By Brian Ptashinski @BPtashinski on Twitter
SLATINGTON- There is no substitute for speed. A gallant Valley View Cougar football team found this out first hand Friday night at Northern Lehigh”s Bulldog Stadium in their matchup with District 12 Imhotep Charter.
When the final whistle blew, Valley View saw themselves on the short-end of a 41-0 score in the PIIAA State 4A quarterfinal. Imhotep advances to face Bethlehem Catholic next week at a site and time TBD.
Imhotep racked up 560 yards in total offense, 471 of those came via the ground game. The Panthers averaged 15 yards per carry.
The game began inauspiciously for Valley View as Imhotep’s Isheem Young took the opening kickoff from his 19 and returned it 35 yards. A face mask penalty on Valley View setup the Panthers on the Cougar’s 31. It took the Panthers just two plays and 25 seconds to score on a Jalen Suttob-Christian 15-yard run and a 6-0 lead after the missed PAT.
On the initial Valley View drive, they went three and out. On the punt, the snap sailed high and rolled into the end zone. The Cougars’ Kyle Kwalinski recovered, but was tackled for a safety making the score 8-0.
Just barely a minute into the second quarter, Imhotep made it 15-0. Tykee Smith went in from two yards out, capping an 87-yard, six-play drive.
The Panthers struck again as Khadarius Sampson ripped off a 69-yard run to make it 22-0. Then with just 2.4 seconds before halftime, Young was on the receiving end of a Christian screen pass that covered 59 yards making the score 28-0.
“They were impressive. Their speed is something else. We were tackling ghosts all night. We seem to get there and the next second they were by us,” Valley View coach George Howanitz stated.
The second half would find the Cougars facing the mercy rule as Sampson found the end zone from six yards out and then Young capped off the scoring with a 63-yard scoring play in the fourth quarter.
