Football

Win-win

Tri-Valley gives undefeated state-ranked Walton its toughest fight of the year

By RICHARD A. ROSS

GRAHAMSVILLE, NY — In the complex world of football, all wins and losses are not created equal. Though the scoreboard read Walton 38, Tri-Valley 0 at the conclusion of this intersectional fray between the Bears and Section Four’s daunting Class D Walton Warriors, Tri-Valley coach John Rusin knew his team had played its most inspired brand of football and taken a major step on its avowed plan to get back to Dietz Stadium in search of the Section Nine Class C title.

Tri-Valley prepared assiduously all week for a crack at the state’s third-ranked Class D team that had previously dismantled Sullivan West 62-16. The Bears agenda: come out and play 48 minutes of their staunchest football and send a message to the Bulldogs that they could play tougher against a common foe.

The final score might misconstrue Tri-Valley as overwhelmed and defeated handily, but Walton coach James Hoover knew better. “This was the hardest hitting team we faced all year,” said Hoover, who credited Tri-Valley’s defense with neutralizing some of the things his (6-0) team had schemed to do.

The Bears had held Walton to a 14-0 lead until the expiring seconds of the first half, when senior quarterback Patrick O’ Brien threaded the needle on a 27-yard touchdown pass to junior Chad Gardepe, who was covered by three Tri-Valley defenders.

Gardepe went skyward, tipped the ball to himself and scored the TD with a highlight reel catch, thereby robbing Tri-Valley of a first-half moral victory as the score soon expanded to 22-0 on the two-point conversion fumble recovery by Chris Mead.

The fumble came on one of the hardest licks of the game, courtesy of Garrett Grey, who would later switch from his position on the offensive line to fullback in the second half in an attempt to get some offense going against Walton’s impenetrable defense.

That, however, would turn out to be mission impossible. Walton’s defense was just that good.

Tri-Valley won the toss and received to start the game. Kevin Drown immediately sliced through the orange-and-white jerseys of “The Orange Crush” to the Walton 40.

But Tri-Valley got a quick wake up call about Walton’s defense, which had shut out its last three opponents and was just beginning its quest to blank number four.

In Hoover’s estimation, this is one of the best defenses he has had in his 32-year tenure at the helm.

The Bears were thrown back and punted to the Warriors, who were stymied by the Bears in the early going. A good punt put the Bears back at their 14, where they found running against the Warriors akin to swimming against a tsunami.

On its second series, Walton rode the powerful running of senior Casey Killian. The Warriors worked it down to the 10 where Killian took it in with 2:24 remaining in the first quarter to make it 6-0. A rollout pass, from Cody Endress for two, gave the Warriors the 8-0 lead.

“We just got knocked down,” yelled Rusin, “What do we do now?” he asked his team.

“Get right up,” they roared, and another fine return on a kickoff by Drown backed up the words. Quarterback Charlie Edwards had precious little time and would be the victim of a number of sacks. The series faltered and Tri-Valley punted and covered the kick well.

In the second quarter, Walton unleashed fullback Richard Fletcher. With 8:12 to go, Logan Wood scored on a four-yard jaunt and Walton led 14-0. The conversion run failed.

The Bears simply could not muster any sustained offense, and the Warriors got it back in Bears’ territory. But this time, the Bears made a key stop and Walton punted.

A 23-yard pass to Nick Cassidy had the Tri-Valley fans stoked, but Edwards was sacked two plays later. Drown got past the safety and Edwards missed a potential touchdown pass as he threw too far.

Tri-Valley punted as the half wound down, and Rusin expressed his pride to his team. But with the clock winding down to zero, O’Brien hit Gardepe on that 27-yard strike, and Mead’s recovery in the endzone of the two-point fumble made it 22-0 at the half.

The Warriors received to start the second half but couldn’t convert on their first series. The Bears uncorked Grey, who galloped 20 yards to the Walton 46, but an offsides penalty hurt the advance. Two more failures to connect led to a punt.

Fletcher and Logan Wood helped garner a first and goal at the TV eight. An eight-yard Fletcher TD made it 28-0, and a pass to Endress increased the lead to 30-0 with 2:20 to go in the third quarter.

A squib kick was misplayed by Tri-Valley, and the Warriors recovered it at the Tri-Valley 28. Just at the start of the fourth quarter, O’Brien found Gardepe again on a 23-yard strike to make it 36-0, and the two-point conversion led to the game’s final score.

Walton rushed the ball 49 times for 319 yards. O’Brien was 2/7/52 with two touchdowns to Gardepe. Tri-Valley’s offensive statistics were negligible.

Walton improved to 6-0. Tri-Valley was only one of three teams to hold them under 44 points.

Rusin compared this loss to the 35-0 blanking against Rye Neck two weeks ago. “I left that game shaking my head,” he said to this writer. But Rusin’s message to his team was upbeat and filled with pride about the effort against the Warriors. “I thought we came closer today as a team than any point this season, even last week in that win. I think there’s more to be learned today in a game like this than that win against Millbrook. I’m very excited about what I see.”

Tri-Valley (3-3) will prepare for its next game against Chester before hosting Sullivan West the following week for what may be the divisional showdown and a preview of the title game at Dietz Stadium.

Walton’s powerful ground attack netted 319 yards on 49 carries as they ruled the time of possession. O’Brien was two for seven for 52 yards in the air. Both of those throws resulted in touchdowns.

Walton will face Hancock this week as its march toward the playoffs continues. Tri-Valley steels itself for a trip to 1-5 Chester.

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