Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

WILLOW WOOD — Alert! Alert! This is not a drill.

Coaches instruct players about various game situations and hope their players respond under game conditions.

Symmes Valley’s Quinton Bare responded well and the Vikings took advantage of the opportunity to slip past the Buffalo (W.Va.) Bisons 21-20 on Friday.

Buffalo’s Levi Jordan lined up for a 34-yard field goal attempt, but his kick went high into the air, well short of its destination at the back of the end zone. Bare caught the ball and returned it all the way to the Buffalo 30-yard line.

A 20-yard pass from Tyler Rowe to Austin Owens got the ball to the 4-yard line, an offsides penalty moved it two yards closer and then D.J. Miller scored a touchdown with 35 seconds to play that tied the game.

Tyler Ferguson kicked his third extra point of the game to give the Vikings the lead.

“Our kids were alert and took advantage of the situation,” said Vikings’ coach Rusty Webb. “We try to teach the rules and go over different situations in practice so that they recognize them if they occur in a game.”

On the first play following the kickoff, Miller intercepted a pass and the Vikings ran out the clock to clinch their eighth win in 10 games.

Symmes Valley rushed 58 times for 400 yards and Rowe was 3 of 5 passing for 71 more yards. However, the Vikings were plagued by three fumbles and four major penalties.

Alec Herrell led the Vikings with 226 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries. Miller finished with 51 yards on 12 tries and Rowe had 49 yards on 16 attempts.

Buffalo (7-2) was led by Jordan who completed 9 of 17 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns and the one interception. He also ran 7 times for 33 yards.

Laythem Good carried 15 times for 84 yards and caught five passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns.

Jordan hit Good with a 69-yard scoring pass on the first play of the game to make it 6-0.

Symmes Valley drove the ball to the Buffalo 34 only to fumble the ball away on its first possession. The Bisons took advantage by driving 66 yards in eight plays capped by Jordan’s 1-yard run to make it 13-0.

The Vikings came right back to score as Herrell broke loose on a 56-yard scoring run with 4:17 left in the first quarter and it was 13-7.

Another fumble gave Buffalo the ball at the 47 and they scored five plays later when Jordan and Good clicked on a 33-yard touchdown pass play. Jordan’s kick opened up a 20-7 lead with 5:53 left in the half.

Herrell got the Vikings back in the game on the first play following the ensuing kickoff as he bolted 61 yards for a score and it was 20-14 with 7:02 left in the half.

Symmes Valley did not allow Buffalo to score in the second half, but the Vikings were struggling as well.

Buffalo got inside the Vikings’ 20-yard line and set up for a field goal. But the Bisons faked the attempt only to find the Vikings were not fooled and they held and took over on downs.

However, Symmes Valley fumbled the ball back to Buffalo to set up the pop-up field goal attempt that led to the Vikings’ winning score.

“(Buffalo) came ready to play. Our kids buckled down in the second half, especially on the defensive side,” said Webb.

“I’m very proud of the character of our kids. We showed great character tonight.”

Buffalo 13 7 0 0 = 20

Symmes Valley 7 7 0 7 = 21

First Quarter

Bu — Laythem Good 69 pass from Levi Jordan (kick failed) 11:41

Bu — Levi Jordan 1 run (Jordan kick) 6:14

SV — Alec Herrell 56 run (Tyler Ferguson kick) 4:17

Second Quarter

Bu — Laythem Good 33 pass from Levi Jordan (Jordan kick) 7:36

SV — Alec Herrell 61 run (Trey Ferguson kick) 7:02

Fourth Quarter

SV — D.J. Miller 2 run (Trey Ferguson kick) 0:35

Team Statistics

Buf SV

First downs 12 21

Rushes-yards 34-156 58-400

Passing yards 176 71

Total yards 332 471

Cmp-Att-Int 9-17-1 3-5-0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 5-3

Penalties-yards 5-45 4-65

Punts-average 3-31.0 1-28.0

Individual Leaders

RUSHING—Buffalo: Laythem Good 15-84, Bubby Legg 8-44, Levi Jordan 7-33; Symmes Valley: Alec Herrell 23-226, D.J. Miller 12-51, Tyler Rowe 16-49, Tanner Mays 2-2, Austin Owens 4-18, Quinton Bare 1-56.

PASSING—Buffalo: Levi Jordan 9-17-1 176 2-TD; Symmes Valley: Tyler Rowe 3-5-0 71.

RECEIVING—Buffalo: Laythem Good 5-113 2-TD, Garison Erwin 3-50, Jordan Tucker 1-13; Symmes Valley: Austin Baldwin 1-37, Austin Owens 1-20, Dustin Holbrook 1-14.