Big Reds put up strong effort vs. Spring Valley in loss
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PARKERSBURG -- A combination of the running game, big passing plays, and three interceptions doomed the hosting Parkersburg Big Reds, as Spring Valley raced to a 34-10 victory at Stadium Field to improve to .500 on the young season on Friday night.
A balanced attack on offense kept the Big Reds defense honest, as Spring Valley had a total of 480 yards with the rock (287 rushing/193 passing). Timberwolves receiver Ty Bartrum was a problem throughout the night, keeping multiple Spring Valley drives going by finding holes in the Parkersburg defense. Bartrum had 85 receiving yards on just four catches with a receiving, rushing touchdown, and two interceptions including a pick-six to give Spring Valley the early lead in the first quarter. Quarterback Dalton Fouch completed 11 passes in 17 attempts for 193 yards and two touchdowns. Fouch was also a threat on the ground rushing for 71 yards on 12 carries.
Running back Jace Caldwell had a game-highs in 107 rushing yards and 15 carries, and reaching paydirt once.
"We wanted to be balanced, and I thought we were pretty balanced. We just wanted to get better from week one to week two. And besides the enormous amount of penalties, I thought we did," Spring Valley head coach Brad Dingess said. "We still have a lot to correct. We got a lot of guys that this was only their second varsity game. I was proud of them."
On the opening drive of the first quarter, the Big Reds would reach inside the Timberwolves' ten-yard line. But would only leave three points on the board, as a PHS false start and a sack from Matthew Hall lead to a 35-yard field goal by Casey Stanley with four minutes left in the first. PHS running back Adrian Snodgrass rushed for 50 yards on the drive, including a 22-yard gallop that put the Big Reds in Spring Valley's red zone.
Spring went on a 13 play drive on their first drive of the game, but penalties doomed the Timberwolves, leading to a punt.
Receiving the ball from via a Timberwolves punt, Parkersburg was quickly stuffed on two straight rushing plays, and on third and sixth, Bartrum anticipated a Bryson Singer pass for a 29-yard pick-six to give Spring Valley a 6-3 lead.
After a PHS punt and coming off two good runs by running back Cody Shy in the first two plays in the opening of the second quarter. Quarterback Fouch found Ben Turner for the 52-yard touchdown to make the Spring Valley lead to double digits earlier in the second quarter.
Quickly receiving the ball after forcing a Big Red three and out, Spring Valley went on a 13 play, 76-yard drive that was capped off by a 28 touchdown pass from Fouch to Bartrum to make the score 19-3 with about three minutes left in the second.
PHS showed signs of life when quarterback David Parsons, who came in during the second quarter, found Stanley near the Big Reds sidelines who burst downfield for the 40-yard touchdown. Stanley would cut the Timberwolves lead into single digits, connecting with the extra point to make it a 19-10 game before both teams went into the locker rooms for intermission.
PHS nearly forced a fourth down on the Timberwolves opening drive in the second half on their 42-yard line, however, Fouch found Bartrum downfield and Bartrum made it hard for Big Red defenders to bring him down, before finally getting down on the 15-yard line. Spring Valley would run the play on three straight plays that ended with a Bartrum three-yard touchdown run.
Despite Spring Valley reaching the red zone, the PHS defense forced a punt, getting a sack from Stanley and Austin Fleming. However, the Big Reds would turn the ball over on their 11-yard line off a miscue from Parsons during a shovel pass behind the line that a Spring Valley player fell on. The Timberwolves would take advantage of the good field position. With Caldwell reaching paydirt on an eight-yard run to make it a 34-10 lead in favor of Spring Valley.
PHS' Parsons went 8 for 12 with 116 passing yards and one touchdown and two interceptions. Singer was unable to complete a pass in four attempts with one interception
Snodgrass was leading Big Red in the rushing department despite leaving the game in the second quarter due to an injury, having 66 rushing yards on seven carries.
In the receiving game, Singer had a team-high of 50 yards on five catches, and Anthony Ice hauled in two catches for 25 yards.
"They hit some big passes when we needed to get off the field, and offensively we shot ourselves in the foot over and over and over and over. We had three drives in the red zone and self-destructed," Parkersburg head coach Mike Byus said. "We’ll just get in Monday, evaluate our health, and start working to get better. That’s what we always do, we try to try to go from one day to the next one and get better, that’s all we know how to do."
Tyler Bennett can be reached at tbennett@newsandsentinel.com