Week 2: TV Travels to Licking Heights
by Gregg Meadows
Third-year Tri-Valley football coach Cam West knew that his team’s opponent in their 2022 season opener – perennial pigskin central Ohio football powerhouse, St Francis Desales – would be a tough matchup.
And a tough matchup it was, as the three-time state champ and six-time state playoff runnersup Stallions put the clamps on the Scottie offense to the tune of a 28-0 defeat on Friday night, August 19, in the season and home opener in Dresden at Jack Anderson Stadium. (For the record, the Aug. 19 start date was the earliest kick-off to a season in 55-years of TVHS Scottie football.)
The football Scotties are coming off an 8-2 season that saw the black-and-gold capture the school’s 12th Muskingum Valley League football title before losing 20-14 to Bellefontaine in the 2021 OHSAA state playoff opener.
But 19 seniors graduated off that team, and the lack of experience showed in Friday night’s season opening shutout at the hands of an experienced Desales Stallions football squad, who is coming off a 7-5 season that saw the Stallions pick up a 21-14 post-season win over MVL power Sheridan before falling to Granville in Week 12.
For the Dawgs in the season opening loss, it was a case of too much of a talented Desales defense vs. an untested TV offense, as the Scottie ‘O’ managed only a net total of 19 yards, with 32 yards through the air, but a smarting -13 in the rushing department which told the tale of the most stinging statistic of all in the loss – just two first downs for the offense in four quarters of work.
The visiting Stallions lit up the Jack Anderson Stadium scoreboard early, scoring on their first drive of the game on a 57-yard scoring romp through the Scotties defense by talented Desales QB Avery Garlock, who was starting his first game as the Stallions signal caller. DeSales stretched its lead late in the first quarter on another Garlock QB keeper on a third down 53-yard streak to paydirt and a 14-0 advantage.
The visitors upped the margin to a 21-point deficit by halftime – despite a pair of impressive TV defensive stops on Desales drives, highlighted by an interception by TV junior two-way starter Drake Durst. A Desales blitz forced a pass from Scottie sophomore QB Max Lyall to be tipped into the hands of Desales linebacker Ty Neubert, who ran 20 yards for the pick six with 2:09 left in the half and a 21-0 halftime score.
Desales final scoring drive of the game came in the third quarter, after a Stallions interception stopped a Scotties drive deep into Desales territory at the 10-yard line. Ninety yards and nine plays later, Garlock’s four yard QB keeper pushed the lead to 28-0 with 1:21 left in the third quarter to cap scoring in the contest.
Scottie QB Max Lyall finished his varsity start connecting on six of 19 attempted passes for 32 yards and a pair of picks, while TV sophomore rusher Jayden Wallace led TV ground gainers with 19 yards on eight rushes. Hansel Holmes snared two of Lyall’s aerials for 26 yards to lead Scottie receivers, while Holmes, Ethan Helms and Ashton Sensibaugh led a hard-working Scottie defense which was on the field for the most of the contest – and kept the game and final deficit from getting out of hand. Hansel Holmes punted 10 times for a 37.5 yard average, while Drake Durst’s nights work also included a 59-yard kickoff return.
TVHS football Coach Cam West, his staff, and Scottie football team licked their wounds and are already back at work, moving on to Week 2 of the young 2022 season, as the Dawgs will travel west to Pataskala on Friday night, Sep. 26 to tackle the Licking Heights Hornets, coached by former Scottie footballer Kele Waaland. The Scotties defeated the Hornets 35-17 last season in the season opener at Jack Anderson Stadium. The Hornets won their season opener last Friday night, 42-21 over Johnston Monroe.
Photos by Matthew Dotson, Dresden Buzz
