H/A

222

367

A

24

13

W

1-0

H

34

L

1-1

H

2-1

H

2-2

0-1

A

2-3

0-2

H

2-4

0-3

A

2-5

0-4

A

48

76

2-6

0-5

H

44

14

3-6

1-5

A

8

32

3-7

1-6

H/A

67

156

W/L

0

42

L

0-1

A

0-1-1

0-2-1

0-3-1

0-3-2

A

12

0

1-3-2

13

12

2-3-2

Valley View braves weather, pounds Southside 42-0
August 29, 2005

By David Grim
NEARsports.com

JONESBORO - With the outer band of Hurricane Katrina drenching Blazer Stadium, Valley View displayed a complete role reversal from last week's loss and downed the Batesville Southside Southerners 42-0.

"You have to admire these fans," said Valley View head coach Randy Coleman. "They came out in this weather and we fed off of their enthusiasm. I didn't expect it to be a big crowd."

The Blazers (1-1) held the Southerners (0-1) to a three-and-out possession to begin the game. Valley View took over on its own 37-yard line and drove 63 yards in just 5 plays. Bret Gschwend capped the drive with a 16 yard touchdown run. Austin Byrd kicked the extra point to make the score 7-0 with just under four minutes gone from the clock.

A Southside fumble recovered by Valley View's Cody Prater gave the ball to the Blazers for their next scoring drive. Eight plays and 58 yards later, Blazer quarterback Kevin Burgi called his own number for the next Valley View touchdown, a five yard keeper with 5:12 left in the half. Byrd's kick set the halftime score at 14-0.

Valley View got the ball to start the second half. Jacob Ashburn's 19 yard kickoff return allowed the Blazers to start the drive at their own 43. The drive covered 57 yards in 9 plays and ended with another quarterback keeper from Burgi. After his 4 yard touchdown, Gschwend added the two-point conversion to make the score 22-0 with 5:41 left in the third quarter.

Another Southside fumble, recovered by Valley View's Chase Cooper, gave the Blazers the ball on the Southerners' 21-yard line. Byrd took it in from there on the next play. The two point try failed, and Valley View led 28-0.

The Southerners were forced to punt late in the third quarter from deep in their own territory. Ian Bailey fielded the punt at the Southside 35-yard line and returned it for a Blazer touchdown with 45 seconds left in the third quarter. Burgi's two-point conversion made the score 36-0 and put the "mercy rule" in effect for the final period.

Ashburn went in the game as quarterback for the Blazers in the fourth quarter. He scored Valley View's final touchdown from four yards out with 6:13 left in the game.

"Last week," said Coleman, "bad things happened to us at the start of the game and we got down emotionally and never recovered. This week, the reverse happened, we had good things happen early and we fed off of that emotionally. We were intimidated last week. This week I think we intimidated them."

Ashburn led Valley View's rushing game with 101 yards on 7 carries. Gschwend added 93 yards on 14 carries. He also caught two passes for another 29 yards.

Batesville Southside will take Labor Day off and travel to Cave City on Monday, September 12. Valley View will face the Cavemen a week earlier, next Monday night.