Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

LUCASVILLE — Mistakes at the beginning left the Coal Grove Hornets short on points at the end.

Two first half interceptions helped the Lucasville Valley Indians get a pair touchdowns as they built a 21-0 halftime lead and went on to beat the Hornets 42-22 on Friday.

Coal Grove (1-1) finished with 303 total yards including 178 on the ground led by Austin Ruggles who ran six times for 73 yards and a touchdown.

Quarterback Jesse Rigsby was 5 of 12 for 125 yards but was intercepted twice leading to two Indian touchdowns.

Lucasville Valley (2-0) had 365 total yards with a balanced attack. The Indians ran for 195 yards and threw for 170.

Ty Howard rushed 20 times for 104 yards and a touchdown while Alex Loop carried nine times for 75 yards and three scores to lead the ground game.

Quarterback Bryan Rolfe was 9 of 11 passing for 170 yards and a touchdown.

An interception on the first series of the game gave Valley the ball at the 2-yard line where Rolfe walked into the end zone for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

A 45-yard pass from Rolfe to Ryan Brown set up a 4-yard TD run by Loop and it was 14-0 with 3:09 left in the half.

The key play came when Rolfe picked off a pass on first down after the kickoff and returned it to the Hornets’ 31. Four plays later Rolfe hit Brice Romanello with a 14-yard scoring strike and it was 21-0 with 45 seconds left in the half.

The Indians took the second half kickoff and drove 67 yards in seven plays are Loop went the final 6 yards to make it 28-0.

Coal Grove answered quickly as Ruggles broke loose on a 53-yard scoring run. Rigsby passed to Joe Akers for the conversion and it was 28-8.

A 60-yard pass from Rigsby to Joe Akers set up a 2-yard scoring run by Tanner Murphy and it was 28-14.

The Indians came right back with a scoring drive that resulted in a 14-yard TD run by Loop and it was 35-14 with 11:52 left.

Valley recovered the onside kickoff at their own 44 and Howard had a 1-yard scoring run six plays later for a 42-14 lead.

A 15-yard pass to Daniel Rutherford and a 15-yard keeper by Rigsby set up Isaiah Gunther’s 8-yard touchdown scamper. Gunther ran for the conversion and it was 42-22 with 3:37 to play.

Coal Grove 0 0 14 8 = 22

Lucasville Valley 7 14 7 14 = 42

First Quarter

LV — Bryan Rolfe 2 run (Brice Romanello kick) 10:02

Second Quarter

LV — Alex Loop 4 run (Brice Romanello kick) 3:09

LV — Brice Romanello 14 pass from Bryan Rolph (Romanello kick) 0:45

Third Quarter

LV — Alex Loop 6 run (Brice Romanello kick) 8:58

CG — Austin Ruggles 53 run (Joe Akers pass from Jesse Rigsby) 7:45

CG — Tanner Murphy 2 run (pass failed) 2:46

Fourth Quarter

LV — Alex Loop 14 run (Brice Romanello kick) 11:52

LV — Ty Howard 1 run (Brice Romanello kick) 7:59

CG — Isaiah Gunther 8 run (Gunther run) 3:37

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CG LV

First downs 9 19

Rushes-yards 29-178 38-195

Passing yards 125 170

Total yards 303 365

Cmp-Att-Int 5-12-2 9-11-0

Penalties-ayrds 3-35 2-20

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING—Coal Grove: Austin Ruggles 6-73 TD, Isaiah Gunther 10-38 TD, Tanner Murphy 7-33 TD, Jesse Rigsby 5-21, Daniel Rutherford 1-13; Lucasville Valley: Ty Howard 20-104 TD, Alex Loop 9-75 3TD, Bryan Rolfe 4-12 TD, Sam Basham 3-3, Dylan Howard 2-1.

PASSING— Coal Grove: Jesse Rigsby 5-12-2 125; Lucasville Valley: Bryan Rolfe 9-11-0 170 TD.

RECEIVING— Coal Grove: Joe Akers 2-68, Daniel Rutherford 1-15, Isaiah Gunther 1-11, Sean Paulus 1-31; Lucasville Valley: Ryan Brown 4-78, Ty Howard 3-62, Alex Loop 1-16, Brice Romanello 1-14 TD.