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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Tippecanoe Valley senior students and football players celebrate with the Bell following the Vikings’ 30-0 win over Rochester Friday. Celebrating players include Hunter Paxton and Owen Omondi (seated from left), Braxton Alderfer, Zander Ioannou (66), Parker Adamson (44) and Michael Samuels (68). Alderfer is standing behind Ioannou. Valley has won every Bell game since 2018.
AKRON — Down on the field at Smith-Bibler Memorial Field: Home of Death Valley Football after Friday’s Bell Game between visiting Rochester and Tippecanoe Valley, amidst the hugs and celebrating, one noticed three distinct colors.
There was green and gold, the colors of the Bell. And there was white, the color of the copious amounts of baby powder that lingered over the players, students and fans of the victorious Vikings that made them look ghostly.
The baby powder will wash away quickly. The green and gold on the Bell will linger for another year after an overpowering Valley performance.
Hunter Randall ran for 89 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries, and Colter Blackburn’s blocked punt set up Hunter Paxton’s 2-yard touchdown run on Valley’s first play from scrimmage as the Vikings recorded a 30-0 win.
Valley improved to 2-0 and won their eighth straight Bell Game. They have not lost the Bell since 2017. (The 2021 Bell Game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic at Rochester.)
Rochester fell to 1-1. Since 2021, Rochester is 0-5 against Valley and 40-9 against everyone else.
They were also shut out for the first time since a 35-0 loss to Southwood on Oct. 9, 2020.
Garrett Hart added a 1-yard scoring run for Valley. Valley had 204 yards on the ground and another 31 through the air.
Defensively, Valley held Rochester to 98 yards rushing on 44 carries one week after Rochester ran for 319 yards on 7.9 yards per carry against Southwood. Defensive tackles Michael Samuels and Ruger Benn bottled up Rochester’s between-the-tackles running game, and junior middle linebacker Tyran Kiser, who missed last week’s game against Plymouth, was welcomed back.
Rochester completed two passes, which went for a total of zero yards, and Brixen Blackburn – he’s Colter’s twin brother – intercepted Rochester quarterback Mitchell Clark twice.
Rochester had one first down in the second half. They never got closer than Valley’s 24-yard-line, and by the time that happened in the fourth quarter, they trailed by 30 points.
“I just didn’t make the right play calls tonight when I needed to,” Rochester coach Isaac Shaffer said. “The kids fought hard, so I have to improve myself as a coach.”
Valley studied Rochester’s wing-T attack and maintained their discipline against any misdirection plays, according to Valley coach Stephen Moriarty. Moriarty praised defensive coordinator Kyle Brown’s work during practice.
“That was one of the things we preached all week,” Moriarty said. “Sometimes you’re not going to be involved in the play, but part of your job is to take out blockers, so that others can spill the ball. I thought tonight they were very disciplined, hands on. I’m very proud of the d-line because they freed up some linebackers.”
Rochester highlights included interceptions from linebacker Gavin Pinder and cornerback Liam Spence in the fourth quarter. Spence, a senior who is playing high school football for the first time, got his second interception in as many weeks.
The Rochester defense held Valley senior Owen Omondi, who had 146 yards rushing last week against Plymouth, to -7 rushing yards.
Owen Lett had a special teams highlight, blocking Omondi’s 23-yard field goal attempt on the last play of the first half.
Rochester started the game with an eight-play drive. It included a 1-yard Gavin Pinder run – it was the first carry of Pinder’s career – that gave them a first down with help from a pile push on fourth-and-1 from the 33.
But a holding penalty and a false start penalty would stall the drive, and Rochester lined up to punt on fourth-and-23 at their own 21.
Alex Chapman won the punting job during practice, but Chapman was out with a knee injury suffered against Southwood last week. Spence filled in.
He took the snap, but Colter Blackburn blew up his block and forced his way towards Spence. He stuck out his right hand and blocked it, and Ethan Drudge recovered at the Rochester 6 and returned it four yards before Spence tackled him along the left sideline at the 2.
“Obviously, Alex Chapman is our regular punter, so that already changes things with Alex being a left-footed kicker to Liam Spence being a right-footed kicker,” Shaffer explained. “So we kind of went halfway through the week and thought Alex was the guy. He kind of wasn’t feeling right, so we went ahead and went with Liam. But I’ll have to go back and watch the film to see if it was a timing thing or if somebody got through or what it was.”
Said Moriarty of the blocked punt: “He got through there and did a good job of laying out. We’ve been teaching all week to rip up to the next level, especially on punt. We thought the way they spread out, we could just send a straight four. We’re quick enough up front we thought we could get through, and we did that first one. It set the tone for the game.”
Paxton scored from there. Hart’s two-point conversion run failed, but Valley had the lead.
Rochester took another fourth down chance in the second quarter, but Kiser cut down Kale Shotts for two yards on fourth-and-4 from the 27.
Paxton ran for 45 yards on offense and also is one of the safeties on defense.
“They have a great fullback in Kale Shotts, and they have speed on the field,” Paxton said. “It starts with the front. Our d-linemen did a great job. They stuffed the run. Ty came in and played amazing tonight. Grant played great too. Brixen had two picks too.”
Hart ran 28 yards on a toss sweep on the next play down to the 1 – a face mask penalty on Rochester moved the ball to the half-yard line – and followed it with a touchdown run on the next play.
Another fourth down stop in which Grant Holloway was held to one yard on fourth-and-2 gave Valley the ball back, and they drove 48 yards before Lett’s blocked field goal.
Lett then combined with Shotts to stop Omondi for an 8-yard loss on a counter to start the second half.
But Randall then completed a 12-yard pass to Max Harsh and ran 18 yards for a first down. Two plays later, Paxton ran 13 yards down to the Zebra 19. Two plays later, a late hit penalty on Rochester moved the ball to the Zebra 4. Two plays later, Randall scored from the 1, and Paxton added the two-point conversion run to make it 22-0.
Brixen Blackburn’s first interception set up another Valley touchdown. Grant Paxton had a 17-yard run, and Randall followed with a 12-yard run. Four plays later, Randall capped the drive off with a 3-yard touchdown run, and Mason Miller added the two-point conversion run to make it 30-0.
“It feels great,” Randall said. “Fourth year, it’s all for the community. We just put our hearts out, and we just keep playing, and we go on to next week with Adams Central at home.”
Valley graduated star players like Wes Parker, Grady Moriarty and Gage Overbey from last year’s team but appears to be headed towards their ninth consecutive winning season.
“It’s a community,” Randall said. “It’s a culture. We lose some, and then you gain some. So that’s just how it rolls. Credit to them and their leadership and how they build up and to create us to become leaders as a senior football team, and it’s been great.”
Moriarty said his team had 11 guys going one way. Only Omondi went both ways for the entire game. Hunter Paxton and Max Harsh rotated in at safety, but neither played defense full-time.
Meanwhile, Shaffer said his team dealt with “a lot of cramping,” which forced Camden Susaraba and Lett out of the game, but Shaffer said the team was physically OK.
Tippecanoe Valley 30, Rochester 0
Rochester 0 0 0 0 – 0
Valley 6 8 16 0 – 30
First quarter
TV – Hunter Paxton 2 run (run failed)]
Second quarter
TV – Garrett Hart 1 run (Paxton run)
Third quarter
TV – Hunter Randall 1 run (Paxton run)
TV – Randall 3 run (Mason Miller run)
