GERMANTOWN — Valley View quarterback Cade Henson has the instinctive ability to lengthen plays and his teammates are solid at making adjustments during those plays and that was the difference as Valley View exploded in the third quarter to defeat Brookville 49-21 Friday at Niswonger Field.

The win assured the Spartans of at least a co-championship of the SWBL Buckeye Division.

Henson ran for 154 yards and two touchdowns, threw for 151 yards and a touchdown, and his ability to extend plays with scrambling to find open receivers was the difference in the game.

The Blue Devils had the ball for almost seven minutes to start the game before being stopped on downs. However, Seth Hoover forced a fumble and Keegan Mehr recovered for Brookville at the Spartan 27.

Ten plays later Mehr scored on a quarterback sneak and the boot by Walt Adams made the score 7-0 Brookville with 11:04 left in the second quarter.

The Spartans responded with a 10-play drive that featured Henson extending several plays and finishing with an eight-yard jaunt by Jed Lynch for a touchdown. It was tied at seven with 7:27 left in the first half.

Brookville had to punt and on the third play of the Spartans possession Henson went straight up the middle and raced 54 yards for a touchdown.

Brookville drove down field and scored on the 11th play of the drive when Kory Davis broke through the left side on a 4th and two play and rumbled 28 yards for the TD. The half ended with the score tied at 14 points each.

Valley View started the second half with a nine-play drive to take the lead. The Spartans scored on a Caleb Musgrove seven-yard sprint and took the lead for good at 21-14. An onside kick went out of bounds but Brookville was stopped on a fourth down play at the Spartan 37.

The Spartans scored in four plays. The first was a perfectly executed flea flicker that got to the Brookville 23, then three times Henson extended plays with scrambles and found receivers open for positive yards.

The final play Henson rolled right and hit a wide-open Michah Valenti for the touchdown. It was 28-14 Valley View.

The Spartans then recovered an onside kick and scored again in four plays with Valenti scoring on a seven-yard run. The third period ended 35-14 Valley View.

Valenti capped off the next Spartans possession with a 22-yard run and with 11:14 left in the game the issue was decided.

Despite trailing by 28 Brookville never quit and scored on a long drive as Kory Davis ran for a touchdown from the four with 6:56 remaining in the game.

The Blue Devils onside kick was recovered by Valley View and on the first play Henson again kept the ball and raced for a touchdown on 46 yards to make the final score 49-21 Spartans.

Despite the loss, Brookville has earned a playoff spot and will host at least one playoff game. The Blue Devils could earn a spot in the top four of the region with a victory this week at Franklin. You can hear that game live on Brookvillesports.com, a free internet radio website beginning at 6:35 p.m. Friday.

Each team had 19 first downs, Brookville had 272 total yards with 261 rushing and Valley View with 423 total yards, with 272 rushing and 151 passing. Brookville had 76 plays and 34:08 in time of possession and Valley View had 53 plays and 14:52 in time of possession.

Brookville stats show Jake Lenser with 115 yards rushing on 16 carries; Kory Davis 71 yards on 10 totes and a pair of Touchdowns; Walt Adams 31 yards on 10 carries, Jayden Resor 19 yards on three lugs and Keegan Mehr 14 yards and a TD on 13 carries.

Mehr was three for nine passing for 11 yards. Sam Fullenkamp had eight yards on two carries and Seth Hoover one snag for three yards.