Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

WILLOW WOOD — Too much of a bad thing for the Symmes Valley Vikings.
The Vikings couldn’t contain the Beaver Eastern skill players in a 24-7 Southern Ohio Conference loss on Friday.
Noah Gray ran 21 times for 151 yards and two touchdowns and caught a scoring pass from Clay Martin who ran 19 times for 111 yards and threw for two scores.
“We fought back. They just out-athleted us. Our kids played hard, Eastern was just a better team,” said Vikings’ coach Rusty Webb said.
Eastern (4-2, 2-1) took the opening kickoff and drove for a score with Gray going 5 yards to make it 6-0.
The Vikings’ Sam Angelo blocked a punt and Symmes Valley had the ball at the Eastern 12-yards line.
Payton Hayes scored on the first play and Evan Holmes kicked the conversion to give the Vikings a 7-6 lead with 2:52 left in the half.
But Gray bolted 53 yards for a touchdown midway through the third quarter and the Eagles had the lead for good at 12-7.
After a three-and-out by the Vikings, Martin had a big run to the 1-yard line and Dalton Tomlinson scored on the next play to make it 18-7 with 3:22 on the clock.
Eastern capped the scoring as Martin hit Gray with a 6-yard scoring pass on fourth-and-6 with 2:23 left in the game.
The Vikings (1-5, 0-3) struggled offensively all night. They finished with 48 total yards and just 7 net yards rushing.
Levi Cade ran four times for 22 yards to lead the Vikings’ ground game. Jordan Lucas was 6-of-11 passing for 41 yards and Angelo caught five passes for 40 yards.
Symmes Valley visits Portsmouth Notre Dame on Saturday.
Eastern       6    0    12    6    =    24
Sym. Valley    0    7    0    0    =    7
First Quarter
BE — Noah Gray 5 run (run failed) 9:18
Second Quarter
SV — Payton Hayes 12 run (Evan Holmes kick) 2:52
Third Quarter
BE — Noah Gray 53 run (run failed) 6:12
BE — Dalton Tomlinson 1 run (run failed) 3:22
Fourth Quarter
BE — 4th and 6 at 6 Noah Gray 6 pass from Clay Martin (run failed) 2:23
———
BE    SV
First downs    15    7
Rushes-yards    42-276    34-7
Passing yards    12    41
Total yards    288    48
Com-Att-Int.    2-9-0    6-11-0
Fumbles-lost    1-1    5-0
Penalties-yards    6-55    4-40
Punts-average    3-00.0    5-32.4
———
Individual Leaders
RUSHING—BE: Noah Gray 21-151, Clay Martin 19-111; SV: Levi Cade 4-22, Jarod Sheppard 4-7, Payton Hayes 11-13, Evan Holmes 5-15, Jordan Lucas 10-minus 50.
PASSING—BE: Clay Martin 2-9-0 12; SV: Jordan Lucas 6-11-0 41.
RECEIVING—BE: Strong 1-6, Gray 1-6; SV: Sam Angelo 5-40, Jarod Sheppard 1-1.