PHOTO: Indian Valley’s Grady Kinsey evades a Jonathan Alder defender
For the second straight year, the Indian Valley football team can call themselves the Region 15 champions.
The Braves clinched their second straight regional title and berth in the state Final Four with a 34-0 win over New Lexington Friday night at Coshocton’s Stewart Field.
Indian Valley will play Cleveland Glenville, the Region 13 champions, Friday night at Minerva. Glenville beat Perry 35-7 in the title game at Ravenna.
The win over the Panthers was Indian Valley’s school record fourth shutout of the season.
“To get it at a regional championship game … that’s huge,” Indian Valley coach Matt Lancaster said of the shutout.
“We put in a great week of practice,” said junior Reese St. Clair. “We’ve got good coaches that prepare us. We play for each other instead of ourselves and that makes us who we are.
“We take pride in watching films and being prepared.”
Senior tailback Grady Kinsey had another big night. He rushed for 187 yards, had 234 total yards and scored three touchdowns, setting a new state mark for total career touchdowns.
“We have a lot of weapons, but Grady is one of the best in the state, if not the best,” said junior quarterback Ryker Williams. “He’s so selfless. He doesn’t care what he’s doing, he does it to the best of his ability.
“It doesn’t matter if he’s getting 30 carries or 10 carries, he’s going to do everything as hard as he can.”
Kinsey opened the scoring with a 6-yard run with 3:04 left in the first quarter, capping a seven-play, 67-yard drive.
He added a 10-yard score midway through the second quarter to make it 14-0 at the half. Kinsey went the distance late in the quarter after taking a short pass from Williams, but the play was called back on a penalty.
The Braves put the game away with a strong third quarter. Williams scored from the 16 on the team’s first possession in the second half.
Kinsey added a short scoring run and St. Clair cashed in from the 20 after catching a short pass from Williams.
The Panthers’ best chance came in the second quarter. Trailing 7-0, they reached the Indian Valley 14, but were driven back on penalties and a sack by Williams, one of two he had in the game.
Lancaster said he felt the Braves played their “most complete game of the year,” but was happy with the play of his offensive line.
“They were up against it tonight because they (the Panthers) have a really good defensive line and they were sending pressure all night,” he said. “They made some plays because they’re a good team and they’re gonna make plays, but our offensive line did a good job of picking them up. Grady broke some tackles and did things that Grady does.”
While Kinsey gets much of the attention, the Braves have plenty of offensive options. Williams is a threat to throw or run, while St. Clair, Carsen Hostetler and Colt James are receiving threats.
“If I was the opponent, I don’t know what I would focus on either,” Lancaster noted. “You’ve got to focus on Grady, he’s so good. You have to give your attention to him, but you’ve got to pick your poison. I would do it too. I’d focus on 22 and say let’s make somebody else beat us.”
The win over New Lexington was the 28th straight for Indian Valley, the defending Division IV state champions. The Braves have now won nine straight playoff games.
Glenville is 10-3 and has won five straight games since a 12-9 loss to Akron Hoban on Oct. 10. The Tarblooders lost a 13-11 decision to Sandusky Perkins in the state semifinals last year.
“I knew I was approaching the record, but at the end of the day, that’s not what this is about. It’s more about getting to the next week successful and healthy. Thankfully, we got both done tonight.”
