Junior Kyle Wehrkamp had three touchdowns in the final quarter.
Photo by Drew Terhall | The Daily Advocate
By Drew Terhall
Dailyadvocate.com
WEST ALEXANDRIA — The Mississinawa Valley football team fell short on the road to Twin Valley South, 42-26, on September 20. After being down 35-0 after three quarters, the Blackhawks put up 26 points in the final quarter.
Head coach Steven Trobridge said he was glad to see the team fight until the very end, but thought his team is better than what they showed in this game.
“We didn’t give up. We were running clock, we could have easily give up. I called onside three times and we executed that to perfection. Our special teams was amazing tonight. They kept fighting,” Trobridge said. “It’s frustrating as a head coach when you know we’re so much better than what we played.”
The Panthers started off hot. On the third play of the game, senior Caden Bishop found senior Griff Roell for a 62-yard touchdown pass to take the lead. Senior Conner Mowell had a nine-yard touchdown run to put the Panthers up 14-0 after the first quarter.
Senior Carson Hurst added a 55-yard touchdown run on a second and very long to give Twin Valley South a 20-0 lead.
Mississinawa Valley couldn’t get into a rhythm early. Late in the second quarter, they found their groove and was moving down the field. Freshman Caleb Spradling sailed a pass that was intercepted by Twin Valley South with 1:26 left in the first half as the Blackhawks were in Panthers territory. TVS went into halftime with their 20-0 lead.
But the little momentum the Blackhawks generated carried over in the second half. Mississinawa Valley blocked a punt in the third quarter which gave them the ball on the TVS two-yard line.
But, the Panthers snatched back momentum as they got a fourth down stop on the one-yard line to take over on downs. A few plays later, Mowell broke open for a 97-yard touchdown run.
Trobridge said it was an embarrassing night defensively, especially early on. It was one of those games he has to watch the film to see what went on.
“I’m not going to make any excuses. The big thing I noticed today, defensively, was we just we played tired. I don’t know why. It’s a great night, we’re fully healthy, we’ve been conditioning all week, got a great week of practice. It’s one of those I got to watch film. Maybe, it just wasn’t our night,” Trobridge said.
The Blackhawks couldn’t regain their footing as they fumbled the ball on the next possession. With the Panthers recovering it, they went down and scored on a one-yard touchdown to lead 35-0 after three quarters of play.
Then the Mississinawa Valley offense woke up. Spradling found junior Kyle Wehrkamp for a 48-yard touchdown. After that, the Blackhawks recovered an onside kick.
Spradling found Wehrkamp again on a 21-yard touchdown pass. With 8:41 left in the game, Mississinawa Valley found themselves down 35-12.
Trobridge said the team showed they are capable of scoring points. They are searching for that consistency they need to play at that level for all four quarters.
“We got to be consistent. It is up and down, rocky start. I’m glad we picked it up. It’s just one of those what if. What if that last six minutes, the way we played offensively, was from the start all the way through,” Trobridge said.
Twin Valley South responded with a score of their own on a 16-yard touchdown run from Hurst. But the Spradling-Wehrkamp connection scored again for a third time on a 28-yard touchdown pass.
Mississinawa Valley recovered another onside kick to get the offense more reps. Spradling found senior Storm Mote as time expired for his fourth touchdown pass of the game.
The Blackhawks are now 1-4 on the season with a 1-3 WOAC record. They will welcome in one of the two teams undefeated in WOAC play in Preble Shawnee on September 27 at 7 p.m.
Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].
