Sports
Recap: Tri-Valley Survives Close Call Against New Philadelphia [with Slideshow & VIDEO]
< < Back to recap-tri-valley-survives-close-call-against-new-philadelphia-slideshow-videoTri-Valley quarterback Brock Fargus and wide receiver Hunter Mohler have been building a repertoire all season in Dresden as perhaps the most dangerous quarterback and wide receiver duos in the MVL.
But a frigid Friday night and a stiff New Philadelphia Quakers (7-4) secondary stymied the dynamic duo, and that is when the Tri-Valley Scotties (12-0) turned to running back Daniel “Bubby” Scott, who scored all three Tri-Valley Scotties touchdowns in a 21-14 victory.
Turnovers plagued both teams in this game. The Tri-Valley defense, dependable season long, forced a three-and-out on the Quaker’s first drive of the game, but a Hunter Mohler muffed punt gave possession right back to New Philadelphia. Mohler got the ball right back for his offense, intercepting a Logan Bitikofer pass inside Tri-Valley’s own 20-yard line.
That’s when the Tri-Valley offense finally went to work, driving 66-yards and taking a 7-0 lead when Scott plunged into the end zone for his first score of the game with 57 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Scott, who rushed for 133 yards on 21 attempts, carried the Tri-Valley offense the entire night. And after Fargus couldn’t get on the same page with his receivers, the Scotties turned to Scott.
Defense continued to dictate the pace of this one until Bitikofer scrambled to his right early in the second quarter and found Jeff Virden in the back of the end zone from 16 yards out, tying the game 7-7.
Bubby Scott answered right back for the Scotties, taking a two-yard carry into the Quakers’ end zone after fighting through a crowd of players on the goal line, giving the Scotties a 14-7 lead that they would take into the locker room.
Bitikofer then turned to his favorite target, Logan Geib as he dotted down the sideline, hauled in a 57-yard Bitikofer bomb, and set the Quakers up at the Tri-Valley 36-yard line on a third-and-ten play inside their own 10-yard line. Just a few plays later, Geib took an end around and crossed the goal line, tying the game 14-14 less than a minute into the fourth quarter.
But once again, Bubby Scott refused to take no for an answer. Absorbing contact and dealing out punishment with bruising authority, he carried the Scottie offense down the field one last time and burst into the end zone on a 9-yard scamper, securing the win for Tri-Valley 21-14.
Fargus was effective when needed for the Scotties, tossing the ball for 108 yards on 11 of 18 attempts, but threw an interception in the red zone with under 20 seconds remaining in the first half and the Scotties in prime position to take a two possession lead into halftime.
Bitikofer matched him with 146 yards of his own, but threw two crucial interceptions with the Quakers in scoring position.
A successful Bubby Scott fourth-and-one conversion with under a minute left from the Quaker 9 yard line sealed the deal for the Scotties, who will meet up next week with the undefeated Athens Bulldogs (11-0) for a rematch of last year’s 55-52 overtime thriller in the second-round of the playoffs as well.