Collins & Southern Valley Find Success on the Ground Versus Maxwell

"Run the dang ball!"

That was something you didn't hear from Southern Valley faithful on Thursday evening as they ran the ball effectively to a tune of nearly 400 yards and came away with a 66-48 win over Maxwell. The Wildcats themselves had a nice night offensively both running and throwing the ball.

In the first quarter, Maxwell got the game started with a bang as Tyce Cumming took the kick 76 yards to the three-yard line before stepping out of bounds. Quarterback Jesse Reyes was able to punch it in from a few yards out to make it 6-0 in the early moments.

Southern Valley muffed the next kickoff, and the Wildcats recovered it. Maxwell though was unable to do anything with the free possession.

Southern Valley took over after that, and a few plays later Kamden Bose found his favorite target of the night, Rian Grove for a 27-yard touchdown with 7:55 to go in the first quarter. Southern Valley was able to convert the extra points and it was 8-6. Then the offenses took off from there.

Southern Valley scored again, on a Kody Collins 36-yard touchdown run to make it 14-6. That was the score heading to the second quarter.

Maxwell answered on a Kole Jones run for a 48-yard touchdown. It was 14-12 at that point. But Southern Valley answered with another Kody Collins touchdown from six yards out. The Eagles led 22-12 at that point.

The teams traded scores as Kole Jones had another 48-yard touchdown reception. Jones had another 44-yard touchdown reception from Reyes to help the Wildcats cause.

It continued to be the Kody Collins show on the Southern Valley side as he scored three more touchdowns. At at the half he had 10 carries for 211 yards and five scores. The Eagles also had a nice lead of 46-26.

In the second half, the Eagles continued to distance themselves they scored four more times in the third quarter. Kody Collins had a 45-yard touchdown run to advance the lead to 52-26. Rian Grove caught a 45-yard pass from Bose again to make it 58-26. To round out the scoring in the third quarter, Prestin Howart ran in from 10 yards out and after three quarters it was 66-26.

In the final quarter, Maxwell did not quit at all as they scored four times. First Jesse Reyes found Jacob Copper from 26 yards out to with 10:17 to go. Then Reyes found Copper on a short pass, he fumbled, and Tyce Cumming recovered it and ran it in from over 40 yards out to cut the deficit to 66-40. Austin Miller then caught a pass from Reyes that resulted in a 36-yard touchdown and that rounded out the score at 66-48.

A lot of scoring occurred in this one, as you can see. And the numbers definitely show that.

Unofficially for Maxwell, they had 347 yards of total offense. Kole Jones had 165 yards of offense and three touchdowns. Reyes had 193 yards passing and five touchdowns. Jacob Copper had 34 yards and a touchdown reception.

For Southern Valley they had 513 yards of total offense. Kody Collins had 333 yards rushing on 18 carries and six touchdowns. Prestin Howart was excellent on the ground too with 66 yards and a score. That is a new 8-man school record for Southern Valley. As a team, they had 395 yards rushing. Kamden Bose had 99 yards passing with two touchdowns. Rian Grove had 87 yards receiving and two touchdowns.

Head coach of the Eagles Justin Adams said that this offensive line play has been two years in the works. "Our offensive line has been growing up. This is like two or three years of work.... just becoming a unit."

Southern Valley moves to 2-1 on the season and will face Cambridge at home on Friday next week.

Maxwell is 1-2 and has Sandhills Valley next Friday at home.