WEST ALEXANDRIA — Twin Valley South’s football continued to display their gritty defense this season, holding Ansonia scoreless for the majority of the game and cruising to a 34-14 victory on Friday, Sept. 18.

“Our defense once again played lights out. Our (defensive coaches) have really done a nice job with our defense this year and kids are playing at a very high level. Besides the Shawnee game, the defense has been top notch,” said TVS head coach Tyler Cates.

South started the game out by scoring the first 27 points of the night, starting with a 52 yard strike from Jacob Bassler to Mike Meyers mid-way through the opening quarter.

Bassler found success through the air again early in the second, finding Jared Cottingim for a seven yard touchdown and increasing their lead to 14-0.

The Panthers ended the half on a Chad Ehler 24-yard touchdown run, pushing their lead to 20-0 at the break.

Ansonia threatened a few times in the half as well, reaching the red zone twice before being stuffed by the South defense.

“It was a great team win and overall effort. We played well in all phases of the game, we just need to minimize penalties,” said Cates. “The offense got it going and played really well like we’ve known we are capable of. (Bassler) threw the ball really well and we blocked really well with Sammy (Shockey) and J.J. (Utz) running the ball very well. (Meyers) and (Cottingim) made some great catches for us and made plays we’ve been waiting on them to make.”

South opened up the second half with a long, sustained drive that lasted over six minutes. It culminated with a one-yard touchdown plunge from Shockey, pushing the Panther lead to 27-0.

On Ansonia’s ensuing drive, they stalled in the red zone for the third time that night. They found success late in the game on a nine-yard run and closing the deficit to 27-6.

South answered the score quickly though, as Troy Bowers took the kickoff 75 yards to the house. The successful PAT pushed the lead back to 28 points.

“The special teams again came up huge with field position. They had a huge fake punt and touchdown on kickoff return. I’m proud of our team. We are getting better every week with new faces on the field,” said Cates.

Ansoina’s last score came off an 18-yard run with a success two-point conversion, closing out the game at 34-14.

The win improves South to 3-1 on the year and 2-0 in the Cross County Conference. The Panthers are scheduled to host Arcanum on Friday, Sept. 25 with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.