RACINE -- With his Vikings maturing by the week, Coach Rusty Webb liked the progress he saw from his young Symmes Valley team in a 43-6 win over the Racine Southern Tornadoes Friday.

The Vikings (2-0) start only three seniors on each unit and are dominated by sophomores and juniors. If the team hopes to repeat as Southern Ohio Conference champions the young guys will have to step up.

"I thought our kids played well and looked a lot better than last week," Webb said. "Our young kids are coming along."

Symmes Valley got a break on the first play from scrimmage as Racine lost a fumble deep in their own territory. Matt Owens raced to the end zone three plays later on a 34 yard burst.

After Racine failed to make anything happen, the Vikings offense got on the board again as Derek Carpenter plunged in from 1 yard out for a 15-0 lead.

In the second quarter, Symmes Valley got rolling by scoring another 26 unanswered points.

Cory Burcham took over by scoring three rushing touchdowns and picking up 113 yards in the quarter. Matt Owens also scored giving Symmes Valley a 41-0 halftime lead.

The Vikings defense smothered the Racine offense in the first half limiting the Tornadoes to minus-11 yards.

"Our defense played extremely well," Webb said. "I thought we played great team ball, especially on the defensive side."

Symmes Valley played its backups throughout the second half. Webb said he liked getting a chance to give everyone some time. The Vikings got their only points of the half on a safety when Racine hiked the ball out of the back of the end zone.

The Tornadoes got on the board in the fourth quarter on a 9-yard touchdown run by tailback Jake Nease.

One area that coach Webb hopes to improve on is the penalties. Symmes Valley was flagged six times for 78 yards.

"Some were penalties we could live with but some were silly ones that we are going to have to work on," Webb said.

The Vikings begin Southern Ohio Conference play next week by hosting Chesapeake.

"We are definitely going to have to get better for next week," Webb said. "Chesapeake has a good club. Even though they have not won, they are always tough. We know we will more than have our hands full."

Sym. Valley152620--43

Southern0006--6

First Quarter

SV- Matt Owens 34 run (Cory Burcham run) 10:53

SV- Derek Carpenter 1 run (Cory Burcham kick) 8:22

Second Quarter

SV- Cory Burcham 28 run (Cory Burcham kick) 11:50

SV- Cory Burcham 75 run (kick failed) 8:03

SV- Matt Owens 9 run (Cory Burcham kick) 4:24

SV- Cory Burcham 10 run (kick failed) 2:17

Third Quarter

SV- Safety (ball snapped out of end zone) 3:16

Fourth Quarter

RS- Jake Nease 9 run (kick failed)

7:27

First downs:SV 10, RS5

Rushes-yards:SV 33-311, RS38-94

Passing yards:SV 39, RS4

Total yards:SV 350, RS98

Cmp-Att-Int:SV 2-4-0, RS1-4-0

Punts-average:SV 1-31, RS6-22

Fumbles-lost:SV 4-2, RS3-3

Penalties-yards:SV 6-78, RS3-35

Individual Leaders

RUSHING- Symmes Valley: Cory Burcham 6-117, Chad Artrip 4-58, Matt Owens 2-43, Justin Holland 2-30,

Craig Neal 2-25, Derek Carpenter 4-21, Kyle Meadows 8-19, Justin Burns 1-7, Kurt Shipley 1-0, Dwayne Kersey 3-minus 9. Racine: Jake Nease 8-52, Phil Pierce 12-27.

PASSING- Symmes Valley: Craig Neal 2-4-0 39. Racine: Phil Pierce 1-4-0 4

RECEIVING- Symmes Valley: Derrik Cremeans 1-30, Chris Elswick 1-9. Racine: Dustin Keyes 1-4.