Hornets rumble by Valley

Published 12:00 am Friday, September 14, 2007

COAL GROVE — Guess what opposing defense? Coal Grove can pass, too.

The Hornets have relied on their ground game in winning their first two games.

Friday night Coal Grove threw the Lucasville Valley Indians a curve as quarterback Zack Murphy threw for 138 yards is a 27-12 win.

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Murphy was 3 of 6 and a touchdown. He had another long pass set up a score.

“I saw it along the side of the road and thought I’d use it,” said Hornets coach Dave Lucas will a laugh.

“Seriously, they were giving it to us, so we took it. We’ll do that. Our quarterback can throw the ball and we have some guys who can catch it.”

The ground game wasn’t missing, though. The Hornets ran 46 times for 164 yards as they racked up 302 total yards.

Coal Grove used its ground game to set the tone for the game by driving 87 yards in 17 plays. Matt Cooper ran 3 yards for the touchdown on the first play of the second quarter and Taylor Dean’s kick made it 7-0 with.

The Hornets went up 14-0 on a 28-yard scoring strike from Murphy to Chris Brammer.

An 83-yard pass to Oakie Haynes set up a 1-yard plunge by Frank Delawder and it was 20-0 with 2:06 left in the half.

The Hornets built a 27-0 lead in the fourth quarter on a 3-yard run by Murphy.

The Indians (1-2) used a 44-yard pass to Nick Williams from Zach Utley to set up a 14-yard scoring run by Matt McClain with 6:30 to play.

Williams then picked off a pass and McClain scored on the next play from 16 yards away with 5:16 left.

Defensively, Rob Barnette led with 7 tackles and a quarterback sack. Aaron Dickess had 4 tackles and a pass deflection.

“I thought the defense was exception the first half and played real solid the second half. Our kids did a nice job stopping them. They have some nice athletes,” said Lucas.

The Hornets host Minford next Friday in a battle of unbeaten teams.

Lucasville00012=12

Coal Grove02007=27

Second Quarter

CG — Matt Cooper 3 run (Taylor Dean kick) 11:56

CG — Chris Brammer 28 pass from Zack Murphy (Taylor Dean kick) 6:57

CG — Frank Delawder 1 run (kick failed) 2:06

Fourth Quarter

CG — Zack Murphy 3 run (Dean kick) 8:38

LV —Matt McClain 14 run (kick blocked) 6:30

LV — Matt McClain 16 run (run failed) 5:16

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LVCG

First downsna14

Rushes-yards12446-164

Passing yards73138

Total yards197302

Cmp-Att-Intna3-6-1

Fumbles-lost1-11-0

Penalties-yards3-156-30

—————

Individual Leaders

RUSHING—Lucasville: Matt McClain 12-81, Mike Fulks 7-43; Coal Grove: Frank Delawder 14-67, Matt Cooper 11-48, Jacob Jenkins 11-29, Chris Brammer 3-17, Oakie Haynes 5-8, Zack Murph 2-15.

PASSING—Lucasville: Zach Utley 4-8-0 73; Coal Grove: Zack Murphy 3-6-1 138

RECEIVING—Lucasville: Nick Williams 3-65, Matt McClain 1-8; Coal Grove: Chris Brammer 1-24, Oakie Haynes 2-114.