The Tri-Valley varsity football team has had a strong showing up until last Friday’s game in Jackson, winning 2 out of the first 3 games. Jackson was a last-minute change that the team didn’t have the proper time to prepare for because every opponent has their style of play and the reactions to that style have to be mapped out carefully prior to a game. Tri-Valley went into the week thinking they were going to be playing Zanesville and preparing for that coach’s playstyle and when they found out that Zanesville was out due to COVID the team shifted gears and tried to scramble to get ready for the Jackson Ironmen who they faced last season in week 2 of the playoffs where they beat the Ironmen in nailbiting 14 – 12 game.
Prior to the clash between the Ironmen and the Scotties, Tri-Valley played their home-opener against visiting Licking Heights at Jack Anderson stadium where the Dawgs lit up the scoreboard a whopping 5 times much to the chagrin of the Hornets.
Within just over a minute of play, #4 Drew Burkhart completed a pass to #5 Alex Williams for a massive 41-yard touchdown and the Dawgs took the lead right away with 7 – 0 on the board after #8 Coleson McCullough’s PAT completion. The quarter almost ended without another score but with just 1:48 left the Hornets stung back with a short-yardage touchdown and the score was tied 7 – 7.
Licking Heights added to their score partway through the second quarter by lining up and completing a field goal from the 31-yard line and taking the lead for the first time in the game at 10 – 7. Again the two teams battled down to the last couple minutes of the half and that’s when things got interesting. With just 2:33 left in the half, Burkhart made a quick pass to #3 Jalen Goins-Chandler for a 14-yard touchdown and the Scotties were back up 14 – 10. With 1:26 left on the clock, Licking Heights bellowed back with a touchdown making the score LH 17 – TV 14. And just when we thought the Dawgs would be heading to the locker room with a small deficit Goins-Chandler squeezed every ounce out of the clock to get a 2-yard touchdown with only 3 seconds left in the half and the Scotties took hold of the lead again at 21 – 17.
After halftime the Scotties didn’t rest on their laurels, they came out pumped up and dominated the field from the start of the kickoff. Pummelling the Hornets up and down the field the Dawgs were out to prove that they meant business in the third quarter, and they did. With 8:43 on the clock, Burkhart landed another pass in the able hands of Goins-Chandler for a big 40-yard touchdown and popped the lead up to 28 – 17 over Licking Heights. In almost an exact repeat performance Burkhart hit Goins-Chandler for a 36-yard touchdown with just over three minutes in the quarter to end the scoring for both teams locking down the game for the Scotties at 35 – 17. The Hornets tried to battle back after that but were unable to make it into the endzone.
On the road against Jackson, the lack of time to prepare for the game showed as the two teams battled all the way through the first quarter without any score.
As the second quarter rolled around, the Ironmen began to take hold of the field and took the first score of the night with a 36-yard field goal that put them on the board at 3 – 0. Jackson kept the battle going and with 4:39 on the clock in the second they landed a short-run touchdown and put their lead up to 10 – 0. Just before the half, the Ironmen topped their lead with another touchdown ending the half at 17 – TV 0.
After the half, the Scotties fought hard to keep the Ironmen down and kept them from scoring the entire 3rd quarter, and even put some numbers of their own up on the scoreboard with a 25-yard field goal from #8 Coleson McCullough bringing the score to TV 3 – Ironmen 17.
In the fourth quarter Jackson capped their score with a touchdown midway through the quarter to end the scoring for the night with Jackson up 24 to TV 3.
This Friday, September 10th at Jack Anderson Stadium the Scotties are looking to run the score in the right direction in their first MVL matchup of the season against the Maysville Panthers. The kickoff is at 7 pm, preceded by the Tri-Valley Athletic Hall Of Fame ceremony to begin at approximately 6:30 pm.
