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From Nightmare to Glory: Indian Valley Braves Punch Ticket to Division IV State Championship

From Nightmare to Glory: Indian Valley Braves Punch Ticket to Division IV State Championship
Picture of Hank Keathley

Hank Keathley

  • Big Time Sports Ohio

It was a disastrous start, but an incredible finish for Indian Valley.

The Braves scored twice in the second half and played shutdown defense in pulling out a 29-20 win over Cincinnati Taft in the Division IV state semifinals played at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus.

The win earns the Braves (15-0) a spot in Tom Benson Stadium next Saturday, where they willface Sandusky Perkins (14-1) for the Division IV state championship.

The game featured a strong turnaround for the Braves after a nightmare of a beginning.

The Senators scored on the opening kickoff and, following an Indian Valley interception, scored again on a long scramble by quarterback Monsanna Torbert. Less than 2 1⁄2 minutes into the game, the Braves were facing a 15-0 deficit and looked physically outmatched.

“We intentionally sky-kicked early because we were afraid of their returners because they’re athletes. We took poor angles and they took it to the house and that was a horrible start,” said Indian Valley coach Matt Lancaster. “Our opening drive we didn’t get much out of and they went down and scored right again.

“That’s a credit to them. They’re a great team. I think it took us some time to catch up to their speed. You can’t simulate that in practice. Once we settled in, I was really pleased with how our defense played.”

The Braves did settle in and held the Senators out of the end zone the rest of the game.

Taft held a 20-15 lead at halftime and a third-quarter touchdown by Ryker Williams gave Indian Valley a 21-20 lead.

Indian Valley’s defense twice stopped Taft on downs in the fourth quarter, the last coming with5:42 left in the game.

That’s when Indian Valley gave the Senators a large dose of Grady Kinsey.

The junior tailback, a finalist for Ohio’s Mr. Football award, carried the ball on every play of a 77-yard drive that ended with a 7 yard touchdown with :58 seconds on the clock.

“That was my favorite drive of my whole career so far,” Kinsey said. “It was the epitome of an Indian Valley drive.

“I think that’s a testament to our kids, all the way through our whole year. Just going out there and being selfless, doing their job and going out and being physical and being nasty and that’s what I love about Indian Valley football.”

Kinsey actually stopped himself on the next-to-last play of the drive, sliding to a stop on the 7 without being tackled.

“It wasn’t something I was thinking of before the play, but I knew the situation we were in, wanting to run some clock,” the junior tailback said. “I knew if we wanted to get into the end zone that we were going to get into the end zone, that’s just how our O Line was playing at the time. We were being physical and we were moving people. I have so much love for those guys and that was awesome.”

“I told Coach Pete (offensive coordinator Chad Peterman) that only No. 22 was going to touch the ball the rest of the game,” Lancaster said. “He’s a machine and he’s the best football player we’ve ever had. And if we’re going to go down, we’re going to go down with the ball in his hands. You saw what he did behind our offensive line that put together a good drive to finish the game.”

Kinsey’s touchdown made the score 27-20, but the Braves iced the game on the PAT.

The snap was low and not clean, so Williams – the holder on the kick attempt – picked up the ball, rolled to the right and fired a pass to the left side of the end zone, where kicker Colt James pull in in for the two-pointer that made it 29-20 and a two-score game with less than a minute to play.

SHOWING UP

Indian Valley players and coaches credited a large and vocal crowd that showed up to support the team in a game played two hours from home and in frigid conditions.

“The 12th man definitely helped out tonight,” Lancaster said. “It was a great high school football presence. Our crowd was phenomenal. I know there were more people than just Indian Valley up there. It was T-County and we’re going to need that support next week.”

“A huge shout out to our fans,” Kinsey said. “We almost filled out a whole Major League Soccer stadium and it was awesome.”

COMING UP

Indian Valley/Perkins will be the final game in the championship weekend at Tom Benson Stadium.

The schedule is as follows:

Thursday

Division II: Avon vs. Anderson at 7 p.m.

Friday

Division VII: Hillsdale vs. Marion Local at 10:30 a.m.

Division III: Toledo Central Catholic vs. Watterson at 3 p.m.

Division I: Olentangy Liberty vs. Archbishop Moeller at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday

Division VI: Kirtland vs. Coldwater at 10:30 a.m.

Division V: Liberty Center vs. Ironton at 3 p.m.

Division IV: Perkins vs. Indian Valley at 7:30 p.m.

PHOTO CREDIT: ANDREW DOLPH/TIMES-REPORTER LINK

From Nightmare to Glory: Indian Valley Braves Punch Ticket to Division IV State Championship

From Nightmare to Glory: Indian Valley Braves Punch Ticket to Division IV State Championship
Picture of Hank Keathley

Hank Keathley

  • Big Time Sports Ohio

It was a disastrous start, but an incredible finish for Indian Valley.

The Braves scored twice in the second half and played shutdown defense in pulling out a 29-20 win over Cincinnati Taft in the Division IV state semifinals played at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus.

The win earns the Braves (15-0) a spot in Tom Benson Stadium next Saturday, where they willface Sandusky Perkins (14-1) for the Division IV state championship.

The game featured a strong turnaround for the Braves after a nightmare of a beginning.

The Senators scored on the opening kickoff and, following an Indian Valley interception, scored again on a long scramble by quarterback Monsanna Torbert. Less than 2 1⁄2 minutes into the game, the Braves were facing a 15-0 deficit and looked physically outmatched.

“We intentionally sky-kicked early because we were afraid of their returners because they’re athletes. We took poor angles and they took it to the house and that was a horrible start,” said Indian Valley coach Matt Lancaster. “Our opening drive we didn’t get much out of and they went down and scored right again.

“That’s a credit to them. They’re a great team. I think it took us some time to catch up to their speed. You can’t simulate that in practice. Once we settled in, I was really pleased with how our defense played.”

The Braves did settle in and held the Senators out of the end zone the rest of the game.

Taft held a 20-15 lead at halftime and a third-quarter touchdown by Ryker Williams gave Indian Valley a 21-20 lead.

Indian Valley’s defense twice stopped Taft on downs in the fourth quarter, the last coming with5:42 left in the game.

That’s when Indian Valley gave the Senators a large dose of Grady Kinsey.

The junior tailback, a finalist for Ohio’s Mr. Football award, carried the ball on every play of a 77-yard drive that ended with a 7 yard touchdown with :58 seconds on the clock.

“That was my favorite drive of my whole career so far,” Kinsey said. “It was the epitome of an Indian Valley drive.

“I think that’s a testament to our kids, all the way through our whole year. Just going out there and being selfless, doing their job and going out and being physical and being nasty and that’s what I love about Indian Valley football.”

Kinsey actually stopped himself on the next-to-last play of the drive, sliding to a stop on the 7 without being tackled.

“It wasn’t something I was thinking of before the play, but I knew the situation we were in, wanting to run some clock,” the junior tailback said. “I knew if we wanted to get into the end zone that we were going to get into the end zone, that’s just how our O Line was playing at the time. We were being physical and we were moving people. I have so much love for those guys and that was awesome.”

“I told Coach Pete (offensive coordinator Chad Peterman) that only No. 22 was going to touch the ball the rest of the game,” Lancaster said. “He’s a machine and he’s the best football player we’ve ever had. And if we’re going to go down, we’re going to go down with the ball in his hands. You saw what he did behind our offensive line that put together a good drive to finish the game.”

Kinsey’s touchdown made the score 27-20, but the Braves iced the game on the PAT.

The snap was low and not clean, so Williams – the holder on the kick attempt – picked up the ball, rolled to the right and fired a pass to the left side of the end zone, where kicker Colt James pull in in for the two-pointer that made it 29-20 and a two-score game with less than a minute to play.

SHOWING UP

Indian Valley players and coaches credited a large and vocal crowd that showed up to support the team in a game played two hours from home and in frigid conditions.

“The 12th man definitely helped out tonight,” Lancaster said. “It was a great high school football presence. Our crowd was phenomenal. I know there were more people than just Indian Valley up there. It was T-County and we’re going to need that support next week.”

“A huge shout out to our fans,” Kinsey said. “We almost filled out a whole Major League Soccer stadium and it was awesome.”

COMING UP

Indian Valley/Perkins will be the final game in the championship weekend at Tom Benson Stadium.

The schedule is as follows:

Thursday

Division II: Avon vs. Anderson at 7 p.m.

Friday

Division VII: Hillsdale vs. Marion Local at 10:30 a.m.

Division III: Toledo Central Catholic vs. Watterson at 3 p.m.

Division I: Olentangy Liberty vs. Archbishop Moeller at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday

Division VI: Kirtland vs. Coldwater at 10:30 a.m.

Division V: Liberty Center vs. Ironton at 3 p.m.

Division IV: Perkins vs. Indian Valley at 7:30 p.m.

PHOTO CREDIT: ANDREW DOLPH/TIMES-REPORTER LINK