "It makes for some interesting schedule stuff."

L'Ecuyer said a walk-through scheduled for Monday was moved to Sunday.

"We've got to find a way to get a productive practice on Monday with the JV and freshmen gone (at games)," he said. "It presents some challenges, but both teams are facing it. They may be a little more familiar with it because they have that situation a little more often, but we've just got to take it one practice at a time, be productive in the practices we do have and be ready to go on Thursday."

Valley Center is in the same situation this week as it was with Maize South. The Hornet football team has never beaten Andover Central. Valley Center is 0-6 against the Jaguars. The teams haven't played since 2015.

Andover Central is 1-2 this season after beating Augusta (13-3), losing to Goddard Eisenhower (21-14) and losing to Goddard (17-16) in overtime.

Junior varsity — The Valley Center junior varsity team improved to 3-0 with a 13-0 win at Maize South Sept. 17.

"We had guys step up and play positions they have never played before, and they played lights out," said coach Blake Pearson.

The first half was a defensive battle. A promising Hornet drive late in the second quarter came up empty on a well-defended pass in the end zone. Quentin Kirk and Ray Flora highlighted the Hornet defensive effort.

In the third quarter, quarterback Miles Thompson connected with Hunter Stacy on a 30-yard touchdown pass. Thompson also had a rushing touchdown.

Late in the fourth, nose guard Ben Warner intercepted a tipped Maize South pass to secure the shutout.

The Valley Center junior varsity will host Andover Central Sept. 24.

Freshmen — The Valley Center freshman football team fell to Maize South 39-6 on the road Sept. 17.

Valley Center scored first on a four-yard run by Camryn Kaufman. Maize South answered and took a 14-6 halftime lead.

The Hornets had several opportunities to score in the first half with three possessions ending inside the Maverick 20-yard line.

The opening possession of the second half ended with a fumble into the Maverick end zone. Maize South controlled the rest of the game, scoring four unanswered touchdowns.

The Valley Center freshman team will host Andover Central Sept. 24.


Valley Center 23,

Maize South 13

MS 0 7 0 6 — 13

VC 13 3 7 0 — 23

Scoring

VC — Larry Wilson 99-yard run (kick failed) 9:31 1st

VC — Wilson 45-yard run (Hunter Sharp kick) 1:30 1st

MS — Mason Edwards 2-yard run (Ethan Wiens kick) 6:50 2nd

VC — Sharp 28-yard field goal

VC — Wilson 31-yard run (Sharp kick) 1:52 3rd

MS — Edwards 1-yard run (run failed) :37 4th

Team stats

First downs — VC: 7; MS: 17. Rushing — VC: 23-225; MS: 48-233. Passing — VC: 14-24-88; MS: 12-26-120. Total yards — VC: 313; MS: 353. Fumbles lost — VC: 0; MS: 1. Interceptions — VC: 0; MS: 0. Punts-average — VC: 5-33; MS: 3-36.3.

Individual stats

Rushing — VC: Larry Wilson 14-202-3, Marion Ponds 4-15-0, Parker Schrater 3-0-0, Alex Sanchez 1-0-0, Zach Williams 1-8-0. MS: Mason Edwards 34-179-2, Andrew Bliss 7-28-0, Hunter Niemann 4-24-0, Colin Shields 3-2-0.

Receiving — VC: Amado Carillo 7-35-0, Jeren Carter 3-6-0, Larry Wilson 2-27-0, Blayne Hightower 1-11-0, Zach Williams 1-9-0. MS: Nolan Veenis 7-64-0, Andrew Bliss 3-31-0, Mitchell Dresie 1-16-0, Tysaac Noland 1-9-0.

Passing — VC: Parker Schrater 14-24-88-0-0. MS: Colin Shields 11-25-111-0-0, Andrew Bliss 1-1-9-0-0.

VC defensive stats

Tackles solo-assisted — Blayne Hightower 1-3, Chad Banning 0-3, Jaythan Lutz 3-2, Larry Wilson 0-1, Justin Gulledge 1-0, Dakota Kieso 6-2 (1 pass defensed), Layton Lewis 1-10, Cooper Holdaway 0-13, Amado Carrillo 1-1, Ethan Mullen 0-5, Hunter Sharp 1-2, Blake Holt 7-13 (1 fumble caused), Tony Caldwell 1-5, Quentin Kirk 1-0, Zach Williams 2-6 (1 pass defensed, 1 fumble recovery), Brennan Ricks 1-3 (2 QB sacks).

VC special teams

Jaythan Lutz 1 kickoff return for 3 yards, Hunter Sharp 1 punt for 26 yards, 5 kickoffs for 263 yards (60 long, 1 touchback), Zach Williams 1 punt return for 10 yards, 1 kickoff return for 10 yards, 4 punts for 139 yards (49 long).

VC scoring drives

•Tied 0-0 with 9:45 left in the first quarter. A Maize South punt puts the ball at the Valley Center 1. RB Larry Wilson sneaks through the middle of the line and runs 99 yards for the touchdown. After a sideline warning on Valley Center, Hunter Sharp's point-after attempt goes wide left. Score: Valley Center 6, Maize South 0.

•Up 6-0 and starting at its own 36 with 4:45 left in the first quarter. QB Parker Schrater completes a seven-yard pass to WR Amado Carillo. Schrater's pass to Wilson is incomplete. Schrater completes a four-yard pass to Carillo for a first down. Wilson runs up the middle for two yards. Schrater again completes a pass to Carillo on the left side for a four-yard gain. RB Marion Ponds gains two yards up the middle, setting up fourth-and-two at the Maize South 45. Wilson runs to the right, hits defenders, turns around and runs left, finding space and running for the touchdown. Sharp kicks the extra point. Score: Valley Center 13, Maize South 0.

•Up 13-7 and starting at its own 19 with 6:49 left in the second quarter. Schrater bails out of the option play and loses two yards. Wilson gains 18 up the middle. Schrater completes a five-yard pass to Carillo. Schrater completes another pass to Carillo for no gain. Schrater throws an incomplete pass intended for Jeren Carter, setting up fourth-and-five at the Valley Center 40. Zach Williams drops back to punt, but keeps the ball and runs to the right for an eight-yard gain and a first down. Schrater completes a pass to Wilson, who loses four yards. Wilson gains three up the middle. Schrater completes a pass to Williams, who gains nine yards, setting up fourth-and-two at the Maize South 44. Schrater rolls to the right and completes a short pass to Wilson, who turns up field and gains 31 yards. Ponds runs for two on first down. Schrater throws an incomplete pass to Williams in the end zone. Schrater throws an incomplete pass to Carillo, setting up fourth-and-eight at the Maize South 11. Sharp kicks the 28-yard field goal. Score: Valley Center 16, Maize South 7.

•Up 16-7 and starting at its own 45 with 4:59 left in the third quarter. The field position is set up when LB Blake Holt causes a fumble by Maize South RB Mason Edwards that Williams recovers. Wilson is stopped for no gain on first down. Wilson gains two on second. Schrater finds WR Blayne Hightower on the right side for an 11-yard gain. Wilson runs for three yards. Wilson breaks tackles and gains eight, setting up first-and-10 at the Maize South 31. Wilson runs right, hits a defender, gets a block from Hightower and scores a touchdown. Sharp kicks the extra point. Score: Valley Center 23, Maize South 7.






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