Platte Valley silenced the Nodaway Valley Thunder with a convincing 54-26 win Friday to get their second win of the year. They pounded the ball at them all night long, wearing down the green shirts and knocking people out of the game right and left in the sweltering heat. Previously, North Nodaway and West Nodaway had a football cooperative. But that cooperative broke up, with West Nodaway kicking North Nodaway out of the cooperative and joining forces with Nodaway-Holt to form the Thunder. North Nodaway turned around and joined the Platte Valley cooperative, which named Johnny Silkett as their head coach after Cree Beverlin joined Jon Adwell's staff at Worth County.
Silkett immediately molded Platte Valley into a smashmouth team, using Jaxon McCrary hammer at the line to free up prize runningback Carter Luke, a powerful runningback who can make people miss. Aydan Blackford formed the perfect compliment to those two; his ability to both run and throw the ball keeps teams off balance.
Alan Calfee, who coached the North/West Nodaway cooperative last year, took over the reigns at the Nodaway Valley Thunder cooperative and molded them into a similar unit, springing quarterback Blake Bohannon and Gavin Leeper loose behind a big line. Both teams followed similar paths, with Platte Valley shocking Mound City 32-22 before losing 15 players to quarantine and losing 60-12 to Rock Port. Nodaway Valley won handily against Stewartsville, but lost 84-0 to East Atchison, who figures to be the team to beat in the 275.
The Thunder got the opening drive and repeatedly gashed Platte Valley, gaining the edges behind runs from Bohannon and Leeper, before Platte Valley stiffened at the 24 as Carter Luke and Wyatt Miller dropped Leeper for a loss and Jaxon McCrary and Miller combined on a sack back to the 30. But Platte Valley struggled for much of the night to get off the field on third and long and fourth and long situations, and Bohannon aired it out to Michael Cook to make it 6-0. Carter Luke made a perfect one on one tackle on Will Cordell to deny the extra point.
But after a failed onsides kick gave Platte Valley good field position at the Thunder 39, they took advantage. Two cracks by McCrary and one by Hayden Ferry netted 12 yards down to the 27, and then Carter Luke gashed them for runs of 5 and 10 down to the 12 before he slipped and fell for a loss of two. That forced Platte Valley into a fourth and 11 at the 13, but then Aydan Blackford threw a perfectly executed play action pass to Wyatt Tobin in the left corner after getting good protection and they tied it up at 6-6 with 4:29 left.
Trever Weir delivered the first of several booming kicks for Platte Valley, pinning Nodaway Valley back on their own 15 much of the night. This time, Platte Valley did a much better job closing off the edges, and Weir made the first of many big defensive plays, batting down a pass to force a punt. The Thunder got off a good punt, pinning Platte Valley on their own 18. Platte Valley seemingly went three and out, but a muffed punt recovered by the blue shirts on the Nodaway Valley 26 gave them new life and Carter Luke ripped off carries of 3 and 19 to the 4 before McCrary picked up two and Luke picked up the remaining two yards, getting in with 11:55 left to make it 12-6.
Platte Valley knocked Leeper out of the game, but Nodaway Valley switched to a West Coast short passing game, with Clay Hanson hitting quick hitters and Bohannon using both his arm and legs to move down the field. A nifty counter play, where Bohannon faked left and veered off to the right after the blocking had been set up netted 12 to the Nodaway Valley 34, and the tackling broke down as a short pass to Michael Cook turned into a 15 yard catch and run to the Platte Valley 25. Another short pass to Jenkins moved it to the 20, and then the tackling broke down again as Hanson's quick hitter brought them in the end zone with 7:45 left. Hanson was denied as the game remained tied at 12-12.
The home side only needed three plays to answer as Carter Luke gashed the Thunder for 22 yards on two plays to the Nodaway Valley 34, and then Aydan Blackford threw a strike to Hayden Ferry. Ferry didn't realize how wide open he was at first, but then he took it to the house with 6:29 left and Blackford scrambled into the end zone to make it 20-12.
A bobbled snap led to a sack on the next series, which put the Thunder in a hole. Cook caught a 10 yard pass to make it third and four at the 21, and Bohannon tried to scramble for a first down, but a swarm of blue shirts led by Trever Weir tackled him short and they were forced to punt. Platte Valley was pinned on their own 15, but a facemask penalty put them on the 33. Ferry was buried at the 31, but then Carter Luke wove his way through traffic and into the clear down the left side and took it to the house to make it two possessions with 3:29 left. Aydan Blackford scrambled his way into the end zone to make it 28-12.
Two penalties on Nodaway Valley set them back second and 25 at their own 10, and then Bohannon came under pressure and threw off his back foot and into the hands of Brandon McQueen for a pick at the 14. Platte Valley almost squandered the chance as a false start penalty set up fourth and 8 at the 12, but then Aydan Blackford scrambled his way into the end zone down the left side and Carter Luke ran in the extra points to make it 36-12.
Weir pinned the Thunder on their own 15 with 46 seconds left, but a pass interference call gave the Thunder new life at their own 35, and Bohannon scrambled for 14 to the Platte Valley 31 with 12 seconds. Two quick strikes from Bohannon to Dawson Fast got them in the end zone with no time left to make it 36-18. But on the extra point try, Platte Valley got some pressure on Bohannon and flushed him from the pocket and he stepped out of bounds as Platte Valley kept it a three possession game.
A costly penalty, which wiped out a touchdown from Platte Valley, forced them into a three and out to start the third quarter, and the Thunder repeatedly gashed Platte Valley with the quick hitter to Hanson as they marched to the Platte Valley 12. Weir got a sack to force third and 11 at the 18, but Platte Valley couldn't get off the field as a bubble screen to Fast went the distance and Hanson ran in the extra points to make it 36-26 with 7:14 left.
At that point, the curse of the Hopkins football field seemed to be alive and well. North/West Nodaway had lost a last second heartbreaker to Stewartsville, another last second loss to DeKalb, and they hung on for dear life against LeBlond two years ago before finally pulling off a Homecoming win. But this was a new era and a new team, and on the first play from scrimmage after Platte Valley got the ball on their own 23, Jaxon McCrary delivered a bonecrushing block to spring Carter Luke 12 yards to the 35. The front line of Nodaway Valley was wearing down, and when their best defensive lineman, James Herr, went down, the floodgates were opened for Luke and Platte Valley. A perfectly timed blitz from the Thunder temporarily checked Platte Valley at the Thunder 27 to set up fourth and two, but Luke got three to the 24 on the next play and the drive continued. He then got a block from Weir to get 16 down to the 8. A pass breakup from Michael Cook set up third and goal at the 7, and Blackford dropped back to pass. He came under a heavy rush, but Weir and Wyatt Miller combined for a perfect block to spring him loose and he scrambled for a touchdown with 3:03 left in the third to make it 42-26.
But Nodaway Valley denied the extra points, and a costly late hit penalty put the ball on the 30 instead of the 15 after another one of Weir's booming kicks, giving the Thunder a chance to make it one possession with a score and an extra point. Things threatened to go from bad to worse when one of Platte Valley's best hitters, Hayden Ferry, went down. A holding penalty set Nodaway Valley back, but once again, Platte Valley couldn't get off the field on fourth and long as the Thunder converted a fourth and 12 with a strike from Bohannon to Preston Jenkins to the 17. Finally, Platte Valley dialed up the pressure on Bohannon and sacks from McCrary and Weir finally killed the drive and set up Platte Valley with a short field on the Thunder 36.
A false start wiped out a long run, but then McCrary got the yardage back to the 36, and then Carter Luke delivered a big hit at the end of a 17 yard run to the 19. McCrary took it the rest of the way, picking up four more to the 15 and then breaking two tackles and getting into the clear for a score with 9:35 left to make it 48-26.
Weir once again boomed the kickoff into the end zone, and then Hayden Ferry came back into the game, ready to deliver more punishment. A false start backed up Nodaway Valley to the 10, Luke blew up the quick hitter, a short pass to Hanson only netted five yards back to the 15, and a flat pass to Dawson Fast only netted three as Brandon McQueen delivered a big hit. Bohannon had completed 12 of his 14 passes up to that point, and with nothing left to lose, Nodaway Valley elected to go for it on fourth and seven from their own 18. But Jaxon McCrary put Bohannon under a heavy rush and forced him to throw it away, giving Platte Valley a chance to score. They converted it as McCrary picked up four yards. Luke was dropped for a loss of one back to the 15, but on third and seven, Aydan Blackford rolled out right and hit Wyatt Tobin for 15 with 7:06 left to make it 54-26.
Hanson ripped off 2 carries for 19 yards off the quick hitter despite the Thunder only having seven players on the field, and Bohannon picked up five more and an offsides penalty put the ball on the Platte Valley 34. The Thunder tried for the Hail Mary twice, but Platte Valley defended it well, and Hanson was tackled at the 30 by McCrary, one yard short of the first down. Carter Luke picked up 10 yards to the 40, but a holding penalty set them back to the 30. But Aydan Blackford's 13 yard scramble set up a manageable down and distance, fourth and three at the Thunder 33. A false start was canceled out by an offsides penalty, and then Carter Luke picked up four yards for the first down to the 29. A late hit put the ball on the 11, and then Platte Valley was able to kill the clock.
For Platte Valley, Carter Luke had 22 carries for 183 yards. Jaxon McCrary had 12 carries for 49, Aydan Blackford 5 carries for 39 yards, Hayden Ferry 4 carries for 15 yards, Leland Otto one carry for two yards, and Mason Richardson 1 carry for 1 yard.
Aydan Blackford completed three of his five passes for 62 yards. Wyatt Tobin caught 2 passes for 28 yards and Hayden Ferry caught 1 pass for 34 yards.
For Nodaway Valley, Clay Hanson had 13 carries for 87 yards. Blake Bohannon had 12 carries for 77 yards and Gavin Leeper 7 carries for 24 yards before he went down. Blake Bohannon completed 12 out of his 17 pass attempts for 138 yards. Dawson Fast had 5 catches for 51 yards, Michael Cook 3 catches for 55 yards, Preston Jenkins 3 catches for 27 yards, and Clay Hanson 1 catch for 5 yards.
Platte Valley ran 50 plays for 351 yards, while Nodaway Valley had 49 plays for 326 yards. The yardage was similar, but the difference in the game was the sacks and the turnovers. Platte Valley didn't allow a sack or a turnover, while they sacked Nodaway Valley five times and forced two turnovers.
