ALMEDIA – Turnovers, and specifically turnover margin, are often the most important deciding factor in close football games.
That proved to be true once again on Saturday as Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech committed one more turnover than Cowanesque Valley, but also committed half of its turnovers at key points in the second half, and that ultimately ended up being the difference in a one-possession game as the Indians topped the Rams 34-26.
“Turnovers in the second half absolutely destroyed our chance of winning this game,” said CMVT coach Mark Varner. “The turnover on the free kick – they put seven in there – that was at least a (potential) 14-point swing right there. We had all the momentum, but just too many mistakes. In a game like today with a wet environment, you can’t make mistakes and we just made too many. Mistakes we weren’t making in the first half, we made in the second half.”
“Nobody is playing to their record at this point, everybody is better than their record shows and they had a great game. Both of us dealt with the rain, which limited their throwing a little bit, but we’re happy to execute and get out of here with a win,” said Cowanesque Valley coach Joe Leonard.
CMVT appeared to have all the momentum early in the second half when Tyson Brown tackled Cowanesque Valley quarterback Graham Hess in the end zone for a safety, extending what had been a 16-12 halftime lead for the Rams to 18-12 at the 9:00 mark of the third quarter.
But while trying to make a play on the subsequent return of the free kick following the safety, Logan Bracey fumbled and the Indians recovered near midfield. Cowanesque Valley then took eight plays to score the go-ahead touchdown at the 5:22 mark of the third quarter.
The Rams’ safety came after CMVT had been stopped on fourth-and-goal from the Indian 11-yard line on their first drive of the second half after receiving the second-half kickoff. That stop was one of three possessions that they were stopped on downs in the second half out of four total.
That stop also came after the Rams’ Braxtyn Brown had been tackled at the Indian 7-yard line following a 57-yard gain, and the Indians then stopped the Rams on four straight plays.
A touchdown by Brown would have given the Rams a two-score lead, but instead, the Indians stopped the Rams and then scored themselves.
“That was huge. Fletcher Good’s hustle on the long run to tackle him was fantastic and then we stopped them – that was big,” said Joe Leonard. “Typically, in the second half, if something happens like that, it can take the wind out of the sails, but I’m really proud that they were resilient and kept going.”
CMVT would only score on one second-half possession, turning the ball over on downs on three of their four second-half drives. By contrast, Cowanesque Valley scored on three of their five second-half possessions, not including a kneel down at the end of the game, and although the Indians had just one fewer turnover than the Rams in the game, all three of their giveaways came in the first half, compared to two coming key spots in the second half for CMVT.
The Indians took advantage of the fumble on the free kick by capping an eight-play drive with a 27-yard touchdown run by Good, who was a problem for the Rams all day. Good had 162 rushing yards on 14 carries and a pair of touchdowns, and he also caught a touchdown pass and had 17 receiving yards on just four receptions.
Good also had a 52-yard touchdown run with 6:59 left in the fourth quarter to give the Indians a two-score lead.
That would prove to be important since Brown put a cap on his outstanding day with a 52-yard touchdown run on CMVT’s ensuing possession to pull the Rams within a score at 34-26 with 6:12 to play. Brown finished with 283 yards on 29 carries – his fourth straight game with at least 100 rushing yards.
But CMVT would not get the ball again, as Cowanesque Valley successfully executed a fake punt with a 29-yard pass from Graham Hess to Good to extend their ensuing drive. They then forced another fumble on a punt return to take over again with just 1:25 remaining, from which they’d run out the clock.
“We were down on (almost) the 10-yard line and we don’t get it in, then we get the safety and then the unfortunate mistake, then we get a fake punt and we don’t cover the guy, which is something we went over at practice – it’s just mental lapses at the wrong time,” said Varner. “Those are the things that unfortunately happen sometimes, so we need to make the corrections and keep telling the guys what their responsibilities are and move on.”
Those mistakes unfortunately negated an outstanding game for Brown and the Rams’ ground game, which amassed 308 yards. Brown had 29 carries for 283 yards, but oddly enough, the Rams’ inability to complete some passes in the first half when it was raining may have also played a part in the loss, as Cowanesque Valley had 170 yards through the air, of which 141 came in the first half in the driving rain.
Those passing plays, along with a deceptive running game that often featured multiple handoffs in the backfield, kept the Rams off balance and were largely responsible for the Indians keeping the game close in the first half, setting them up to take advantage of their opportunities in the second half. The Rams, meanwhile, didn’t have any positive passing yards in the first half.
“It takes a lot of eye discipline to defend their offense,” said Varner. “Everyone is responsible for a gap, so when they go the one way, if they go to the right, the players on the left can’t leave their gap responsibility, and when they had their big plays, that’s what happened, we would leave our responsibility, they would hit that gap, and there would be a big play.”
“We both dealt with the rain and that was tough, but that seemed to minimize their throwing a bit,” said Leonard. “It was a little surprising that we were able to hit on some passes in the first half in the rain, but our guys ran great routes and they were ready for the ball, and the line did a great job and our offensive coordinator did a great job of mixing up the plays, but the line did a great job and gave Graham some time to get some good ones out.”
Hess, who completed 6-of-12 passes for 170 yards, found Good for a 23-yard touchdown reception for Good’s first score on the Indians’ first drive of the game.
CMVT answered with a six-play scoring drive capped by a Mason Haught one-yard touchdown plunge, which followed five consecutive runs by Brown that gained a total of 52 yards.
Cowanesque Valley took a 12-8 lead with 8:31 left in the first half as Hess connected with Lowell Baker for a 30-yard reception. CMVT answered with another long drive, this one 10 plays that also ended with a Haught touchdown, this one from two yards, to take a 16-12 lead.
Cowanesque Valley 34, Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech 26
Cowanesque Valley (4-3) 6 6 8 14 – 34
Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech (1-6) 8 8 2 8 – 26
First quarter
10:43 – (CV) Fletcher Good 23-yard pass from Graham Hess (pass failed), 4-52, 1:17
7:49 – (VT) Mason Haught 1-yard run (Brown run), 6-53, 2:54
Second quarter
8:31 – (CV) Lowell Baker 30-yard pass from Graham Hess (run failed), 8-68, 4:12
3:23 – (VT) Mason Haught 2-yard run (Brown run), 10-55, 5:08
Third quarter
9:00 – (VT) TEAM safety
5:22 – (CV) Fletcher Good 27-yard run (D. Hess run), 8-53, 3:26
Fourth quarter
11:53 – (CV) Dave Hess 17-yard run (run failed), 8-69, 3:04
6:59 – (CV) Fletcher Good 52-yard run (D. Hess run), 3-61, 1:22
6:12 – (VT) Braxtyn Brown 52-yard run (Koser pass from Long), 2-62, :47
Statistics
CV VT
First downs 16 18
Rushes-net yards 44-214 39-308
Passing yardage 170 19
Passing 6-12-2-1 3-15-0-1
Fumbles-lost 2-2 6-3
Penalties-yards 6-45 1-15
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Cowanesque Valley: Fletcher Good (14-162-2), Graham Hess (14-(-2)), Dave Hess (9-34-1), Ian Bump (4-18), Kegan Lane (2-3), TEAM (1-(-1)); CMVT: Braxtyn Brown (29-283-1), Mason Haught (7-23-2), Caden Long (2-3), TEAM (1-(-1))
PASSING: Cowanesque Valley: Graham Hess (6-12-170-2-1); CMVT: Caden Long (3-15-19-0-1)
RECEIVING: Cowanesque Valley: Fletcher Good (4-107-1), Lowell Baker (1-30-1), Dave Hess (1-23-1); CMVT: Axton Koser (2-19), Mason Haught (1-0)
