WILLOW WOOD - That wasn't a UFO. That really was a football in the air.

And it was in the air when the Symmes Valley Vikings had the ball.

Traditionally a ground-oriented team, the Vikings took to the air Friday as they routed the Portsmouth Notre Dame Titans 49-21 in a Southern Ohio Conference game.

Quarterback Chris Capper threw only six times but completed three for 114 yards including two touchdowns. Seth Saunders caught all three passes.

However, the Vikings didn't abandon the running game. They rushed 36 times for 228 yards of the 342 total yards of offense.

&#8221Our offensive line did a good job tonight and I thought our defense played extremely well,“ Vikings coach Rusty Webb said.

&#8221Our backs ran hard and Chris Capper did a nice job throwing the ball and Seth Saunders did a good job running with the ball after he caught it.“

Symmes Valley wasted little time scoring as Capper and Saunders teamed up on a 74-yard pass play. Kyle Meadows kicked the extra point and it was 7-0.

The duo got together on a 17-yard scoring pass five minutes later as the lead grew to 14-0.

Notre Dame (2-6, 1-3) came back to score on its own scoring play as Matt Mader hit Ben Haaf for 17 yards and a TD and sliced the Vikings lead to 14-7.

But Matt Owens had touchdown runs of 15 and 6 yards in the second quarter as the Vikings opened up a 27-7 halftime cushion.

Alex Burnett and Owens tackle Brad Hoover in the end zone for a safety to up the lead to 29-7 to begin the second half. Owens returned the free kick 60 yards for a touchdown and it was 37-7.

Lee Callicoat ran 6 yards for a touchdown with 58 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 43-7.

Webb used his reserves to finish the game and the Titans took advantage by scoring a pair of touchdowns.

Symmes Valley added one last touchdown on an 85-yard kickoff return by Brandon Freeman with 4:30 to play.

The Vikings are now 5-3 on the season and 3-1 in the SOC. They host East next Friday in a battle for second place in the SOC.

Notre Dame70014=21

Sym. Valley1413166=49

First Quarter

SV – Seth Saunders 74 pass from Chris Capper (Kyle Meadows kick) 9:01

SV – Seth Saunders 17 pass from Chris Capper (Kyle Meadows kick) 4:51

ND – Ben Haaf 17 pass from Matt Mader (Bob Herpy kick) 0:36

Second Quarter

SV – Matt Owens 15 run (Kyle Meadows kick) 8:44

SV – Matt Owens 6 run (kick failed) 1:11

Third Quarter

SV – Safety (Hoover tackled in end zone by Matt Owens and Alex Burnett) 9:20

SV – Matt Owens 60 kickoff return (Kyle Meadows kick) 9:10

SV – Lee Callicoat 6 run (Kyle Meadows kick) 0:58

Fourth Quarter

ND – Kurt Harness 1 run (Bob Herpy kick) 10:56

ND – Eric Gulley 9 run (Bob Herpy kick) 4:48

SV – Brandon Freeman 85 kickoff return (run failed) 4:30

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PNDSV

First downs1017

Rushes-yards101228

Passing yards112114

Total yards213342

Cmp-Att-Int9-18-03-6-0

Fumbles-lost0-02-0

Punts-average3-26.72-29.0

Penalties-yards1-55-41

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING – Notre Dame: Brad Hoover 17-69, Kurt Harness 11-51; Symmes Valley: Derek Carpenter 12-86, Matt Owens 9-68, Seth Saunders 6-30, Chris Capper 5-16, Robbie Miller 1-21, Lee Callicoat 2-6, Kirt Shipley 1-1.

PASSING – Notre Dame: Matt Mader 9-18-1 89, Alex Davis 2-2-0

23; Symmes Valley: Chris Capper 3-6-0 114.

RECEIVING – Notre Dame: Ben Haaf 6-60, Eric Gulley 2-14; Symmes Valley: Seth Saunders 3-114.