After a great ceremony to honor our troops, the Valley and Hundred football teams were anxious to get the game started Friday. The Lumberjacks won the toss and elected to receive. With a short kick from Hundred’s Dylan Murphy, Jack Wells recovered on Valley’s 39. A nice run from Casey Pingley set up a 39-yard pass from Hunter Ring to Collin Bates. Pingley capped the drive with a 15-yard touchdown run. However, Peyton Palmer’s PAT was blocked by a swarm of Hornets.

Palmer’s kickoff was returned by Nick Phillips, just inside Valley territory. Hundred tried the polecat offense, but the ‘Jack defense, led by Clay Ueltschy, held strong. On third and long, Chase West came through with an interception returned for a Valley touchdown. The PAT was no good.

On the following kickoff, Thomas Preston returned the ball to the 29. After a nice stop by Ring and Ueltschy, the Hornets fumbled and Valley recovered. The drive was led by Pingley, along with T.C. Long. Long earned the touchdown with a 10-yard run, while Ring completed a pass to Ueltschy for the two-point conversion.

Following a three-and-out from the Hornets and a blocked punt, Valley took over possession on the Hundred 27. Once again, Pingley and Long carried the Lumberjack offense down to the Hornet six yard line, where Pingley finished the drive with a six-yard score. The PAT failed to hit the mark.

On the ensuing kick return, Thomas Preston was stood up with a nice tackle by Jon Smallwood at the Hundred 29 yard line. Murphy started the drive with a nice QB keep for 14 yards.

After a Murphy pass to Preston and a couple yards from Raymond Yoho on the ground, Jacob Watson gained enough real estate for another Hornet first down. On the following play, Yoho fumbled and Ueltschy scooped it up for a Lumberjack recovery.

The Valley jayvees came off the bench to see some action on offense, but were held to a three-and-out. The ‘Jacks Triston Kocher kicked a booming 44 yard punt to put the Hornet offense inside its own 20 yard line. After a fumble recovery by Collin Bates, the Jacks started in good field position. However, neither team was able to capitalize before the half was over.

Hundred started the second half with a four-and-out, but the Valley offense completed a 70-yard drive, capped off by a 24-yard rushing TD run by Pingley.

Palmer split the uprights on the PAT. The Hundred offense then gained some momentum with an impressive 42-yard run from Preston. Deep into Valley territory, the Hornets threatened, but the ‘Jacks’ defense held true on fourth and four. It was then that Pingley exploded for an 89-yard sprint down the right sideline to finish the scoring for the Lumberjacks.

Pingley continued his outstanding night with a recovery on a high kickoff from Palmer. The Hornets regained possession after a Hundred defensive back picked off Valley quarterback Hayden Lancaster.

After each squad turned the ball over on downs, the Hornet offense completed a 40-yard scoring drive. Thomas Preston capped the drive with a five-yard TD run.

Hundred was led by Preston with 104 yards on 14 carries. Murphy also had a good offensive outing, with 66 yards on the ground and 44 yards through the air.

The Valley offense was led by Pingley with a season-high 216 yards on 14 carries. He also finished with four rushing touchdowns. Ring completed two passes, both to Bates, for 47 yards. Also adding to the Lumberjacks’ ground game were Donald Smith, Daniel Sell, Ring, Hayden Lancaster, Taylor, and Collin Bates.

Ueltschy led the defensive attack with 18 tackles, while Smallwood and Rider Scyoc had 13 and nine tackles, respectively.

Valley Coach Tom West was very pleased with his team’s performance. Nineteen of his 26 available players started on either offense or defense, and everyone saw playing time. “I’m sure we made some mistakes, but overall we played well both offensively and defensively,” said West.

The Hornets will host Clay-Battelle Friday, while the Lumberjacks will travel to Bridgeport High School to tangle with Notre Dame. Both games are scheduled to kickoff at 7:30 p.m.