ALMEDIA – When a high school team accomplishes something that hadn’t been done while any of its current players were alive, then you know the program is making progress.
With a 50-12 win over Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech on Saturday, Cowanesque Valley improved to 3-2 on the season. It marked the first time in the 2000s that the Indians have had a winning record at the halfway point of the regular season.
“I got here two years ago and we were on an 18-game losing streak. We won three that first year and then two out of seven last year, so for these guys, winning three out of their first five is unprecedented so I’m pretty happy with that but you can still see (room for improvement),” said Cowanesque Valley coach Mike Schmitt. “We’re still trying to get over that hump of being able to do everything right all the time. We’re still building a culture of being good no matter what.”
The Indians came out on top and in a big way despite CMVT controlling the ball for 35:02 out of 48 minutes. Cowanesque Valley scored five touchdowns on drives of under two minutes, including three that took under a minute, and also added a score on special teams.
“We were able to do what we wanted offensively and we’ve got some receivers that are really quick,” said Schmitt.
The Indians’ first drive would be an accurate representation of their quick-strike method that they used throughout the game. After forcing a CMVT three-and-out, the Indians took over on their own 27, and on the second play from scrimmage, Jacob Schmitt found Tucker St. Peter for a 59-yard touchdown reception to cap a :19 drive. That was the first of three touchdown tosses on the afternoon for Schmitt, who threw for 228 yards and also ran for a score.
After the teams traded interceptions later in the first quarter, Cowanesque Valley struck on a :37 drive, which also took just two plays, but this one began at the Ram 14-yard line, and was capped by Schmitt’s eight-yard run.
The Indians made it a three-score game on their next drive as Tim Freeman capped a five-play, 43-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run. This drive took an eternity compared with their first two scoring drives – all of 1:39.
The Rams then put together their first of two long scoring drives in the game that spanned nearly 17 combined minutes. This one took up nearly the entire second quarter as Toby Zajac completed a 19-play, 68-yard drive that lasted 9:34 with a two-yard touchdown run. CMVT overcame a pair of penalties to sustain that drive, which was aided by two Cowanesque Valley penalties.
Zajac was quite busy on the afternoon as he carried the ball 36 times for 122 yards, part of 53 rushes for the Rams on the day.
“That’s my brand of football – long drives, take time off the clock and keep their offense off the field,” said CMVT coach Mark Varner. “That’s what we’ve been working to all year. The difference today was that we didn’t make that one mistake. We didn’t fumble that one snap, we didn’t have that penalty that kills drives, we didn’t have that negative play to get us behind the sticks and we made positive plays. I feel if we can get three yards every play, we’ll go for it on fourth down anywhere on the field. We kept on having positive plays and building off those plays.”
“To their credit, that drive really knocked us back and we tried to just play our base defense and see what would happen and they really did a good job,” said Schmitt.
That drive cut Cowanesque Valley’s lead to 22-6, but the Indians followed it up with a quick answer, as they took the ensuing kickoff at their own 37, and on the first play from scrimmage, Schmitt hit Elliott Good for a 63-yard touchdown pass, and after the Indians hit the PAT, they went into halftime with a larger lead (23 points) than they entered the second quarter with (22), despite the Rams’ controlling the ball for over three-quarters of the quarter.
The Indians made it a double gut punch to the Rams to open the second half as St. Peter returned the second half kickoff 74 yards for a touchdown to make it 36-6. After the Indians picked off the Rams’ Caden Long at their own 25, Cowanesque Valley put together its fifth sub-2:00 scoring drive of the game, capped by Tanyon Brown’s 33-yard touchdown reception to make it 43-6 and put the game into the mercy rule.
“We basically played two minutes of bad football,” said Varner. “We played the last minute of the first half bad and the first minute of the second half bad, those were two big scores we shouldn’t have allowed but besides that, I think we continued to move forward when we were down. For what we had on the field today with our young guys – we started five freshmen today – I can take that.”
Freeman found the end zone for the second time in the fourth quarter as he capped the only drive of the game for the Indians that lasted more than 1:39 – this one a nine-play drive that last 4:47 – with a three-yard touchdown run, capping his 132-yard rushing day.
Trailing 50-6, CMVT put together another long scoring drive that took up over half of the fourth quarter. This one went 11 plays and 67 yards and took 7:21, and was capped by an 11-yard touchdown run by freshman Braxtyn Brown.
Cowanesque Valley 50, CMVT 12
Cowanesque Valley (3-2) 15 14 14 7 – 50
Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech (0-5) 0 6 0 6 – 12
First quarter
9:40 – (CV) Tucker St. Peter 59-yard pass from Jacob Schmitt (Brown kick), 2-73, :19
3:29 – (CV) Jacob Schmitt 8-yard run (St. Peter pass from Schmitt), 2-14, :37
Second quarter
10:13 – (CV) Tim Freeman 2-yard run (Brown kick), 5-43, 1:39
:39 – (VT) Toby Zajac 2-yard run (run failed), 19-68, 9:34
:19 – (CV) Elliott Good 63-yard pass from Jacob Schmitt (Brown kick), 1-63, :20
Third quarter
11:47 – (CV) Tucker St. Peter 74-yard kickoff return (Brown kick)
7:26 – (CV) Tanyon Brown 33-yard pass from Jacob Schmitt (Brown kick), 4-76, 1:28
Fourth quarter
8:53 – (CV) Tim Freeman 3-yard run (Brown kick), 9-66, 4:47
1:32 – (VT) Braxtyn Brown 11-yard run (run failed), 11-67, 7:21
Statistics
CV VT
First downs 20 17
Rushes-net yards 21-181 53-156
Passing yardage 241 37
Passing 9-14-3-1 4-7-0-2
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1
Penalties-yards 8-72 3-20
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Cowanesque Valley: Tim Freeman (15-132-2), Jacob Schmitt (2-20-1), Graham Hess (2-(-2)), Isaiah Bogsch (1-21), Lowell Baker (1-10); CMVT: Toby Zajac (36-122-1), Mason Haught (10-15), Jake Jeffrey (3-16), Caden Long (2-(-10)), Braxtyn Brown (1-11-1), Shane Tomlinson (1-2)
PASSING — Cowanesque Valley: Jacob Schmitt (8-12-228-3-1), Graham Hess (1-2-13-0-0); CMVT: Caden Long (4-6-37-0-1), Toby Zajac (0-1-0-0-1)
RECEIVING — Cowanesque Valley: Tucker St. Peter (3-95-1), Elliott Good (3-85-1), Tanyon Brown (1-33-1), Tim Freeman (1-15), Fletcher Good (1-13); CMVT: Toby Zajac (2-25), Shane Tomlinson (2-12)
