Indian Valley’s ground attack is well known by every team it has played this year. The Braves introduced their ground machine to the Waverly Tigers last week.
Indian Valley rolled up 564 yards on the ground and 664 in total offense in beating the Tigers 49-14 in the Region 15 quarterfinals Friday night at Brotherhood Stadium.
The win gave the Braves a school-record 12th win of the season and moved them into the regional semifinals, where they will face New Lexington (11-1) on Friday night at Coshocton’s Stewart Field. The winner moves on to face the St. Clairsville/West Holmes winner in the Region 15 championship game at a site to be determined.
The game was close at halftime, with the Braves holding a 14-0 lead at the break, but Indian Valley dominated the second half, outscoring the Tigers 35-7 to win going away.
Quarterback Ryker Williams led the attack with 235 yards on 10 carries, including a long touchdown run on the Braves first offensive play of the game.
Grady Kinsey added 158 yards on 10 carries and Eric Golder added 131 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries.
“Things weren’t going our way (in the first half),” Golder admitted. “We faced some adversity and started pointing fingers, but we regrouped in the second half and just came out and turned the field on them… just play after play, it was nice.” Golder also added a solid defensive effort through the night, and was named the Klar’s Excel Screen Printing Player of the Game.
"We faced some adversity and started pointing fingers, but we regrouped in the second half and just came out and turned the field on them."
Penalties helped keep the Braves’ offense in check in the first half, but they came out smoking in the second half in their final home game of the 2024 season.
Something changed in the second half. “It was our mentality,” said veteran coach Matt Lancaster. “Our kids got caught up in complaining and whining and things not going their way in the first half.
“I think our kids overlook Waverly a little bit and they came in and matched our physicality. We haven’t faced adversity in a while. Sometimes you just have to gut it out in the playoffs and I’m proud of the way we gutted it out. We played a lot better in the second half.
“Eric Golder has come on strong and Ryker ran the ball well. Offensive line took over in the second half.”
Waverly scored the first touchdown of the game and moved the ball well throughout the night, but had trouble finding the end zone enough to keep up with Indian Valley’s running game.
“They do a lot of different stuff and it was hard to find a true game plan on them, so we just had to trust the process and stay true to our defense,” Golder said, discussing the Tigers. “We have the No. 1 running back in the state, we have Ryker Williams and we strive on running the ball.”
Kinsey, still the top running back in the state with 2,523 yards despite playing sparingly over the last four weeks, made his return with 1:05 to play in the first half. He gained nearly 50 yards on that series, that ended with an incomplete pass in the end zone as time ran out.
The hard-running junior had 68 yards on three carries to open the second half. Now it’s on the Stewart Field for the unbeaten Braves.
ALSO PLAYING
There will be a number of other area teams in action this week as well.
In other games:
- Dover will play Steubenville in a Region 11 semifinal at Warrior Stadium in Carrollton.
- Garaway will play South Range in a Region 17 semifinal at Minerva.
- Ridgewood plays Galion Northmor in a Region 23 semifinal at White Field in Newark.
- Malvern plays Jeromesville Hillsdale in a Region 25 semifinal at Massillon Perry’s Wakefield Stadium.
- Conotton Valley plays Beaver Eastern in a Region 27 semifinal at Swank Field in Heath.
