Symmes Valley delivers stellar performance against Meigs
By: Caiel Woody
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WILLOW WOOD, Ohio (WOUB) — After going to Chesapeake and leaving with their first win of the season, Symmes Valley prepped for a home game against Meigs in which they hoped to end the night with an undefeated record; but the Marauders, coming off a win themselves, were looking to leave with the same thing.
The Vikings would start the game with Connor Moore receiving the kickoff and putting it on their 30. Two incomplete passes later, and Symmes Valley was facing a third and ten that ended in an incomplete pass, giving a fresh set of downs, but not out to Meigs because the Marauders defense would get a pass interference call, making the fresh set of downs belong to the Vikings.
Asher Maynard would then find himself at the helm as Symmes would run a play out of wildcat, yet after a dropped interception, Bronx Carpenter would be thrown right back behind the center just in time for a third and nine. Carpenter connected with Enoch Patterson, who fell short of the first down, however instead of pulling the offense the Vikings coaches without thinking twice called for a hurry up offense, and Maynard would put it up the gut extending their drive.
Meigs caught another pass interference that put Symmes straight to the goal line where Andrew Isaacs would take a quick slant past to the endzone, get found by Carpenter, and reel the ball in putting the first points of the game on the board that gave the Vikings a 7-0 lead with 7:31 left in the first quarter.
Shooting to put their own points on the board, the Marauders came out the drive swinging the ball to both sides of the hashes, but it was not enough for gains, and they would end up facing a quick three-and-out with no choice but to punt.
In just a couple of plays, Levi Russell would leave his man in the dust off a fade and catch a bomb from Carpenter with nothing left to run to except the paint, so he took a dip right in the endzone, setting the tone on the way to a 14-0 lead for the Vikings.
A targeting call on Symmes Valley would give Meigs 15 free yards, but dropped passes would spell the reason for an offense without movement. Gunnar Cleland would try scrambling to keep the drive alive but would end up going nowhere, as the offense was forced to punt again. On the first play after the punt, the Carpenter to Isaacs connection would switch the field for the Vikings. Asher Maynard then carried the ball for a first down, and to get three first downs in three plays, Patterson would be found open, but after all of that, Meigs would force an offensive stall and a turnover on downs after Symmes Valley decided to go for it again.
With 30 seconds left in the first quarter, the Marauders were trying to get positive yards before the field would switch, but their fourth penalty in the first 12 minutes would only put them back on their own goal line; Cleland would end up carrying the ball past a first down marker that was 17 yards away, then the field would switch. Going into the second quarter, Meigs was zero for seven on passing, an immediate sack by Zane Wilson, and a tip drill pick by Gradee Holland made it look like the Marauders offense just would not find their footing tonight.
In just one play Jackson Fields would put even more points on the board for the Vikings sending them up 21-0, but bringing energy to the Marauders Griffin Hudson would juke and jig his way to a 73 yard run to the endzone and now Meigs had a manageable deficit only down 21-7 with plenty of ball left to play since there was still 8:37 left in the first half.
Isaacs would bring back a great return for Symmes Valley, but due to an illegal block in the back, the play would not stand. A few plays later and the Vikings were faced with a third and ten with the possibility of a three and out, Fields was not a huge fan of this idea and he caught the ball breaking tackle after tackle fighting for a first down where he would ultimately end up short; on the fourth and inches Maynard would soar over the line of scrimmage diving for the refreshing first down. Carpenter proceeded to lose the ball while scrambling, yet thanks to his team diving on the ball, the Vikings’ drive was able to continue, and Maynard ran it in to up the score 27-7.
Symmes Valley would carry on this level of offense, ending the game with a 55-14 win over the Marauders, and it seems like Meigs was not ready to play tonight because not only could they not stop the Vikings’ offense, but they were not able to get a good offense put together themselves, so it ended up being a shootout with only one gun drawn.