Article: Paint Valley 28 Zane trace 3

[LICKING COUNTY FAN]

Last night I made the drive to Bainbridge to catch Paint Valley hosting Zane Trace, but before I get into the game I wanted to say a little something. I want to stop and think coach Pete Hollon for the press box seat, the rosters of both teams and the starting line up for his Paint Valley Bearcats, but more importantly, I wanted to thank him for being a friend and always treating me as well as he does. Win or lose he always says stick around so we can talk and he never rushes through my questions or our talks about the night’s game.

Now to the game that feature the Bearcats 6-0 coming in, while Zane Trace came in 3-3. The pioneers came in on a two came losing streak, while the Bearcats not only were coming in on a six game winning streak, but came in fresh off the beating of Unioto, a D-4 team, that was 5-1 at the time.

Just forty nine seconds into this one when Gabe Shanton connected with 6-4 195 pounds,Elliott Lynn for a twenty five yard gain. The drive came to an abrupt end, when the Pioneers put the ball on the ground and making the recovery for the Bearcats was #24 Malique Davis, at the 10:46 mark.

The Bearcats faced a fourth and ten on the ensuing drive and as one would expect, they lined up in a punt formation, but instead of a punt Iann Cockrell took the snap and took off but he was stopped five yards short of the first down marker,with 9:34 left. I have learned over the years never expect the normal, from a Pete Hollon led team.



The Shanton to Lynn connection struck again for the Pioneers, this time for a twenty five yard gain, with the clock reading 8:40. The drive would make it to the Bearcats six yard line, where Christian Fetters had his twenty three yard field goal blocked by Davis, with 6:56 left in the opening quarter, keeping the game scoreless.

Brayden Ison would have runs of eighteen and six yards before picking up five yards, with 2:39 left in the quarter, converting a fourth and three. Then with 1:18 showing on the clock Lane Mettler closed out the drive, with a three yard touchdown run. Jackson Williams low point after kick was blocked by Mason Lawrence keeping this a 6-0 Paint Valley lead.

The 2nd quarter would see Hunter Gibson plant the Pioneers Shanton into the grass for a two yard loss,just twenty one seconds in.
A punt would follow a short time later. The Paint Valley defense was very good thus far, while their offense was trying to catch up.
Defense would continue to own the quarter, with Kieran Place sacking the Bearcats big Junior quarterback Bryce Newland. Newland goes 6-4,210, who looks more like a middle linebacker than a starting quarterback.

The Bearcats defense would force another punt by the Pioneers, at the 7:03 mark of the quarter, and once again the Bearcats special teams unit came up big, when Iann Cockrell blocked Christian Fetters kick. The Bearcats would get the ball to start the drive, on the Pioneers sixteen yard line.

Brayden Ison would pick up twelve yards on a nice run, before he closed out the drive with a two yard run,making this a 12-0 game, he would also convert a two point run to increase the Bearcats lead to 14-0, with 5:51 left in the half.

On the ensuing kickoff Tramel Byrd put a big time hit on Logan McDowell to continue the hard nosed play, from the Bearcats special teams units. The Bearcats defense would get a sack on Shanton, when Ison got to him for a ten yard loss. Then at the 3:52 mark, Shanton was picked off by Dane Miller.

Before the quarter ended the Pioneers defense would stop another Bearcats fourth down try, when Macky McDonald took the ball on a reverse and was stopped by Austin Carroll along with several Pioneers teammates. The teams would head to the locker rooms, with the Bearcats leading 14-0.



The third quarter started off with the Pioneers Wyatt Smith recovering a Bearcats fumble,giving his team a first and ten, at the Bearcats fifteen yard line. The Pioneers offense recorded just ninety four yards of offense in the opening half really needed to put some points on the board and thanks to its defense, they had a perfect opportunity to do just that.

The drive did not start off so well for the Pioneers, because Quintin Daniel immediately got to Shanton for a one yard loss. After two more plays that took the ball down to the Paint Valley eleven yard line, the Pioneers decided on a twenty eight yard field goal attempt by Fetters, who connected to make this a 14-3 game,with 10:21 left.

The Bearcats would work the ball deep inside Zane Trace territory and looked poised to score again, but the Pioneers defense led by Carroll and Place would get to Newland sacking him and leaving the Bearcats to face a fourth and goal, from the fifteen yard line.
From their the Pioneers got a huge break when Newland threw a nice ball to Cruz McFadden, who saw then ball fall off of his hands and land softly on the ground.

The Zane Trace offense would not be able to take advantage of the big break, because the Paint Valley defense continued to play at a level, that I have to think made the Bearcats defensive coaching staff smile ear to ear.

With 3:43 left in the quarter, the Bearcats Ison took a pitch and took off to his left and did not stop until he had gone twenty three yards for another Paint Valley touchdown. The point after kick was again missed, leaving this a 20-3 game.

On the ensuing kickoff the Pioneers looked lost and failed to field the ball, allowing either Justin Drake or Caleb Adams to come out of the pile with the ball, for the Bearcats. The Paint Valley kick coverage teams look one thousand times better than they did just a year ago to me this has to be a combination of the coaches getting a strong message through to the players and then the players showing them that they heard it, with strong play.

The Bearcats got a thirty three yard run from Mettler to set up a four yard score from Cockrell, making this a 26-3 game. After Mettler converted the two point run, we had a 28-3 game, with 1:47 left in the quarter.

The fourth quarter would not see any scoring, but did have some nice plays.
For the Bearcats Ison would net thirty yards on a nice run, but then six seconds later he coughed up the ball, with the Pioneers Corbin Finley landing on it. The Pioneers Matthews Downs, who goes 6-0,300 pounds would take down Paint Valley’s back up freshman running back Eli Manion, who goes 5-9 155, with 4:46 left in the game.

This one really stayed as close as it did for the most part because Paint Valley stuck with the motto, pay it forward (As Coach Hollon) likes to say, Meaning he gets the young guys in and allows them to get varsity experience as often as he can. With that in my Cyrus Beavers, a freshman, for the Bearcats was one young Cats that made a good impression to me, with his aggressive style of play, when he was on the field. I think that young man has a bright future in front of him, especially if he does the weight room thing as much as possible along with film studying, after the 2018 season is over.

Unofficial Stats

Zane Trace
60 Plays
232 Yards
Passing
7-24 1 INT

Paint Valley
58 Plays
250 Yards
Passing
5-9

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DAVID BURNWORTH
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[mattash]

Really nice