TigerHawks dominate, 56-14
SW here for District 4 showdown
TigerHawks dominate, 56-14
By Jerry Wadian
Sports Editor
jwadian@thefayettecountyunion.com
North Fayette Valley football put on a dominant performance Friday, Sept. 27, in Parkersburg. The TigerHawks crushed one of the most storied football programs in the state on its home field in a 56-14 rout.
To be fair, A-P was missing its starting QB and running back due to injuries. However, the way the TigerHawks played, it may not have made much difference.
As NFV head coach Bob Lape stated, “Our roles are identically reversed from last year when we were struggling a bit and they had quality experience. This year we have the quality experience and they are struggling.”
As it was, NFV was clearly the superior team. It scored on all seven of its first-half possessions. Meanwhile, the Falcons only made three first downs, one by penalty, in the half.
Derrick Kuehner started the game by taking the kickoff all the way to the A-P 41.
From there, it took just over two minutes and five plays as Josh Mackey blasted in from the 2 for the first of his three TDs.
After the Falcons went three-and-out, NFV took over on its own 27, marching the 73 yards to pay dirt in eight plays. It started with a little pass in the flat to Mackey for 22 yards. Along the way, Phil Kleve picked up a first down on an 11-yard scamper, Trevor Hurd hit Daniel Streeter for 13-yards, and Ben Martin capped the drive with a 13-yard run, bouncing off some would-be tacklers for the score; the junior scored two more times in the game.
On its second possession, A-P made a pair of first downs on a 16-yard run and four short plunges up the middle. However, a fourth-down pass was thrown away as the TH defense put the pressure on.
It took NFV just six plays to go 61 yards. The big play came when Kleve got behind the secondary – way behind the secondary – and took a perfect pass from Hurd in stride at the 12 and ran untouched to the house for a 49-yard TD.
The score came with just eight seconds gone the in the second quarter. Over the next 10 minutes, the TigerHawks would score four more times.
Mackey bulled over from the 2; Martin went off-tackle, swept wide left and raced 49 yards; and Mackey capped the quarter with a 12-yard run up the gut, following a nice block by Dakota Moore, and a 1-yard-plunge with 1:41 left in the quarter.
Thus, it was 49-0 at halftime, and Coach Lape pulled the starters the second half.
A-P started the second half with a 71-yard drive for the first touchdown ever allowed by North Fayette Valley. However, it took A-P 16 plays, and, with the clock running continuously due to the 35-point rule, there was only 4:41 left to play in the third quarter.
The TigerHawk second-team offense took away whatever steam the Falcons may had by taking the kickoff and going 76 yards in five plays. Martin capped the drive by once again by going left, bouncing wide and outracing the Falcons to the end zone for a 49-yard score.
A-P had a long fourth-quarter scoring drive and, the TigerHawks responded with a drive of its own but allowed the clock to run out for the final score.
Afterwards, Lape summed up the game stating, “We played well. I feel good about the fact that everyone is getting better every week.”
NFV rolled up 384 yards on the ground and added another 84 yards through the air. Meanwhile A-P had three yards passing and 203 yards rushing. Over 125 of the Falcon rushing yards came in the second half.
Lape noted, “I had to be proud of the backups. They allowed some yards, but it took A-P 16 plays to go 80 yards. You need to get those kids in games for the experience. We expect them to perform, because if a starter goes down, or doesn’t play well, we want the ‘next man in’ to have experience and play at a high level. We’ve preached that for years.”
The TigerHawk D looked terrific. A-P went three-and-out four times in the first 24 minutes, and a fifth possession had a first down on a 20-yard pass interference call. The Falcons kept trying to bull between the tackles, but the NFV front seven allowed only two first downs and one run over 10 yards the first half.
“I don’t know why we’re so much better on D this year,” Lape admitted. “We’ve been running the same basic schemes the entire 20 years that I’ve been here. I suspect that more kids are executing better, but I don’t think there is any one thing that can explain it. But, right now, I won’t trade my front seven with anyone.”
Lape also praised the many fans that made the 87-mile trip to support the team, saying, “One reason for our success is the quality of the parents. The secret to success is the weight room. I can’t get the kids there, it’s the parents pushing them to get there in the morning and later supporting them at the games.”