By Steve Keenan
HICO — Facing the latest in a long line of playoff-caliber teams, a young Midland Trail football squad couldn’t afford to give the Valley Greyhounds any help.
The winless Patriots did just that, turning the ball over on their first two possessions and ending up with four miscues on the night as Class A co-No. 15 Valley raced to a 40-14 conquest at Roger Eades Field.
“Being young at this stage is not an excuse,” said Midland Trail coach Joe Dean. “You have to play better and believe in yourselves, and you have to execute.
“The fact we’re playing playoff teams (makes it harder). Playing very good football teams is a tough way to go (when fielding a youthful roster that features 33 first-year players).”
“We played pretty well in spurts, but we’re still making mistakes,” said Valley coach Benny Hopkins, whose squad played without three starters. “Losing three players in single-A — that hurts you. We worked all week to get plays ready (for replacement players).
“We played well enough to win.”
Offensive balance was an obvious ally for the Greyhounds. Junior Marcus White rambled 21 times for 184 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown burst late in the first half that put Valley up 22-0. While falling backward in the end zone, White also later caught a tipped, 12-yard scoring pass from Jack Simms.
The Simms-to-White score was one of three TD passes on the evening for Simms, who was 3-of-8 for 71 yards.
The first scoring aerial came on a 24-yard hookup between Simms and Dillon Ganoe. That score occurred on a fourth-and-goal situation from the Midland 24 on Valley’s first drive, which was set up by Zack Browning’s interception of a Casey Deskins pass on Midland Trail’s opening drive.
Later, Simms connected with Travis Brogan on a 35-yard TD pass, and Brogan caught the conversion pass from Simms to make it 16-0 midway through the second period.
Scott Rowe’s fumble recovery set up an 11-yard TD burst by Simms (13-68-1) that pushed the Valley lead to 38-6 early in the fourth, and the Greyhounds’ scoring was closed out when freshman Mark Hess tackled Midland Trail’s Drew Keenan in the end zone for a safety with 2:30 to play.
Midland scored once in each half. Hunter Scarbro’s 15-yard TD run with 0:54 left in the second period capped a five-play, 70-yard drive that relied solely on the running of Scarbro (50 yards) and Kelly Minter (20).
With 3:52 left in the contest, Trail’s Justin Grimmett sprinted 42 yards to paydirt for the Patriots’ final TD, and Grimmett caught the conversion pass from Deskins to make it 38-14.
“The kids you see here haven’t quit,” said Dean. “I’m proud of them.”
“They showed some fire tonight,” added assistant coach Randy Halsey.
Seeking to remain in postseason contention, Valley (6-3) entertains Williamson next Friday to conclude the regular season.
The Patriots (0-9) play at PikeView next Friday.
— E-mail:
skeenan@register-herald.com
Valley 40, Midland Trail 14
V (6-3) 8 16 8 8 -40
MT (0-9) 0 6 0 8 - 14
First Quarter
V: Dillon Ganoe 24 pass from Jack Simms (Corey Tolley run), 5:25
Second Quarter
V: Travis Brogan 35 pass from Simms (Brogan pass from Simms), 7:14
V: Marcus White 1 run (Simms run), 2:30
MT: Hunter Scarbro 15 run (pass failed), 0:54
Third Quarter
V: White 12 pass from Simms (Simms run), 7:02
Fourth Quarter
V: Simms 11 run (pass failed), 11:54
MT: Justin Grimmett 42 run (Grimmett pass from Casey Deskins), 5:52
V: Mark Hess safety, tackled Drew Keenan in end zone, 2:30
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - V: White 21-184-1, Simms 13-68-1, Ganoe 3-2, Tolley 11-43, Gordy Mitchell 4-9, Zack Browning 6-21. MT: Scarbro 13-92-1, Kelly Minter 7-23, Deskins 2-7, Justin Grimmett 5-53-1, Drew Keenan 1-(-4), Jordan Burdette 2-16, Jaymie Gray 2-(-5), Jake Grimmett 1-13.
PASSING - V: Simms 3-8-0-71-3, Ganoe 0-1-0-0-0. MT: Deskins 1-8-2-(-6)-0.
RECEIVING - V: Ganoe 1-24-1, Brogan 1-35-1, White 1-12-1. MT: Justin Grimmett 1-(-6).
TURNOVERS - V: Browning (INT), Mitchell (FR), Ganoe (INT), Scott Rowe (FR). MT: Brandon Sims (FR).
