Sports
River Valley Doubles 2013 Win Total With 34-7 Win Over Southeastern
By: Sean Neidig
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After earning only one win in the 2013 season, the River Valley Raiders have already doubled that figure following their 34-7 win over the Southeastern Panthers on Friday night.
The Raiders (2-0) came out of the locker room swinging, scoring early and often.
River Valley put their first points on the board on their second drive of the game, set up by a 47-yard pass from quarterback Dayton Hardway to Tyler Twyman. On the very next play, a 12-yard touchdown pass from Hardway to a wide-open Kirk Morrow in the end zone capped off a 3-play drive that gave the Raiders an early 7-0 lead.
The Raiders defense smothered the Southeastern (0-2) offense throughout the first half, forcing 3 punts and coming up with a 4th down stop. On the night, the Panthers were held to only 177 total yards, compared to 424 for the Raiders.
River Valley continued the scoring on their next possession, a 7-play drive that culminated with a 16-yard connection from Hardway to Morrow again with 2:39 left in the 1st quarter.
After forcing another Panther 3-and-out, Hardway threw an interception on the ensuing River Valley possession but that would be the Raiders’ only blemish on the night. Hardway finished the night 12-16 passing for 223 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.
The Raiders wasted no time getting on the board in the sescoring drive on their first possession of the 2nd quarter, set up by a 42-yard pass from Hardway to Morrow that would take the Raiders into the red zone. On the next play Morrow caught a pass out in the left flat that was good for 18 yards but was tackled down short of the goal line. Morrow racked up 185 receiving yards on eight catches, two of them going for scores, and would add a third score on the ground.
The Raiders were then called for offensive holding but the Panthers could only delay the inevitable. Raider running back Sam Payne would then take the ball on two straight running plays, the first for 5 yards and the second for the 6 needed to break the plane, putting River Valley up 20-0.
The Panthers failed to stop River Valley on two more scoring drives in the first half and the Raiders went into the locker room up 34-0. River Valley would then pull their starters for the second half. The only score for Southeastern on the night was a receiving touchdown by Dakota Houser in the second half.
River Valley will look to continue their early-season winning streak when they host the Eastern Eagles (2-0) next Friday at 7:30 p.m.
'Gridiron Glory' airs every Friday night at 11:30 p.m. on WOUB. You can follow the show on Twitter @gridironglory, like the Gridiron Glory page on Facebook, and follow along on Instagram @woubsports. You can also join the conversation throughout the season by using the hashtag #GridGlory