By JIM WALKER

Tribune Sports Editor

LUCASVILLE — When two high-powered offenses go head-to-head, something has to be the deciding factor.

It turned out to be the Chesapeake punting game.

Two mistakes in the punting game proved to be the difference as the Lucasville Valley Indians got past the Panthers 30-22 on Friday.

“Field position was not in our favor. We had to drive the field every time we scored. You can’t play sloppy against a good team. They’re athletic,” said Panthers’ coach Andy Clark.

A bad snap and a shanked punt contributed to 16 Valley points as the Indians stayed unbeaten in four games.

A 6-yard punt on the Panthers’ first series of the game set up the Indians’ first score.

With first down at the Chesapeake 43, Luke Keller ran 33 yards and two plays later Blake Yates ran 5 yards for the touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

Chesapeake came right back to score on the final play of the quarter on a 3-yard run by Patrick Hintz. The drive was aided by a facemask penalty.

Keller broke loose on a 44-yard scoring run that put the Indians up 14-6 midway through the second quarter.

The Panther answered quickly as quarterback Austin McMaster orchestrated a 4-play, 74-yard drive and ran the final 3 yards. He threw to Hintz for the conversion and it was 14-14 with 8:53 left in the half.

Valley took a 21-14 halftime lead as Keller scored on a 5-yard run late in the half. The Panthers avoided disaster when Will Howard intercepted a pass at the 28 but their drive stalled at the 36.

The punting game hurt the Panthers again on fourth down at their own 23 as a bad snap sailed over the punter’s head and was covered in the end zone for a safety and it was 23-14

The Indians ran the ball back to the Chesapeake 36 on the free kick and two plays later Keller ran 28 yards for a touchdown to make it 30-14.

Chesapeake cut the deficit to 30-22 on a 12-yard pass from McMaster to Javon Thompson and conversion run by McMaster with 3:07 to go.

“Our kids didn’t quit. We had a chance to tie it at the end but we just ran out of downs and time,” said Clark. “We played hard, but we can’t be happy with how we played.”

The Panthers had 339 total yards and actually out-gained the Indians by 9 yards. Chesapeake ran for 159 yards and McMaster hit 12 of 27 for 184 yards and two interceptions.

Valley (4-0) ran for 271 yards as Keller had 144 on 18 carries.

Chesapeake 6 8 0 8 = 22

Lucasville 7 14 9 0 = 30

First Quarter

LV – Blake Yates 5 run (Ethan Holbrook kick) 9:18

Ch – Patrick Hintz 3 run (run failed) 0:00

Second Quarter

LV – Luke Keller 44 run (Ethan Holbrook kick) 10:25

Ch – Austin McMaster 3 run (Patrick Hintz pass from Austin McMaster) 8:53

LV – Luke Keller 5 run (Ethan Holbrook kick) 6:09

Third Quarter

LV – Safety (bad snap on punt into end zone) 6:06

LV – Luke Keller 28 run (Ethan Holbrook kick) 4:53

Fourth Quarter

Ch – Javon Thompson 12 pass from Austin McMaster (McMaster run) 3:07

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Ch LV

First downs 16 11

Rushes-yards 46-159 37-271

Passing yards 184 63

Total yards 343 334

Cmp-Att-Int 12-28-2 5-14-0

Fumbles-lost 2-0 0-0

Penalties-yards 4-25 5-48

Punts-average 3-18.6 2-35.0

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING– Chesapeake: Brandon Noble 19-82, Nate Jones 6-52, Patrick Hintz 9-44, Javon Thompson 1-3; Lucasville Valley: Luke Keller 18-144, Blake Yates 7-55, Tyler Rowe 4-44, Brandon Jordan 7-55.

PASSING– Chesapeake: Austin McMaster 12-27-2 184; Lucasville Valley: Blake Yates 5-14-0 63.

RECEIVING– Chesapeake: Javon Thompson 5-129, Patrick Hintz 2-25, Dylan Nichols 2-11, Tommy Noble 2-18, Brandon Noble 1-1; Lucasville Valley: Luke Keller 2-35, Rob Dwyer 2-25, Alex Hartley 1-3.