REDBANK VALLEY 57, A-C VALLEY 14

Oct. 17, 2008

By Chris Rossetti

FOXBURG – Alex Bladel wrote another chapter in the Redbank Valley record book Friday night rushing 22 times for 207 yards and four touchdowns and in the process setting the Bulldogs all-time rushing touchdown mark in a 57-14 win at A-C Valley.

Bladel, who tied Skyler Smith’s school record of 39 rushing scores last week in a win over Punxsutawney, broke the record on his second carry of the game, an 11-yard touchdown run 1:23 seconds into the game.

“It’s great to be compared to Skyler Smith and Ronny Geist,” Bladel said. “It’s a heck of a feeling.”

Bladel added a second rushing score in the first quarter helping the Bulldogs take a commanding 27-0 lead 5:50 into the game, and then had an entire game in the third quarter rushing for 105 yards and two touchdowns in the quarter. The third-quarter performance put Bladel over the 1,000-yard mark this season giving him 1,013 yards and 16 touchdowns on the season.

“I think it’s just a credit to him, it’s a credit to the offensive line that has played here the last four years,” Redbank Valley head coach Brandon Rapp said. “He’s such a tough runner. It means a lot to me to be able to see him get that. There aren’t many kids who work harder than what he does. So he got over 3,000 (career yards) last week. Getting the touchdown record is something special. Hopefully, he continues to succeed.”

A-C Valley (0-8 overall, 0-8 KSAC), whose winless streak reached 30 games, was its own worst enemy in the game’s first six minutes losing three fumbles, including one that was returned for a touchdown, while also having a bad punt snap that resulted in great field position for Redbank Valley (7-1, 7-1). The Bulldogs average start position in the first quarter was the A-C Valley 36-yard line.

 “The turnovers killed us,” A-C Valley head coach Gary Pinkerton said. “What’s really surprising is up until last game (a 40-0 loss at Union) and this game we really didn’t turn the ball over a lot. We didn’t fumble a lot, and we didn’t throw a lot of interceptions. But in turn, this week we had 16 kids in practice so there was nothing live. It was all dummy work, and we didn’t have (Luke) Walker back in pads until tonight. So I think that caught up to us.”

The bad punt snap after A-C Valley went three-and-out gave Redbank Valley the ball at the Falcon 27 for its first drive. Two runs by Bladel including the 11 yarder gave the Bulldogs a quick 7-0 lead.

Then on the Falcons next possession, Luke Walker fumbled at the A-C Valley 30 with Kasey Haines recovering and returned the ball to the Falcons 25.

Two more Bladel runs including an 18-yard touchdown scamper made it 13-0 with 7:15 left in the first quarter.

That started a sequence that saw the Bulldogs score 20 points in 1:15.

Michael Orrvick fumbled two plays after the kickoff, and Brent Shuster recovered the ball and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown at 6:25.

Darren Buckholtz then fumbled the ensuing kickoff giving Redbank the ball back at the A-C Valley 36, and Shiloh Buchleitner hit Bruce McDaniel with a 36-yard touchdown pass making it 27-0 with 6:10 left in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs had a chance to make it 34-0 at the end of the quarter, but Bladel fumbled at the A-C Valley five, one of two fumbles inside the 5-yard line by Redbank Valley in the game.

Redbank did make it 34-0 at halftime when Buchleitner scored on a 35-yard run with 9:43 left in the first half.

The Bulldogs then looked poised to put the Mercy Rule into action early in the third quarter before Pat Goheen fumbled at the 2-yard line.

That ended up not mattering two plays later when Shuster tackled Luke Walker in the end zone for a safety and a 36-0 lead.

Bladel then added touchdown runs of 11 and 1 yard in the quarter, and Buchleitner scored on a 37-yard run making it 57-0 Bulldogs at the end of three quarters.

A-C Valley was able to get two fourth quarter touchdowns against Redbank Valley’s junior varsity squad including a 4-yard run by Brent Hindman at the start of the quarter and a 40-yard run by Dillion Montgomery midway through it. Montgomery led the Falcons with seven carries for 61 yards while adding one catch for four yards. Walker had 15 totes for 58 yards with most of those coming in the second half when he lined up at quarterback most of the times. He also had one catch for four yards in the first half. Hindman chipped in 29 yards rushing on 10 carries with most of his yards being of the tough variety right up the gut.

“We’ll talk about some of the positives like that,” Pinkerton said. “Because very honestly the kids we had out there were young kids. We only had maybe three seniors out there at the end. Again, they’re improving. We won a JV game against Brookville the other day, so the young kids are coming. We know it’s an uphill battle. All we can do is strap it up and keep going.”

REDBANK VALLEY 57, A-C VALLEY 14

Redbank Valley 27 7 23 0 – 57

A-C Valley 0 0 0 14 – 14

First Quarter

RV – Alex Bladel 11 run (Brandon Bain kick), 10:37

RV – Bladel 18 run (kick failed), 7:15

RV – Brent Shuster 23 fumble recovery (Bain kick), 6:25

RV – Bruce McDaniel 36 pass from Shiloh Buchleitner (Bain kick), 6:10

Second Quarter

RV – Buchleitner 35 run (Bain kick), 9:43

Third Quarter

RV – Safety (Luke Walker tackled in end zone by Shuster), 9:38

RV – Bladel 11 run (Bain kick), 8:20

RV – Bladel 1 run (Bain kick), 6:36

RV – Buchleitner 37 run (Bain kick), 3:13

Fourth Quarter

ACV – Brent Hindman 4 run (pass failed), 11:55

ACV – Dillion Montgomery 40 run (Evan Best run), 7:15

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Redbank Valley: Alex Bladel 22-207, Pat Goheen 7-33, Shiloh Buchleitner 2-72, Kameron Rankin 1-9, Curtis Lee 6-28, Team 2-(-15). A-C Valley: Luke Walker 15-58, Dillion Montgomery 7-61, Michael Orrvick 3-(-32), Brent Hindman 10-29, Evan Best 3-7, Evan Wagner 1-(-3), Team 1-(-6).

Passing: Redbank Valley: Shiloh Buchleitner 4-5-80-0. A-C Valley: Michael Orrvick 3-8-17-0.

Receiving: Redbank Valley: Bruce McDaniel 2-54, Kasey Haines 1-8, Kameron Rankin 1-18. A-C Valley: Dillion Montgomery 1-4, Luke Walker 1-4, Jake Armstrong 1-9.