The Big Sandy Pioneer football team had a bit of a challenge with the Valier Panthers this last weekend. Senior Cooper Taylor had limited playing time due to an injury, but Coach said, “He should be ready to go this week.”
The Panthers had the ball first to start the game, didn’t have much success at first with running the ball, and turned over the ball on downs. The Pioneers started the game with a couple carries from Lane Demontiney getting first downs, but Big Sandy threw an interception on a deep ball into the endzone. Valier had a great play with lots of yards, but Sam Cox had a touchdown saving tackle. Valier continued to push and ended up scoring on a 3rd down with a 20 yard run, putting them up first on the board 6-0. The Panthers then kicked off to the Pioneers, but the ball bounced off a Pioneer player and back into the hands of Valier. Ryder Galbavy and Lane both had big tackles to keep Valier from pushing the ball up the field. After a couple dropped passes, the Panthers had to punt on a long 4th and 30. The Pioneers put together some great yards from Lane and Sam, but ended the quarter still down, 0-6.
The Pioneers opened the 2nd quarter with some great plays from Wes Cox, but Big Sandy found themselves in another 4th down situation. This time, the Pioneers had a great scramble from Lane for a toss to Sam for a touchdown, tying the game at 6-6. Sam had another big tackle on kickoff, followed by a great tackle from Ryder, and another from Sam forcing the Panthers to punt. Big Sandy couldn’t put anything effective together on offense turning the ball over to the Panthers on downs. Lane had a great play by breaking up a pass on defense. Valier then had another big run that Karter Jurenka stopped with a great tackle, giving the ball back to the Pioneers. The Pioneers unfortunately couldn’t capitalize on offense again, giving the ball back to Valier. With 40 seconds, Valier scored another touchdown, putting them back on top with a score of 14-6. The Pioneers had a great run from Lane, to give them some hope before going into halftime, as well as a shot at 4th down, but the Pioneers came up short. The score at halftime was Pioneers 6, Panthers 14.
The Panthers didn’t have much luck to start the 2nd half. A long snap went over the head of the qarterback, putting the Pioneers in great field position to have an opportunity to score. Lane dropped back for a pass, scrambled a bit, and threw to Wes, who ran it in for a touchdown. Ty Terry had a successful kick, tying the game for the Pioneers at 14.
The Pioneers defense really stepped up, and the Panthers couldn’t handle it. After getting the ball back, the Pioneers put together a nice drive, with a great run from Wes, and a touchdown from Lane. Following another good kick from Ty Terry, the Pioneers went up against the Panthers for the first time in the game with a score of 22-14. The Pioneers once again apply tough pressure on defense, causing Valier to punt. The Pioneers then again had great yardage from Lane and Wes to drive the field. Jake Darlington had a great pass to Lane, who stretched out for the touchdown. Another great kick by Ty Terry puts the Pioneers on top 30-14.
The end of the 3rd quarter and the beginning of the 4th quarter were plagued by penalty flags. Valier actually scored two touchdowns, but both were called back. There were also offsetting penalties from the Pioneers and Panthers. Both teams struggled to make anything happen for several minutes on the clock due to momentum being down. But the Pioneers were not done giving it their all, with a pass to Cooper Taylor, who had to break several tackles and score a big touchdown for the Pioneers. Ty Terry had yet another good kick, putting the Pioneers ahead with a score of 38-14. The game ended with the Panthers not being able to get another score, and moving the Pioneers to a record of 4-0. When asked about his thoughts on the game, Coach responded with, “The boys responded well and played a great second half of football. Really starting to click as a team. They came out firing on all cylinders and ready to roll after the half. They stepped up big with Cooper Taylor not being 100%, I am proud of the kids!”.
