Wildcats win another close one

Sports

September 18, 2010 - 12:00 AM

BUFFALO — Late-game heroics are becoming old hat at Marmaton Valley High.
Unlike a week ago, when the Wildcats scored late to break a tie game, Marmaton Valley found itself in the hole Friday night.
But Daylen Houk scored on a seven-yard run with 1:45 left on the clock, turning a 32-28 deficit into a two-point Marmaton Valley lead. Zach English plowed in on the two-point attempt for the 36-32 lead.
The Wildcat defense held from there, ending host Altoona-Midway’s rally  almost as soon as it started to seal the win.
The victory lifts Marmaton Valley’s record to 2-1.
And much like his team’s dramatic win the week before, Marmaton Valley head coach said Wildcats miscues played a major role in the game’s tension level.
“I think the kids came down thinking we were going to come out and have it easy,” Houk said. “They weren’t very prepared for what Altoona-Midway was doing.”
Particularly troubling was Marmaton Valley’s first half kickoff coverage.
Twice, Wildcat touchdowns were followed immediately by kickoff returns for touchdowns by Altoona-Midway’s Andy Denoon.
“That’s one of the big things we have to work on,” Houk said.
Daylen Houk propelled Marmaton Valley offense early with a three-yard touchdown run, followed immediately by Denoon’s kickoff return for a score.
English found Gage Stewart on a 31-yard touchdown pass at the 5:41 mark of the first period before Denoon’s second kickoff return to paydirt. The Jets connected on another touchdown to grab a brief 18-16 lead before Marmaton Valley’s Cole Becker scored on a 47-yard touchdown pass.
Caleb Denoon got into the act on a 75-yd touchdown run midway through the second period, which was answered on a two-yard touchdown run by Becker with 1:09 left in the half.
The teams were scoreless in the third period — Marmaton Valley drove repeatedly into Altoona-Midway territory, but could not score — and the Jets seemed to have the upper hand when Andy Denoon hauled in a touchdown pass in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.
“We just couldn’t keep a drive going because of mistakes, a bad snap, running the play the wrong way, things like that,” Coach Houk said.
Then came the Marmaton Valley final drive of the contest, capped by Daylen Houk’s run.
“We have a lot of things we need to improve on,” Coach Houk said.
Becker rolled up 211 yards on 22 carries, followed by D. Houk’s 147 yards on 18 carries. English completed 3 of 10 passes for 57 yards. Stewart had 61 yards on two receptions.
Nathan Smart and Stewart each registered seven tackles and a fumble recovery. Becker had five stops (four solo), while Jared Kale had four solo tackles.
Marmaton Valley had 332 yards on the ground in the contest.
Marmaton Valley travels to Marais des Cygne Valley next Friday.
Marmaton Valley    22-6-0-8—36
Altoona-Midway    18-6-0-8—
32
MV — Houk 3 yd run (Houk run)
AM — A. Denoon 69 yd kickoff return (PAT failed)
MV — Stewart 31 yd pass from English (Houk run)
AM — A. Denoon 55 yd kickoff return (PAT failed)
AM — Boyles 21 yd pass from Huffman (PAT failed)
MV — Becker 47 yd run (PAT failed)
AM — C. Denoon 75 yd run (PAT failed)
MV — Becker 2 yd run (English run)
AM — A. Denoon 50 yd pass from Huffman (Huffman run)
MV — Houk 7 yd run (English run)

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