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Valley loses third straight
By Cameron Macdonald - Citizen Staff Writer
The Valley High School football team’s first Delta Valley Conference game was not going to be an oil painting.
Facing unbeaten Nevada Union in the league opener, it was an uphill battle from the onset for Valley.
The best that the Vikings did was stopping a shutout right before the game ended.
Even so, Nevada Union walked away with a 49-8 victory at Cosumnes River College last Friday.
Valley head coach Preston Jackson had little to say about the game’s results except to praise Nevada Union.
“They’re a good team, bottom line,” he said about the Miners. “They’re easily the best team we’ve played so far this year. We knew that watching them on film last week.”
To make matters worse, Valley running back Marquis Dixon, who leads the team in rushing yards, had to leave the game during the fourth quarter due to an injury.
Nevada Union’s key weapon was its merciless defense. They often shattered the Valley line and nearly picked up and carried Viking receivers back a few yards.
Valley rarely came as close as 20 yards to the end zone and their lone touchdown almost never was.
During the game’s final minute, the Miners defense kept their rivals a few feet away from the goal line until the Vikings finally broke through on running back Brandon Powell’s touchdown. A good two-point conversion later and Valley’s team left the game with at least one success.
The defense had a strong start in the first quarter’s early minutes, but it didn’t last.
Erin Crawford intercepted the ball at Nevada Union’s 40-yard-line and briefly halted the Miners’ heavy advance.
However, Nevada Union’s defense vengefully attacked. Three Miners shoved back Dixon 10 yards, and Nevada Union returned the subsequent punt to Valley’s 20.
Nevada Union’s offense soon moved up toward their end zone and, despite a good defense that kept the Miners away from the goal line for three downs, Nevada Union quarterback Broughan Jantz made an easy run for a touchdown.
The Valley offense then began a game-long pattern where they slowly marched the field’s midway point until the Nevada Union defense stopped them cold.
Whatever breakthroughs the Vikings achieved were soon extinguished by hordes of Miner defenders, or painful yellow flags from the referees.
During the first quarter’s last five minutes, Nevada Union leaped ahead of Valley when Miner running back Jared Ralph returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown.
The Miners’ defense then sacked Valley quarterback Jimmy Cuevas on consecutive plays to force another punt, or to at least attempt one.
One blocked punt later and Nevada Union was now starting their offense on Valley’s 45-yard line. The Viking defense did put up a good fight and once pressured Jantz to throw away the ball.
But all of that effort could not stop another Nevada Union touchdown and a two-point conversion.
Running back Cameron Ryan added a rushing touchdown later in the half.
Before the long second quarter ended, the Miners sacked Cuevas again and buried the Valley offense.
The Vikings’ offense fought hard in the early third quarter and made it to Nevada Union’s 45-yard line, but a series of incomplete passes and pounding from defending Miners forced a punt.
Nevada Union added to the rout after recovering a fumble to set-up a 35-yard touchdown run by Ryan, inflating the lead to 35-0 in the third quarter.
The Miners added two more touchdowns before Valley avoided a shutout in the final minute of regulation.
Facing unbeaten Nevada Union in the league opener, it was an uphill battle from the onset for Valley.
The best that the Vikings did was stopping a shutout right before the game ended.
Even so, Nevada Union walked away with a 49-8 victory at Cosumnes River College last Friday.
Valley head coach Preston Jackson had little to say about the game’s results except to praise Nevada Union.
“They’re a good team, bottom line,” he said about the Miners. “They’re easily the best team we’ve played so far this year. We knew that watching them on film last week.”
To make matters worse, Valley running back Marquis Dixon, who leads the team in rushing yards, had to leave the game during the fourth quarter due to an injury.
Nevada Union’s key weapon was its merciless defense. They often shattered the Valley line and nearly picked up and carried Viking receivers back a few yards.
Valley rarely came as close as 20 yards to the end zone and their lone touchdown almost never was.
During the game’s final minute, the Miners defense kept their rivals a few feet away from the goal line until the Vikings finally broke through on running back Brandon Powell’s touchdown. A good two-point conversion later and Valley’s team left the game with at least one success.
The defense had a strong start in the first quarter’s early minutes, but it didn’t last.
Erin Crawford intercepted the ball at Nevada Union’s 40-yard-line and briefly halted the Miners’ heavy advance.
However, Nevada Union’s defense vengefully attacked. Three Miners shoved back Dixon 10 yards, and Nevada Union returned the subsequent punt to Valley’s 20.
Nevada Union’s offense soon moved up toward their end zone and, despite a good defense that kept the Miners away from the goal line for three downs, Nevada Union quarterback Broughan Jantz made an easy run for a touchdown.
The Valley offense then began a game-long pattern where they slowly marched the field’s midway point until the Nevada Union defense stopped them cold.
Whatever breakthroughs the Vikings achieved were soon extinguished by hordes of Miner defenders, or painful yellow flags from the referees.
During the first quarter’s last five minutes, Nevada Union leaped ahead of Valley when Miner running back Jared Ralph returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown.
The Miners’ defense then sacked Valley quarterback Jimmy Cuevas on consecutive plays to force another punt, or to at least attempt one.
One blocked punt later and Nevada Union was now starting their offense on Valley’s 45-yard line. The Viking defense did put up a good fight and once pressured Jantz to throw away the ball.
But all of that effort could not stop another Nevada Union touchdown and a two-point conversion.
Running back Cameron Ryan added a rushing touchdown later in the half.
Before the long second quarter ended, the Miners sacked Cuevas again and buried the Valley offense.
The Vikings’ offense fought hard in the early third quarter and made it to Nevada Union’s 45-yard line, but a series of incomplete passes and pounding from defending Miners forced a punt.
Nevada Union added to the rout after recovering a fumble to set-up a 35-yard touchdown run by Ryan, inflating the lead to 35-0 in the third quarter.
The Miners added two more touchdowns before Valley avoided a shutout in the final minute of regulation.
