HUNTINGTON TOWNSHIP - Special teams weren't so special for the Symmes Valley Vikings Friday night.

Two mistakes on special teams led to a pair of Huntington Ross touchdowns as the Huntsmen beat the Vikings 27-14 in the season opener.

"We couldn't hold onto the ball. That was the game," Vikings coach Rusty Webb said. "We made too many mental and physical errors.

"We had two other scoring drives where we're taking it in and we fumble it. But give Huntington Ross credit. They're a quality team."

Kody Waterbury ran 17 times for 96 yards and scored three touchdowns as Huntington Ross took advantage of the crucial Symmes Valley mistakes.

After their first drive of the game stalled, a bad snap on a punt enabled the Huntsmen to recover the football at the Vikings 12-yard line.

Three plays later Waterbury scored for a 7-0 lead.

A second miscue by the Vikings set up Huntington's next touchdown.

A fumbled punt led to a recovery by the Huntsmen at the Huntington 41-yard line.

On the ensuing play, quarterback Josh Kellough pitched the ball just before being hit to fullback Clay Beeler who covered the distance for the touchdown with 20 seconds left in the first quarter and it was 13-0.

"That was an inexperienced mistake. We knew what to do, we just didn't execute," Webb said.

Symmes Valley got on track late in the first half with a 67-yard drive capped by Derek Carpenter who ran 7 yards for a touchdown. Bob Michael kicked the extra point to make it 13-7.

But Huntington Ross put together a four-play, 43-yard scoring drive capped by a 5-yard run by Waterbury with just 26 seconds on the clock to make it 20-7.

A 1-yard run by Waterbury with 8:21 left in the third quarter extended the Huntsmen lead to 27-7.

Symmes Valley closed out the scoring on a 1-yard run by Carpenter with 2:53 to play.

"Our backs ran hard. I'm not going to fault them," Webb said. "When we didn't make the mental mistakes, we could move the ball at will.

"Defensively, we made some adjustments the second half and the kids did a great job with the adjustment."

The game's stats were almost even. The Vikings had 242 total yards and Huntington 241.

Matt Owens ran 10 times for 107 yards and Carpenter had nine rushes for 90 yard to lead the Vikings.

Sym. Valley0707=14

Hunt. Ross13870=27

First Quarter

HR – Kody Waterbury 1 run (Bob Michael kick) 8:17

HR – Clay Beeler 59 run (Bob Michael kick) 0:16

Second Quarter

SV – Derek Carpenter 7 run (Kyle Meadows kick) 4:00

HR – Kody Waterbury 5 run (Waterbury run) 0:26

Third Quarter

HR – Kody Waterbury 1 run (kick fail) 8:14

Fourth Quarter

SV – Derek Carpenter 1 run (Kyle Meadows kick) 2:53

-----

SVHR

First downs1414

Rushes-yards41-20537-206

Passing yards3735

Total yards242241

Cmp-Att-Int5-9-15-9-0

Fumbles-lost4-31-0

Punts-average3-25.07-21.7

Penalties-yards5-738-67

Time of Possession23.5924:01

-----

Individual Leaders

RUSHING – Sym. Valley: Matt Owens 10-107, Derek Carpenter 9-90, John Wiseman 3-19, Seth Saunders 3-14; Hunt. Ross: Waterbury 17-96,. Beeler 6-75.

PASSING – Sym. Valley: Chris Capper 5-9-1 37; Hunt. Ross: Josh Kellough 5-9-0

35.

RECEIVING – Sym. Valley: Derek Carpenter 3-36, Matt Owens 2-1; Hunt. Ross: Clay Beeler 3-11, Bob Michael 1-22, Caleb Crabtree 1-2.