Image Caption: Indian Valley’s Eric Golder scores against Heath.
With the state’s leading rusher out of the game, Indian Valley scored 40 points.
In the first half.
The Braves rode a strong first half by quarterback Ryker Williams to a 40-15 win over Heath in the opening round of the Region 15 playoffs last Friday at Brotherhood Stadium. Indian Valley will play a second home playoff game Friday night when it takes on Waverly, a 28-21 winner over Fairfield Union in another first-round game.
Playing in just the first two quarters, Williams completed 5 of 10 passes for 82 yards and a touchdown. More importantly, with leading rusherGrady Kinsey nursing an injury, Williams had 11 carries for 168 yards and another score.
“Our coaches gave us a great speech before the game, telling us this was on our offensive line and I think our offensive line really took full advantage of that and pretty much destroyed everything that came in their path,” said Williams, who was named the Klar’s Excel Screen Printing Player of the Game. “Everything started with the offensive line, but our receivers played well also.”
Kinsey, who finished the regular season with 2,347 rushing yards, didn’t play at all, but the Braves still hit the 40-point mark.
With the state’s leading rusher out of the game, Indian Valley scored 40 points. In the first half.
“Grady is a huge part of our offense, he’s an amazing player, one of the best in the nation, I think,” Williams added. “We just added some different personnel and everybody stepped in.”
“Grady could have played,” Indian Valley coach Matt Lancaster explained. “He’s been nursing a little injury and we know we’re going to need him 100 percent down the road. The goal tonight was to limit him as much as possible.
“He’s a great player, but we’ve got some other guys that are pretty good and we put it on them tonight. We put it on our offensive line and we put it on our defense.
The Braves took control early, with four different players scoring touchdowns that led to a 27-0 lead in the first quarter. It never got closer.
“Our offensive line took over the line of scrimmage from the first play and our defense forced three and outs on their first six series,” Lancaster noted. “I thought we were the more physical team. We pride ourselves on our physicality and it definitely showed.”
As a reward for the win, the Braves get a second home playoff game. They host the Waverly Tigers Friday night at 7. Waverly beat Fairfield Union 28-21 last week.
The winner will face the winner of the Logan Elm/Philo contest in a Week 3 game at a neutral site.
Playoff games are becoming a tradition at Indian Valley.
“It’s a testament to years and years of players and the community believing in us,” Lancaster said. “It’s everybody buying in. It’s the community buying in and the players buying in and I’m blessed to be a part of it.”
STILL PLAYING
Indian Valley won’t be the only team in action Friday night.
In other games:
- Dover, a 33-0 winner at Granville last week, will play at Tri-Valley in Dresden.
- West Holmes plays a Region 15 game at East Liverpool.
- In a Division V game, Garaway plays Garfield in a game at Garrettsville.
- Inter-Valley Conference rivals will face off in West Lafayette when Newcomerstown travels in Ridgewood in a Region 23 game.
- In a Region 25 quarterfinal, Malvern will host Lowellville.
- Conotton Valley also gets a second home playoff game when the Rockets host Glouster
Trimble in a Region 27 contest.
BIG HITTERS
Strasburg’s volleyball team plays Fort Loramie Thursday at 2 in a Division VII state semifinal at Wright State University’s Nutter Center.
The winner returns Friday for the championship game against the winner of the early semifinal between Tiffin Calvert and Norwalk St. Paul.
Good luck Tigers.
