On a night when they faced an undefeated team late in the season, Indian Valley spread the ball around and scored 21 points in the third quarter in rolling to a 42-21 win over Ridgewood in an Inter-Valley Conference clash at Brothers HVAC Stadium in Gnadenhutten Friday night.
The Braves, now 7-0, led 21-7 at halftime, but opened the second half by feeding the Generals a steady diet of tailback Grady Kinsey, who capped the drive with a 3-yard run.
“I think he ran it eight times in a row, but we tackled him seven of those times,” said Ridgewood coach John Slusser.
The Generals bounced back with a touchdown by Jace McQueen, but Indian Valley answered twice.
Kinsey scored at 2:54 on a 7-yard run and, less than a minute later, Reese St. Clair went 27 yards on a swing pass from Ryker Williams for the final score of the game.
Few starters on either side were in the game for the fourth quarter.
“We had a couple breakdowns that gave them some extra opportunities, but overall, I thought our defense played well,” said Indian Valley coach Matt Lancaster. “They’re a good team and to hold them to 14 points is impressive.
“It’s good to go against a really good team and come out on top.”
The Braves did the majority of their damage on the ground, rolling up 256 yards as a team. Kinsey did the majority of the work, piling up 172 yards on 24 carries.
“They played really hard,” Lancaster said of the Generals. “They probably tackled Grady better than any team in the last two years. That’s a testament to the kind of program they have.”
“I am so happy right now,” Slusser said. “I don’t know if it’s because our kids played well or Grady’s graduating. I’ll never have to gameplan for that dude again.
“He’s the best high school player I’ve ever coached against and that is without a doubt. He’s just so dominating and he’s an awesome kid to go with that.”
Williams scored twice for Indian Valley in the first half and also had a passing touchdown. He hit 4-of-5 passes for 82 yards and rushed for 58 yards. The Indian Valley quarterback was named the Klars Exel Screen Printing Player of the Game.
Both teams return to IVC play next week. Ridgewood (7-1) travels to Claymont to face the 6-2 Mustangs.
Indian Valley heads to Zoarville to play Tusky Valley.
"Every fighter is fueled by his past and whatever they’ve got going on. What got him to this point, I can’t tell you, but whatever it is, he uses it very well to do what he’s doing here.”
