by JOHN HOWLEY / sportingpumpkin.com
ASHVILLE — Teays Valley scored in each quarter and held visiting Circleville out of the endzone in grabbing a 28-0 Mid-State League Buckeye Division win.
“They were much improved and I was really impressed how much better that team is this year,” TV coach Mark Weber said. “Their defense is pretty stout and they played hard. Coach Arndt is one of the best coordinators I’ve ever met. So hat’s off to them on that.”
Teays Valley scored on a run by Gavin Karshner late in the first quarter, but the teams were basically holding each other at bay throughout the first half.
Circleville punted to Vikings late in the half and Teays Valley was left 61 yards out with only 1:13 on the clock.
Teays Valley turned to its freshman quarterback Kaden Hines as they ran seven straight pass plays. He completed five to get down to the five-yard line and then he ran those last five yards with seven seconds left to give his team a 14-0 lead.
“That drive in a minute-thirteen, that’s when it kind of clicked with our team,” Weber said. “It was like go, go, go coach – and (the players) told me that. We finally have the quarterback situation where there is a clear No. 1 now. So he is finding his niche.”
Hines had 56 of his 259 passing yards on that drive as he was 20-32 passing in the game.
“The fire in our guys to want to go score more — because we have so many new guys — that hasn’t been there. Tonight, they were like ‘more coach, more coach’ so I didn’t want to demotivate them, so I was like go get it then,” Weber said. “A lot of our young players who are super athletic don’t want the conservative play and I’m fine with that, I like that because they are showing me they have the ability.”
Among those younger players producing was freshman receiver Trent Wolpert who had eight catches for 116 yards and a third quarter touchdown.
Junior receiver Harrison Payne — who became TV’s career receiving leader earlier this season — had nine catches for 95 yards.
Senior Gavin Sparks capped the game’s scoring with a 32-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter.
It was the first shutout for Teays Valley’s defense this season.
“In my tenure here, we’ve had quite a few shutouts so that’s an expectation and this year we’ve been coming up short,” Weber said. “This year we’ve given up more big plays. So that kind of felt like our old school defense (tonight) — clamp them down and if they get between the 20s a big run or something, no big deal, tackle them because we know our defense will swell up. They got to the 20 and there was a wall.”
Circleville had three plays cover 29 yards or more on different drives and had those drives get to Teays Valley’s 16, the seven and the 28. Those drives ended with turnover on downs, a blocked field goal try and an interception on a fourth down pass.
“Our kids kept fighting and that’s all I can ask for,” Circleville coach Steve Evans said. “We’re still learning and trying to do things the right way.
“We were able to take a look at some film there at halftime and there were several plays where we were one or two blocks away. That’s what we talked about is that all 11 guys have to do their job every single play.
“That comes with learning how to win,” he added. “Sometimes you have to dig down and learn how to make a play. Hat’s off to (Teays Valley), they stepped up when they needed to and got some big stops.”
Senior quarterback Scott Moats led Circleville with 104 rushing yards on 10 carries.
Up next
Teays Valley (4-3, 3-1) heads over to Amanda-Clearcreek next Friday. The Aces (0-7, 0-4) fell 44-21 at Hamilton Township (4-2, 3-1) Friday.
“(The players) need to rest for the weekend, heal up and we’ll watch film and do what we do every week,” Weber said of getting ready for the Aces. “There’s really never a magical system. We follow our process each week, we evaluate where we think weaknesses and strengths are and go from there.”
Circleville (4-3, 1-3) is home with Hamilton Township next week.
“The three games we’ve lost, we’ve lost to good football teams. It’s important for us to worry about ourselves,” Evans said. “We lost the turnover battle and in the three games we’ve lost, we turned the football over.
“Our defense played well for the most part but, obviously, if you don’t score any points, you’re not going to win.”
Teays Valley 28, Circleville 0
By Quarters 1 2 3 4 F
Circleville 0 0 0 0 0
Teays Valley 7 7 7 7 28
First Quarter
TV — Gavin Karshner 3 run (Cale Clifton kick), 1:11.
Second Quarter
TV — Kaden Hines 5 run (Cale Clifton kick), 0:07.
Third Quarter
TV — Trent Wolpert 12 pass from Kaden Hines (Cale Clifton kick), 7:47.
Fourth Quarter
TV — Gavin Sparks 32 pass from Kaden Hines (Cale Clifton kick), 0:55.
TEAM STATISTICS
CV TV
First downs 9 21
Rushing yards 37-155 32-124
Passing yards 70 259
Comp.-Att.-Int 6-17-2 20-32-0
Total yards 225 382
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 2-0
Penalties-Yards 5-40 5-43
Punts-Ave. 4-35 2-32
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Circleville — Jude Blair 24-48, Scott Moats 10-104, Drew Thornsley 1-3, Jadon Friend 2-0. Teays Valley — Kaden Hines 3-1, Richard Odum 13-64, Parker Braisden 1-12, Gavin Karshner 9-38, Brody Bailey 2-7, Brody Weiler 4-11.
PASSING – Circleville — Scott Moats 6-17-2-70. Teays Valley — Kaden Hines 20-32-0-259
RECEIVING – Circleville — Nolan West 4-26, Jack Kline 1-5, Daniel Cutliff 1-39. Teays Valley — Harrison Payne 9-95, Trent Wolpert 9-116, Gavin Sparks 3-48.
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