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Valley beats Apollo-Ridge to give new coach Adams his first victory

By: Greg Smith
Friday, September 1, 2023 | 10:48 PM

The Mark Adams era of Valley football is officially underway, and if the Vikings defense plays anything like it did Friday night against Apollo-Ridge, the folks of New Kensington will be proud.

The Vikings (1-1, 0-0) controlled the line of scrimmage for all but one drive in an 18-7 victory.

“Early, we have that breakdown on that touchdown run, but otherwise, it worked well for us” said Adams, a former Valley assistant who earned his first win as the head coach.

Apollo-Ridge (1-1, 0-0) got out to a fast start with a touchdown on its opening drive, which was capped by Karter Schrock’s 39-yard touchdown run. Valley would not respond until the first of four Apollo-Ridge turnovers set the table for the Vikings offense.

“I told them, last week we didn’t turn the ball over. We get down deep, we turn it over, we give them short fields. We had a lot of self-imposed things tonight.” Apollo-Ridge coach John Skiba said.

A short field gave Valley an opportunity on its first drive of the game, starting at the Apollo Ridge 12-yard line. But it took a fourth-and-6 conversion to finally put points on the board. Quarterback Mason Simmons found Dorian Briggs for a 9-yard touchdown catch to close the gap.

A missed 2-point try kept Apollo-Ridge up by one, a score that would hold until the second half.

Valley kicked off to begin the second half, but a muffed return attempt gave the ball back to the Vikings with another short field. Again, it was Simmons to Briggs, this time from 12 yards, to extend Valley’s lead to 12-7.

Apollo-Ridge settled into a heavy dose of running the ball, each drive with marginal success. But with each subsequent drive, A-R would find itself on the wrong side of the turnover margin.

A Schrock interception inside the Valley 20-yard line ended one promising drive, and a Corey Mackintosh fumble inside the 5-yard line proved to be the final nail.

Three third-down conversions by the Valley offense on its final offensive drive, including a 6-yard Tristan Goodwin touchdown, sealed the deal.

After a 1-9 season last year, this win has greater implications for Valley than just a win over a rival.

“This is huge for this group because of so many failures in the past,” Adams said. “Coming into this game, first game at home, you want to collect that win, not just for the players but for the fans. It sets the tone for things to come in the future.”

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