WEST ALEXANDRIA — The Preble Shawnee football team used big plays to cruise to a 34-0 victory over host Twin Valley South on Friday, Sept. 2.
The win for the Arrows improves their record to 2-0, both over in-county foes and non-conference opponents. The Arrows have outscored their first two opponents 84-0 thus far in the 2016 season.
“I thought both teams played hard,” said PS coach Matt Hopkins. “It’s a good local rivalry and to come out here — we were ready. They executed the game plan and good things usually happen with good execution.”
“It was a hard game,” said TVS coach Clint Bartlett. “They came out really well prepared and they have a really good football team. They did capitalize on our mistakes, and did a nice job moving the ball on us, but I was also proud of the way our defense played — and they improved from last week.”
The Arrows received the opening kickoff but their first drive ended with a 3-and-out, but TVS did little better after three straight runs up the middle.
On the second play of the Arrows’ second drive, senior quarterback Kevin Ketring threw to senior receiver Matt Hall for a 43-yard touchdown under tight coverage between two Panther defenders, to take a 7-0 lead.
The Panthers received the ball on the kickoff, but were once again held from gaining a first down and punted the ball away. Shawnee would have suffered a 3-and-out after taking a sack on third down, but the TVS defense was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty, which gave new life to the Arrow’ offense.
Ketring took advantage of the opportunity by throwing a second touchdown pass to Gunner Edwards, who managed to catch the ball when the South defensive back made a break for an interception and missed. The 14-0 score remained at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter witnessed a Shawnee touchdown, when Hall caught a pass and broke through a Panther defender for 50 yards and the Arrows’ third score.
At halftime, Shawnee was up 21-0.
Twin Valley came out of the locker room for the third quarter and seemed to have been revitalized, as their opening drive moved the ball on some workman-like plays, only to see a turnover on downs deep in PS territory.
With the ball in the hands of the Arrow offense, they completed a pair of long pass receptions of 46 and 30 yards, capped off with a 2-yard touchdown run on a dive up the middle from Luke Lovely, to increase the lead 28-0.
On the first play of the Panthers next series, a second interception by Ketring saw the PS defense return the ball down to the South 8-yard line with the help of a penalty on the Panthers. On a counter play to the left of the formation, the Arrows Eli Gibson rushed in for the score. The point-after attempt missed the uprights, but PS was up 34-0.
The fourth quarter saw some spirited play by the Panthers, with the defense holding the Arrows scoreless, but TVS was unable to break the goose egg on the scoreboard. A long drive by South was cut short with a third interception by Ketring in the end zone. For the rest of the game, Preble Shawnee ran the clock out with a steady running game to put this contest in the books.
“The receivers were not so open for easy scores compared to last week, and we probably will not see them have easy touchdowns again this season,” said Hopkins. “But they were making the plays when they needed. Those are two seniors (Conway, Hall) so I am so happy for their success. My defense, coach David Maddox and coach Josh Koogle, coach Kyle Hamilton — they did a great job getting our guys prepared. The defense is mean, nasty and I think they are just tired of hearing about them not being tough enough, not being good tacklers and they seem to take that to heart. Kevin is smart back there at defensive back, he’s waited his turn and he’s just doing it all for his senior year. Couldn’t be more happier with him.”
“We had a really good drive late in the game but we just didn’t get it done and I give Preble Shawnee all the credit for that,” said Bartlett. “I know they had a really good game last week and we have National Trail coming up — we are going to get to work on it.”
The Arrows were led by quarterback Ketring who went 8-for-18 for 228 yard passing and three touchdowns. Out of the backfield, Luke Lovely rushed 13 times for 31 yards, while Gibson had eight carries for 33 yard with each having one touchdown. Ketring also ran the ball for 32 yards on six carries. Conway and Hall were the playmakers in the receiving corps, combining for five catches and 185 yards receiving. Gibson hauled down two catches for 10 yards, and Edwards had a catch for a touchdown.
Preble Shawnee will play next Friday, Sept. 9, at home against their third Cross County Conference foe in Tri-Village who is 1-1. Twin Valley South falls to 0-2 on the year, they will travel to New Paris next Friday against National Trail, who is also 0-2 on the season, for a CCC contest.
