By JUSTIN UMBERSON
Register Correspondent
VALLEY VIEW — The Valley View Eagles held off swarming bugs and a third-quarter comeback attempt from the Alvord Bulldogs to win its second game in a row 41-20.
Alvord (1-1) scored 14 third-quarter points to move within a touchdown of the home team, but the Valley View (2-1) offense rallied for 13 unanswered points to bring the game to its final score.
“They had all of the momentum,” Valley View head coach Terry Felderhoff said. “The ground game came alive in the fourth quarter and that is what really put the game away.”
The Eagle defense allowed over 300 total yards during the first three quarters of the game, but Felderhoff praised the team for forcing three turnovers, overcoming adversity and bending but not breaking.
“When we walked off the practice field last time we thought we would have two kids who didn’t play tonight,” Felderhoff said. “It was like a three-ring circus or Keystone Cops because we were just throwing kids out there and they were having to play out of position and to the kids’ credit they handled it.”
Last week against the Chico Dragons, Valley View’s defense did not surrender a point while the offense ran up 54 points, but Alvord scored a touchdown midway through the first quarter. Felderhoff said the Bulldogs ability to score quickly was not a result of overconfidence from the previous week.
“It was one win. If you get overconfident because of one win it is going to be a long season,” Felderhoff said. “We played our tails off until we could get things headed in the right direction.”
Eagle junior quarterback Scott Willis often saw the pocket collapse in front of him, but was able to get away from the pass rush with his legs and looked downfield, where he often found an open receiver.
Willis passed for 167 yards 4 touchdowns and no interceptions, as he completed 11 of his 18 attempts. He also ran the ball 16 times, including a fumble as the team’s only turnover, amassing 132 more yards.
Junior running back Dustyn Whetzel contributed 48 rushing yards on 10 carries. Junior wide receiver A.J Kassen hauled in two of Willis’ touchdown passes, while junior receiver Casey Boez and senior tight end Cameron Vesperman caught one each.
“Two weeks ago we weren’t able to get our defense off the field and it cost us the game,” Felderhoff said. “We forced a few three-and-outs and let our offense get on the field and put together some time consuming drives.”
