They call it an Indian Valley drive. 

Nothing flashy, nothing showy, just a grind-it-out drive that puts points on the board. When it works, it’s a beautiful thing to watch. It worked plenty on Friday night. 

The Braves had not one, but two 98-yard drives in the first half and dominated the trenches in a 41-13 win over visiting Steubenville. 

“We knew coming in that we were in a war and needed to dominate the trenches and that’s what we did,” said senior lineman Titan Peterman. “It’s an awesome feeling, knowing that’s what we’re built for. We call them Indian Valley drives. We’re not built for huge plays, we’re built to dominate and run the ball all night.” 

The Big Red came to Gnadenhutten with an unbeaten record and ranked No. 1 in Div. III, but were outgained 410-255 in total offense. 

Indian Valley quarterback Ryker Williams guided Indian Valley’s offense to a big night. He completed just 4 of 7 passes for 56 yards, but three of the completions were for touchdowns. He also ran for 154 yards of 12 carries and scored a defensive touchdown on an intercepted screen pass. 

His efforts earned him the nod as the Klar’s Excel Screen Printing Player of the Game. 

“During our bye week, we spent the whole week preparing for them,” Williams said. “We had everything game planned. No matter what the formation was, our coaches had us in the right spot. The coaches did a great job and it paid off. We only gave up 7 points to a really good offense.” 

Actually, it was 13. Trailing 41-7, Steubenville scored on a broken play of the final snap of the game. 

Other than that, this one was all Indian Valley, almost from the start. 

The Braves lost the ball with a fumble on the opening kickoff, but the Braves’ defense stopped the Big Red on downs before moving down the field. They scored on a Williams pass to Carsen Hostetler. 

“We were able to get the momentum back and, after that, we just executed,” said Indian Valley coach Matt Lancaster. 

Williams made it 14-0 with the Pick-6. Steubenville pinned the hosts with a punt downed at the 2 and the first 98-yard drive was capped with a touchdown pass to Colt James.

James stopped Steubenville’s next drive with an interception at the 2 and a second 98-yard drive ended with a Williams touchdown pass to Hostetler that made it 28-0 at halftime. 

Steubenville scored to open the second half, but the Braves answered with a short run by Bradley Barr. Brett O’Connor added a touchdown in the fourth quarter to cap another Indian Valley drive. 

“We tried to stress to our kids that this was just a football game, as big as everybody made this out to be,” Lancaster said. “We had two undefeated teams and two solid programs, we just needed our kids to play within themselves. 

“Out kids played with heart and passion. Steubenville is a tough football team and we matched their physicality tonight. We’re very proud of them.” 

Lancaster was pleased with his team’s long drives, but had a different perspective on the effect of the drives. 

“I think it demoralizes the opponents when you can do that,” he said. “But that’s on our offensive line. Steubenville is a very good defensive team. They’re fast and they’re physical and our offensive line did a good job picking up everything they ran. 

“I think we went toe-to-toe with them. We didn’t back down. 

“Our offense gets a lot of limelight, but our defense really played well. They responded to adversity and stepped up and did what we asked them to do.” 

The Braves open IVC play with a contest against Ridgewood at West Lafayette next week.