The Valley Lumberjack returned to the gridiron Aug. 29 and won 45-0 against the Hannan Wildcats.

Valley won the toss and elected to take the ball. After a modest gain on the kick, the Lumberjacks gave the ball to senior fullback Cody Bates, who punished any Hannan player who tried to take him down on his way to a three- yard touchdown run. And after a successful PAT by Jeremiah Burch, the ‘Jacks jumped out to a 7-0 lead.

The potent Valley defense held Hannan to a mere four yards of total offense, including only one first down.

It didn’t take long for the ‘Jacks to get the upper hand with their defense holding Hannan to negative yardage and using good field position to garner a 21-0 first quarter lead. That advantage included a Cody Scott 19-yard TD run and a two-yard scamper by Matt Poling. All three of Burch’s point after kicks sailed between uprights.

Poling added a 96-yard punt return and Billy Streets added a six-yard run to give the visiting ‘Jacks a 21-0 lead by the break.

Bates scored a touchdown in the third on a six-yard blast and Cullen Bates scored on a 31-yard TD in the fourth for the final Lumberjack points on the board.

Valley had its way and racked up 370 yards of total offense, all coming on the ground. Drew Wade had 80 yards on four carries to lead the ‘Jacks, while Bates netted 80 yards and two touchdowns. Streets added 68 yards and a TD on six totes and Poling added 30 yards and a pair of TDs that included a 96-yard punt return. Cullen Bates, grounded out 31 yards and Casey Pingley netted 20 yards on two totes.

Hannan had only one yard on 25 carries, while completing 1-5 passes for two-yards and one interception. The Wildcats only had one first down to Valley’s 11.

Defensively, Pingley led the way with 10 solo tackles and three assists, while dropping the Wildcat quarterback three times in the backfield. Cody Scott contributed seven solos, four assists and added a quarterback sack. Streets contributed five solo tackles and four assists, and drilled the helpless Wildcat quarterback once in the backfield. Hunter Ring also rang the Hannan quarterback’s bell with a sack.

The Lumberjacks suited up 34 players and each one played. “My players did very well and played the way we prepared them,” said Valley Head Coach Tom West. “I was very pleased the way our younger players stepped up. Everyone contributed to this win. We had a lot of boys running the ball and ran the ball extremely well. Our defense swarmed to the ball and were quick and fast. It’s a good day to be a Valley Lumberjack.”

The Lumberjacks will visit the Notre Dame Fighting Irish – a team that beat Hundred 46-14 this past Friday – Sept. 4 at 7:30 p.m.