Mtn. Valley 8th ‘B’ Squad Climbs Mountain in Win over Navarro, 36-16

Matthew Rhodes, Parker Reno, and Bryce Pearson after a successful season.

Mountain Valley climbed a mountain from the Valley and scored a big win over Navarro, 36-16 last Thursday at Hawk Field.

This game did not start well for MV as the Panthers took a quick three play drive 55 yards, putting Mountain Valley in a valley to start this affair.

Mountain Valley however would answer on their ensuing drive when Rolando Maronge capped a 65 yard drive from 26 yards out converting a fourth down with a touchdown.

The Hawks then proceded to get two defensive stops that was sandwiched with a fumbled punt giving Navarro a continuation of their drive.

Jesse Sarmiento helped even that turnover battle intercepting Navarro’s first pass of the game giving the Hawks possession and a chance to right the ship.

A methodical 8 play drive that still left too much time on the clock after Parker Reno converted a quarterback sneak.

Navarro was left with 1:26 on the clock and a 68 yard drive the Panther’s Saldana was about as easy to tackle as getting a minnow in a bucket. His score tied the game with six seconds before half.

The Hawks climbed out of a valley quickly in the second half and was soon on a Mountain when MV had the ball three times and making each possession count by scoring.

Matthew Rhodes was running-receiving and running some more as he outran several Panthers that had an angle on Rhodes 60 yard pass and run play from a throw by Reno.

“I just ran my route,” Rhodes said while speeding down the road. “At first I did not think I would score a TD, then I just let my hands do the catching and Parker (Reno) always tells me to run as fast and I can and I did.”

“I knew that I had it (the ball) off,” Reno said in Nevada. “He (Rhodes) was wide open and he just ran it in…..I tell him to run harder and bring the house.”

Some good defense was also played out by Reno as he had a blitz that resulted in a 10 yard loss and a fumble that was recovered by Reno.

“I saw the gap and I shot through it,” Reno said. “I saw that their quarterback still had the ball and so I hit the ball and got the ball all at once. My Dad says that football is 20% God and 80% is mental.”

That was the play that kept this game in the Hawks favor and then to the mountaintop on their next play with that 60 yard bomb.

MV scored again after their defense held and Hank Jordan put the exclamation point on this game scoring with less than a minute in the game and season.

Mountain Valley had 20 plays to Navarro’s 14 plays in the second half and the yardage was just as impressive with MV=157 yards to Navarro=59 yards.

That Hawk defense was a solid unit after that rough start. But, Bryce Pearson played big in the defensive backfield as the Toy Cannon unloaded on some hefty players.

One play in particular, had Pearson as the last player to stop a Panther that was twice the size of Pearson. That did not hinder this young man as he tackled this runner at the point of attack.

“I was a little scared,” Pearson pierced. “But it is not about size, you just have to know how to hit them right. My dad says that football is a game much like a game of Chess.”

Checkmate.

Time to knock the King over as Navarro used all of their fireworks on their first drive and just could not keep up with the Hawks.

Result? Look on the MountainTop and you just might see a Hawk. Congrats on a great season.

The ReSporter looks forward to covering you next year.

                    1   2   3   4   Final
 Navarro 8th B      8   8   0   0   16
 Mtn. Valley 8th B  8   8   6  14   36
 Scoring Summary:
 NAV-Mario Saldana 47 yard run (Saldana run), 6:23, 1st
 MTV-Rolando Maronge 26 yard run (Parker Reno run), 2:30, 1st
 MTV-Parker Reno 1 yard run (Matthew Rhodes run), 1:26, 2nd
 NAV-Mario Saldana 7 yard run (Saldana run), 0:06, 2nd
 MTV-Rolando Maronge 3 yard run (run failed), 3:20, 3rd
 MTV-Matthew Rhodes 60 yard pass from Reno (Reno run), 5:17, 4th
 MTV-Hank Jordan 4 yard run (run failed), 0:23, 4th

Game Stats             Panthers      Hawks
 Total Yards           173           232
 First Downs           7             10
 Rushes/Yards          28/173        29/172
 Comp/Att/Int          0/2/1         1/1/0
 Passing Yards         0             60
 Punts/Average         1/13.0        0/0
 Fumbles/Lost          3/1           1/1
 Penalties-Yards       6-54          4-25
 TOP                   11:56         20:04

Passing Comp     Att   Pct   Yards  TD  Int
 Parker Reno     1     1     1.000  1   0

Rushing          Att   Yards   Ave   Lg   TD
 Matthew Rhodes   5    66     13.2   26   0
 Rolando Maronge  8    55      6.9   26   2
 Hank Jordan     11    26      2.4    7   1
 Parker Reno      5    25      5.0   18   1

Receiving        No    Yards   Ave.   Lg  TD
 Matthew Rhodes  1     60     60.0    60  1