LUCAS, STAMBAUGH, BLANCHAT, HEBLE LEAD VIKINGS
By William
HILLSBORO – After going two games and one quarter scoreless, the Smoky Valley football team blew open the offensive running attack and outscored Hillsboro 38-36 on the road Friday to earn the Vikings their first victory of the 2020 season.
The Vikings spotted the host Trojans an 8-0 first quarter lead before getting the offense rolling and driving down within the 10-yard line early in the second quarter before sophomore Kade Blanchat barreled in from four yards out to get Smoky Valley’s first score of the season. With senior Jake Lucas running for the two-point conversion the Vikings tied the score at 8-8.
Almost six minutes later, senior Brandt Heble dashed in from the 10-yard line to give the Vikings their second score of the game and with another Lucas run for a two-point conversion, Smoky Valley had a 16-8 lead.
After Hillsboro bounced back with a 50-yard scoring play to tie the game, the Vikings got the ball late in the first half and Lucas ran it in from one yard out to give Smoky Valley their third score of the game. With a two-point conversion pass from Lucas to Haven Lysell-Stewart, Smoky Valley was able to take a 24-16 lead into the halftime break.
After nearly going scoreless in the third quarter, another young Viking running back, sophomore Trystan Stambaugh pounded into the end zone from one-yard out with just 15-seconds to go to give Smoky Valley a 30-16 advantage heading into the final stanza of play.
When Hillsboro pulled within a touchdown, Smoky Valley rebounded with a spectacular 49-yard scoring run by Blanchat, followed by a two-point conversion pass from Lucas to Stambaugh to give the Vikings a commanding 38-22 lead with about two and a half minutes to play.
Hillsboro made life exciting for Viking fans as they managed to score twice in the final two minutes of the game on 30 and 29 yard runs, but failed to convert on one of their two-point conversions and Smoky Valley was able to hold on and get their first victory of the season 38-36.
The Viking offense finally found a groove with 445 yards of total offense and 28 first downs with the running game being their main focus as they rambled for 418 yards on 61 carries and had the ball for over 30 minutes in the contest. Hillsboro gave the Smoky Valley a test as they passed for 274 yards and ran for 137 but created a pair of costly turnovers that cost them the game.
Four Vikings took care of the rushing attack led by sophomore Trystan Stambaugh who recorded 128 yards on 20 carries, while quarterback Jake Lucas also went for over 100 yards with 124 on 16 totes. Blanchat added 89 yards on 12 carries and Heble ran for 77 on 13 carries.
Defensively, Smoky Valley was led by Lucas who recorded seven tackles on the night while Heble had 5.5 and Tate Brewer had 5. Haven Lysell-Stewart had a pair of tackles for loss of yardage and a total of 4.5 while Austin Sharp recorded three tackles in the game with one being a sack and another being a tackle for loss of yardage.
Now 1-2 on the season and hopefully having the offense untracked, Smoky Valley will return to the competitive field on Friday, September 25 when they host the unbeaten Colby Eagles. Colby is 3-0 for the season and recorded a 13-8 win over Ulysses on Friday night.
SMOKY VALLEY at Hillsboro:
SCORING: 1 2 3 4 FINAL
SMOKY VALLEY 0 24 6 8 38
Hillsboro 8 8 0 20 36
(Team, Scoring Play, Extra Point, Time in Quarter, Score)
1ST QUARTER:
Hillsboro = Scored on a 1-yard run (2-point conversion was good) 10:21 0-8
2ND QUARTER:
VIKINGS = Kade Blanchat scored on a 4-yard run (Jake Lucas ran for 2-point conversion) 10:08 8-8
VIKINGS = Brandt Heble scored on a 10-yard run (Jake Lucas ran for 2-point conversion) 4:40 16-8
Hillsboro = Scored on a 50-yard run (Pass play for 2-point conversion) 3:33 16-16
VIKINGS = Jake Lucas scored on a 1-yard run (Jake Lucas to Haven Lysell-Stewart pass for 2-point conversion) 00:11 24-16
3RD QUARTER:
VIKINGS = Trystan Stambaugh scored on a 1-yard run (2-point conversion failed) 00:15 30-16
4TH QUARTER:
Hillsboro = Scored on a 6-yard pass play (Kick failed) 8:40 30-22
VIKINGS = Kade Blanchat scored on a 49-yard run (Jake Lucas to Trystan Stambaugh pass for 2-point conversion) 2:47 38-22
Hillsboro = Scored on a 30-yard pass play (2-point conversion failed) 1:55 38-28
Hillsboro = Scored on a 29-yard pass play (Ran for 2-point conversion) 1:23 38-36
TEAM STATS:
VIKINGS Hillsboro
1st Downs 28 15
Total Yards (Plays-Yds) 63-445 41-411
Passing (Comp-Atts-Yds-Tds-Int) 2-2-27-0-0 16-21-274-3-1
Rushing (Atts-Yds-Tds) 61-418-5 21-137-2
Penalties (#-Yds) 4-20 5-30
Turnovers (Fumbles-Lost-Int) 3-2-0 2-1-1
Time of Possession 30:32 17:28
SMOKY VALLEY VIKINGS INDIVIDUAL STATS:
Passing (Comp-Atts-Yds-Tds-Int): Jake Lucas 2-2-27-0-0.
Rushing (Atts-Yds-Tds): Trystan Stambaugh 20-128-1; Jake Lucas 16-124-1; Kade Blanchat 12-89-2; Brandt Heble 13-77-1.
Receiving (Rec-Yds-Tds): Brandt Heble 1-20-0; Haven Lysell-Stewart 1-7-0.
Defense (Tackles-Solo-Assist-Sacks-TFL-Int): Jake Lucas 7.0-5-4-0-0-0; Brandt Heble 5.5-5-1-0-0-0-; Tate Brewer 5.0-4-2-0-0-0; Haven Lysell-Stewart 4.5-2-5-0-2.0-0; Austin Sharp 3.0-2-2-1.0-1.5-0; Kort Sjogren 2.5-1-3-0-0.5-0; Justin Holt 2.0-0-4-0.5-1.0-0; Trystan Stambaugh 1.5-1-1-0-1.5-0; Tanner Luttig 1.5-0-3-0.5-0.5-0; Braxton House 1.0-1-0-0-0-0; Kade Blanchat 0.5-0-1-0-0-1.
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