Late touchdown helps Valley keep playoff hopes alive

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, October 12, 2018 | 11:57 PM

Valley senior quarterback Tyler Green broke the huddle with a little over 5 minutes remaining on the fourth-quarter clock, his team trailing by six points and a possible Class AA playoff spot on the line when he noticed the Summit Academy defense was playing tight man coverage in favor of run support.

Green called fellow senior tight end Noah Hutcherson over and told him to run to the back corner of the end zone. A few seconds later, Green floated a pass over the Summit defense and into the hands of Hutcherson for the game-tying touchdown as Valley came from behind to knock off a stubborn Summit Academy team and deliver a 22-20 homecoming win at Valley Memorial Stadium on Friday night.

“We were going with a tight-end curl and I saw that the tight end was open and I felt it was good time to go to an audible. (Hutcherson) got wide, I hit him with it and touchdown,” said Green, who finished 7 of 17 for 121 yards and two touchdowns. “The corner and the linebacker stepped in, he went to the corner and I dropped it right over top of them.”

The touchdown tied the score at 20-20. Valley (2-3, 3-5) sealed the win when Green connected with Evan Anderson for the 2-point conversion.

“Every play was an adventure,” Valley coach Muzzy Colosimo said. “It was a game that everybody said we were going to blow them out, but they came to play.”

The win keeps Valley in the hunt for fourth and final playoff spot in the Allegheny Conference, which sets up a big game with East Allegheny to end the regular season.

After a less than stellar first half by both teams, Valley took the second-half kickoff, marched 85 yards in 12 plays and took the lead at 14-6 after Green’s 2-yard touchdown run and 2-point conversion run.

Summit Academy (0-5, 0-7) was not discouraged. The Knights took over at the Valley 31-yard line and, on first down, handed off to speedster Troy Monroe, who raced for 69 yards for a touchdown down the Valley sideline to tie the game at 14-14 after Tayshaun Harvey’s 2-point conversion run.

“The kids played hard and they played against a good, athletic team,” Summit Academy coach Steve Schearer said. “This was probably our best game all season.”

Summit kept rolling. A Vikings fumble on the next drive at the Summit 13 gave the upstart Summit offense a break. Six plays later, Summit took the lead on a Remere Williams 3-yard run to go up 20-14 after the failed 2-point conversion run.

Valley turned the ball over three times (2 fumbles, 1 interception).

The Valley seniors came through in the fourth quarter. Hutcherson sacked Gibson twice in the Knights’ final possession, and Deonte Ross rushed for 98 of his game-high 162 yards in the second half.

“It was really important because we’ve been playing together since we were kids and we just want to keep on going, ” Hutcherson said.

Summit opened the scoring in the first quarter when Williams fell on a teammate’s fumble in the end zone to give the Knights the early lead at 6-0. Valley responded when Green spotted a wide open Malique Richardson for a 24-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the first quarter. Richardson finished with 89 yards on five receptions.

“It doesn’t matter what happens next week (against Riverside), what matters is what happens (in two weeks) against East Allegheny,” Colosimo said. “That’s when we really have to make a statement.”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

Tags: Summit Academy, Valley