Indian Valley defeats New Lexington 42-23 in hard fought matchup
By: Zachary Knight
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COSHOCTON, Ohio (WOUB) – The New Lexington Panthers (3) and the Indian Valley Braves (2) traveled to the neutral site of Coshocton to face off for a highly contested week 13 brawl. The Panthers were unable to claw back against Indian Valley and ended their season with a final score of 42-23.
The Panthers came out of the gate hot, picking up the first touchdown of the game to end their first drive. Bentley Hanson brought it home, and a two-point conversion put them up by 8 to get things started.
After the first Panther touchdown, Indian Valley didn’t take long to respond. After a long drive, they looked to Grady Kinsey for their first TD from the 1-yard line. Kinsey was a huge asset for the Braves — going on to pick up five touchdowns all on his own for Indian Valley.
The Braves’ touchdown tied things up 8-8, but it didn’t stay that way for long.
Indian Valley went on to take a long 95-yard drive that ended with another 1-yard touchdown from Kinsey, his second of the night.
On the next New Lexington drive, the Braves flipped the script after a pick-6 touchdown from Rowan Piccin, who brought it home after tipping a Panther pass out of the air.
That touchdown put Indian Valley up 22-8 heading into the locker room.
The second half had much more in store when Eric Golder found the endzone at the start of the third quarter to help extend the Braves’ lead, but the Panthers were ready to respond.
Carson Kellogg took it home and help begin to close the gap for the Panthers right when they needed a spark, making the score 29-15.
The New Lex spark came too late in the game. They were only able to pick up one more touchdown while Indian Valley found the endzone twice more, expanding their lead to 42-23 and ending the Panthers season.
New Lexington ended their season with an 11-2 record, and Indian Valley will move on to the Regional Final against the St. Clairsville Red Devils next Friday.