REDBANK VALLEY SNAPS THREE-GAME SKID WITH WIN OVER A-C VALLEY

NEW BETHLEHEM – Redbank Valley broke its three-game losing streak with a 48-6 win over A-C Valley in an Autumn Leaf Festival Thursday night game at Redbank Valley.

"That was a real big win for us," Redbank Valley head coach Ed Wasilowski said. "We have a big game next week against Moniteau, and I shudder to think what would have happened if we had lost this game. But the kids weren’t down. They are very resilient. Mentally they were very positive."

A-C Valley head coach Don King took the responsibility for his team’s showing one week after the Falcons (1-5 overall, 1-4 KSAC) had snapped an 18-game losing streak with a 35-12 win over Union.

"I really don’t know what to say," King said. "I am very disappointed. It is my job to get the team ready. We should have gone with a weekend practice, but I chose to only practice three days this week. We have got to get ready for next week (at Karns City). We have got to get the kids to realize football is a contact sport."

Redbank Valley used great field position to put the game away early scoring 21 first-quarter points and the game’s first 27 tallies.

The Bulldogs first three drives started inside A-C Valley territory at the 46-, 38- and 45-yard lines respectively.

"It always helps when you have a short field and things click," Wasilowski said. "You get the momentum on your side and that is a big part of high school football. When you only have to go 40 yards that makes it real tough on the opposing defense."

Most of Redbank Valley’s early field position was the result of plays made by Tyson Truitt.

Truitt took the opening kickoff 50 yards to the A-C Valley 46. He then returned a Falcon punt 20 yards to the A-C Valley 38, and finally he intercepted a Doug Keil halfback option pass inside Redbank Valley territory and returned it to the A-C Valley 45-yard line.

"With Tyson back there (in the return game), he is always a threat to break it," Wasilowski said. "In practice our kids can’t even get a hand on him. If we were playing two-hand touch, he would score every time."

It wasn’t two-hand touch, but Truitt did cash in twice on offense in the first quarter thanks to his big plays.

The Bulldogs scored first with 7:42 left in the opening quarter when Shane Reed hit Truitt with a 9-yard pass making it 7-0 thanks to Brock Shaffer’s extra point.

Skyler Smith then scored the first of his two touchdowns on a 15-yard run making it 14-0 with 3:31 left, and Reed and Truitt hooked up on a 30-yard pass with 2:00 left in the quarter to make it 21-0.

In the second quarter the combination of Reed and Truitt hooked up one more time for a 35-yard scoring strike with Truitt taking the ball away from A-C Valley’s Matt Cangemi in a jump ball situation.

The Bulldogs would have had even more points if Truitt hadn’t fumbled away the ball at the A-C Valley 9-yard line after catching a pass from Reed two series before his final touchdown.

A-C Valley got its only points of the game with just 6.2 seconds left in the first half when Luis Goncalves hit Colt Burk with a 25-yard scoring pass. Burk made a diving catch right at the goal line for the touchdown.

In the second half the two teams were in a stalemate until Smith took an option from Reed on a fourth-and-1 with 2:54 left in the third quarter and broke free untouched for a 43-yard touchdown and a 34-6 lead.

Redbank Valley then put the mercy rule and a running clock with it into effect when Reed scored from a yard out with 10:45 to play. Reed did most of the work on the drive carrying three straight times for 37 yards including runs of 17 and 19 yards.

"We have tried to put a draw play into our offense for years," Wasilowski said. "We always had it for our fullback. This year we put it in for our quarterback, and Shane has had a couple of nice runs with it the last couple of weeks."

The Bulldogs closed out the scoring when freshman Mike Booher intercepted a pass from back-up quarter Mark Hart and returned it 75 yards for a touchdown with 2:22 left in the game.

Reed had a nice night for Redbank Valley going 9-for-16 passing for 126 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran six times for 60 yards and a score.

Skyler Smith ran 16 times for 104 yards and two touchdowns, while Truitt had four catches for 80 yards and three touchdowns.

Shaffer had a nice night kicking the ball booting two touchbacks on kickoffs, going 6-for-7 on extra points and punting twice for an average of 36.5 yards including a 43-yard boot.

Burk led A-C Valley with 12 carries for 56 yards and one catch for 25 yards and a touchdown. Goncalves was 4-for-10 passing for 109 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

REDBANK VALLEY 48, A-C VALLEY 6

Score by Quarter

A-C Valley 0 6 0 0 – 6

Redbank Valley 21 6 7 25 – 48

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

RV – Tyson Truitt 9 pass from Shane Reed (Brock Shaffer kick), 7:42

RV – Skyler Smith 15 run (Shaffer kick), 3:31

RV – Truitt 30 pass from Reed (Shaffer kick), 2:00

Second Quarter

RV – Truitt 35 pass from Reed (Kick failed), 2:03

ACV – Colt Burk 25 pass from Luis Goncalves (Kick failed), 0:06.2

Third Quarter

RV – Skyler Smith 43 run (Shaffer kick), 2:54

Fourth Quarter

RV – Reed 1 run (Shaffer kick), 10:45

RV – Mike Booher 75 interception return (Shaffer kick), 2:22

Team Statistics

ACV RV

First Downs 8 11

Rushes-Yards 38-89 32-208

Passing Yards 109 126

Passes: Comp-Att-Int 4-13-3 9-17-0

Total Yards 198 334

Penalties-Yards 3-15 4-30

Fumbles-Lost 4-0 1-1

Punts-Avg. 5-23.8 2-36.5

Individual Statistics

Rushing – A-C Valley: Colt Burk 12-56, Corey Clawson 5-25, Brad Hurrelbrink 7-16, Luis Goncalves 9-(-14), Hank Heeter 1-3, Charlie Huegel 1-(-1), Craig Rondinelli 3-4. Redbank Valley: Skyler Smith 16-104, Brandon Johnston 5-24, Shane Reed 6-60, Matt Steffy 2-18, Tyson Truitt 1-3, Jason Smith 1-(-1), Team 1-0.

Passing – A-C Valley: Luis Goncalves 4-for-10, 109 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interceptions; Doug Keil 0-for-1, 1 interceptions; Mark Hart 0-for-2, 1 interception. Redbank Valley: Shane Reed 9-for-16, 126 yards, 3 touchdowns; Jason Smith 0-for-1, 0 yards.

Receiving – A-C Valley: Matt Cangemi 1-45, Brad Hurrelbrink 1-(-1), Colt Burk 1-25, Corey Clawson 1-40. Redbank Valley: Matt Steffy 2-22, Tyson Truitt 4-80, Brandon Johnston 2-13, Skyler Smith 1-11.

Interceptions – Redbank Valley: Tyson Truitt, Brandon Brinker, Mike Booher.

Sacks – A-C Valley: Jake Heeter 1. Redbank Valley: Cody Doverspike 1 ½, Jimi Wikander 1, Ryan Toth ½.

Fumble Recoveries – A-C Valley: Casey Biddle 1.