This was going to be a good night. The seniors saw to that.

Symmes Valley seniors Cody Bland, Tino Orea, Gage Patterson, Jesse Graybeal and Ethan Wilson took charge as the Vikings rolled past the South Gallia Rebels 35-6 in Friday’s season finale.

Bouncing back from last week’s heartbreaking 26-20 loss at Portsmouth Notre Dame, the Vikings left little doubt as they built a 35-0 halftime lead.

“The seniors did a very good job,” said Vikings’ coach Rusty Webb. “They were very disappointed in the last week. They did an outstanding job in practice this week and came out ready to play.”

So just how ready was Symmes Valley?

The Vikings’ defense was more than ready with a dominating performance. The Rebels were held to just six total yards including 42 net yards rushing. They had six first downs and only one in the first half.

The Vikings offense generated 270 total yards with 261 coming on the ground.

Evan Herrell ran five times for 73 yards and Kyle Bowen carried eight times for 64 yards to lead balanced running game.

After forcing a three-and-out, the Vikings went on a 47-yard drive that lasted just three plays including a 35-yard run by Bowen for the touchdown.

Bland kicked all five conversions.

Following an exchange of punts, Symmes Valley marched 59 yards in 13 plays capped by Bowen’s one-yard run and the lead was 14-0.

The Vikings got the ball back after a punt and were sacked on a first down play. But Herrell erased the negative play with a positive as he galloped 61 yards for the touchdown and it was 21-0.

Patterson intercepted a screen pass on the next series and returned the ball to the 6-yard line. A few plays later Graybeal scored on a 3-yard run and it was 28-0.

A bad snap on a punt gave the Vikings the ball at the Rebels’ 14 and Bland did the honors with a 4-yard scoring run and it was 35-0 with 1:32 left in the half.

The second unit played most of the second half.

“It would have been real easy to hang our head, but they wanted to finish on a winning note and our play showed that,” said Webb.

South Gallia (2-8) avoided the shutout when Austin Phillips ran 51 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.

The win enabled the Vikings to finish the season 5-5.

“I’d like to thank the community for their support this year and we look forward to next season,” said Webb.

South Gallia 0 0 6 0 = 6

Symmes Valley 7 28 0 0 = 35

First Quarter

SV – Kyle Bowen 35 run (Cody Bland kick) 9:55

Second Quarter

SV – Kyle Bowen 1 run (Cody Bland kick) 10:24

SV – Evan Herrell 61 run (Cody Bland kick) 7:58

SV – Jesse Graybeal 3 run (Cody Bland kick) 5:24

SV – Cody Bland 4 run (Bland kick) 1:32

Third Quarter

SG – Austin Phillips 51 run (pass failed) 5:52

—————

SG SV

First downs 6 13

Rushes-yards 33-42 44-261

Passing yards 25 9

Total yards 67 270

Cmp-Att-Int 4-14-1 1-3-0

Fumbles-lost 2-0 4-2

Penalties-yards 9-90 9-45

Punts-average 5-28.4 2-29.5

—————

Individual Leaders

RUSHING–South Gallia: Austin Phillips 8-84, Bryce Clary 8-minus 37, B.J. Stanley 3-minus 14, Jeff Clyburn 5-13. Symmes Valley: Tyler Easthom 6-18, Cody Bland 4-41, Kyle Bowen 8-64, Evan Herrell 5-73, Jesse Graybeal 3-11, Justin Payne 2-10, Nathan Dockery 8-29, Cody Myers 7-13, Bo Arthur 1-2.

PASSING–South Gallia: B.J. Stanley 2-8-0 8 Bryce Clary 2-4-1 17, Cory Haner 0-2-0. Symmes Valley: Kyle Bowen 1-2-0 9, Cody Myers 0-1-0.

RECEIVING–South Gallia: Caleb McClanahan 3-9, Danny Matney 1-16. Symmes Valley: Tyler Easthom 1-9.