Austin Hannah, Contributor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
LUCASVILLE — Good things come to those who wait.
Valley has been waiting 10 years to have a football team with this level of promise. Nothing changed on Friday, either, as the Indians continued to impress.
Behind a pair of touchdown passes from Hunter Cunningham and a defense ready to be tested in the secondary, the Indians earned a 24-7 victory over Piketon in non-conference action — the Redstreaks’ first loss.
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
“We knew that was a huge game for us, so there were definitely some nerves and it got us off to a slow start,” Valley’s Gabe McNeil said. “Our defense played a bend-but-don’t-break style and set the tone throughout the night. Once we got rolling and felt a rhythm, we knew we had the game in hand and finished.”
The victory marks the program’s first 3-0 start since 2015. In the past two seasons, they’ve won just three games in each.
“We’re finally getting healthy and everyone across the board played such a great game, especially on the defensive side,” Valley coach Nolan Crabtree said. “Coach [Luke] Keller did a great job getting the defense ready and having a great game plan. It all came down to toughness and I couldn’t be more proud of how our guys played.”
Both teams’ opening drives resulted in nothing.
But Valley was about to find its footing, and in a big way. Kickstarted by a 40-yard run from Anthony Aaron, Hunter Cunningham dropped back and found Aidan Spang for a 25-yard touchdown catch, putting Valley ahead 7-0 after the first quarter.
Piketon (2-1) pieced together a drive, but the Indians’ defense came up with a fourth down stop to regain possession.
On the first play following the stop, Cunningham swung the ball out to McNeil, who eluded a few defenders before cutting back inside to score on a 49-yard touchdown, doubling the Indians’ lead 14-0 at halftime.
“We felt great at halftime, but we had that same feeling last year when we played West and we ended up losing that game,” McNeil said. “At some point, we knew we’d get punched in the mouth so we made sure to emphasize fishing during the half.”
Defense was the name of the game in the third.
Piketon forced a fumble, but Valley got a fourth down stop on the Redstreaks’ next drive. That was followed by punts on three straight possessions … until Valley’s Braxten Conaway picked off a pass.
Although the Indians’ next drive didn’t end with a touchdown, they still put points on the board when Jaylen Bender hit a 23-yard field goal to give Valley its largest lead of the night, 17-0.
The Redstreaks responded swiftly.
Wyatt Savage took a handoff and sprinted 60 yards to the house, cutting the deficit to 17-7 heading to the fourth.
And, feeling a swing of momentum, the Redstreaks’ defense got a huge stop with an interception from Noah Ross. However, it was short-lived as McNeil returned the favor on a fourth down play, giving Valley the football back.
Later, after yet another defensive stop from the Indians, Aaron out a cap on the night with a two-yard touchdown plunge to round out the night’s final and keep Valley unbeaten.
The Indians returns to action on Friday at Waverly to open SOC play, while Piketon hosts Zane Trace to open SVC action.
“It’s one week at a time. This was a huge game and win for us, so now we move onto the next one,” McNeil said. “Playing Waverly next week is a great challenge for us, and one we look forward to as we open up conference play. We just have to continue staying focused.”
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