Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

WILLOW WOOD — The Symmes Valley Vikings didn’t want a crystal ball to see into the future. They were only concerned with the present.
Although the Vikings have two big Southern Ohio Conference games against Oak Hill and Portsmouth Notre Dame the next two weeks, they took care of the task at hand Friday with a 55-12 rout of the Sciotoville East Tartans.
“Our kids did a great job not looking ahead. They came out and took care of business from the start,” said Vikings’ coach Rusty Webb.
“We made some big plays on both sides of the ball. We had some big runs on offense and the defense made some big plays with fumble recoveries and the interception.”
Symmes Valley (5-2, 2-0) had 438 total yards with 370 coming on the ground. Tyler Row ran for 119 yards and three touchdowns on just six carries, Payton Hayes had 88 yards on seven attempts and Tanner Mays rushed four times for 80 yards.
Mays and Hayes each ran for a score.
East (1-6, 0-2) used a 55-yard punt to pin the Vikings back at their 20-yard line to start the game. But the Vikings went on an 8-play drive with Hayes going the final 2 yards for the score. Lane Wilson kicked the conversion for a 7-0 lead.
Symmes Valley recovered a fumble at their own 47 and Rowe went the distance on the first play from scrimmage to make it 14-0 at the 3:50 mark.
The Vikings put together a 73-yards, 5-play drive that spilled over into the second quarter. Hayes hit Brandon Craft with a 29-yard scoring pass and the lead was 21-0.
Mays had a 50-yard run that set up Rowe’s 11-yard TD run on the next possession and the Vikings led 28-0.
A long kickoff return by Akia Brown gave East the ball at the Vikings’ 29 and Brown scored on a fourth down play from 14 yards out and it was 28-6.
But the Vikings answered as they went 54 yards in seven plays capped by Mays’ 13-yard run and it was 35-6 with 1:17 left.
East went to the air but Phillip Combs picked off a pass and ran it back 37 yards for a touchdown with no time on the clock. Tyler Ferguson’s conversion kick made it 42-6 at the half.
“Our young kids are doing a great job of stepping up and we’re going to need that the next couple of weeks,” said Webb.
Symmes Valley began the second half at the Tartans’ 48 and Rowe did the scoring honors on the first play and it was 48-6.
Cory Thacker had a 9-yard scoring run that culminated a 55-yard, 7-play drive and Ariel Brumfield’s conversion kick gave the Vikings a 55-6 lead with 4:26 left in the third quarter.
Sciotoville East    0    6    0    6    =    12
Symmes Valley     14    28    13    0    =    55
First Quarter
SV —Payton Hayes 2 run (Lane Wilson kick) 6:17
SV —Tyler Rowe 53 run (Lane Wilson kick) 3:50
Second Quarter
SV — Brandon Craft 29 pass from Payton Hayes (Lane Wilson kick) 11:46
SV —Tyler Rowe 11 run (Lane Wilson kick) 7:53
SE —Akia Brown 14 run (pass failed) 4:39
SV —Tanner Mays 13 run (Lane Wilson kick) 1:17
SV — Phillip Combs 37 interception return (Tyler Ferguson kick) 0:00
Third Quarter
SV —Tyler Rowe 48 run (kick failed) 11:38
SV — Cory Thacker 9 run (Ariel Brumfield kick) 4:26
Fourth Quarter
SE — Jordan Bowen 4 run (run failed) 6:07
——
SE    SV
First downs    13    15
Rushes-yards    47-195    35-370
Passing yards    25    68
Total yards    220    438
Cmp-Att-Int    1-5-1    3-3-0
Fumbles-lost    2-2    1-0
Penalties-yards    5-25    2-20
Punts-average    2-44.5    1-48.0
——
Individual Leaders
RUSHING—Sciotoville East: Akia Brown 31-166, Jordan Bowen 9-39; Symmes Valley: Brandon Craft 2-17, Payton Hayes 7-88, Collin Webb 3-30, Tanner Mays 4-80, Tyler Rowe 6-119, Dustin Holbrook 2-4, Kyle Vallance 2-3, Seth Jarrell 2-6, Cory Thacker 2-13, Levi Cade 4-11.
PASSING—Sciotoville East: Eric Lowe 1-4-1 25, Michael Stiltner 0-1-0; Symmes Valley: Payton Hayes 3-3-0 68.
RECEIVING—Sciotoville East: Mark Miller 1-25; Symmes Valley: Brandon Craft 1-29, Cameron Meadows 1-36, Collin Webb 1-3.