(Game Report) Licking County 15 Muskingum Valley 6


 

Last night I made the drive to Zanesville High School to take in the All-Star game pitting Licking County verus Muskingum Valley. Muskingum Valley had won the last four games in this All-Star series. The crowd was pretty good and vocal. The game would be a defensive slugfest all night long, with more flags thrown than points scored, or very close to it. There would be several calls that made most fans very irate. There was a player injection and a punter was the MVP for the Licking County team. That punter, Charlie Kincaid (Northridge) basically kept the Licking County All-Stars in the game, especially during the first half, where the offense produced just 34 yards on 18 plays, unofficially.


Collin McKenzie (Licking Valley) threw Eli Sprinkle (Crooksville) down for no gain after a completed pass with 9:41 left in the opening period. JJ Holloway (Heath) blitzed into the Muskingum Valley backfield drilling Owen Edwards (John Glenn) for a loss of five at the 8:51 mark of the quarter. Holloway would get destroyed by Logan McClellan (Tri-Valley) along with a few teammates giving the Muskingum Valley a big play, with 7:09 left in the hard-hitting quarter. The longest offensive play of the game came when Edwards showed off his arm with a 68 yard completion to Logan Hupp (Sheridan) with 5:30 left. From there the Licking County defense ended the scoring threat a short time later. Drew Samsel (Watkins Memorial) found Alex Irvin-Royster (Newark) for a 15 yard gain with 3:26 showing on the clock. Samsel would be hit for a loss off four by Dominic Bates (John Glenn) on a QB draw.


The Licking County defense got a nice play from Rocco Paschal (Watkins Memorial) who got to Haiden Pauley (Morgan) for a loss of six, with 10:50 left in the half. Muskingum Valley picked up 20 yards on an Edwards to Ryan Lamonica (Tri-Valley) with 4:54 left in the half. Donovan Holley (Utica) got to the Edwards for a loss of four, with 4:26 showing on the clock. The Kicking County defense got another good play when Paschal planted Edwards for a loss of five. Then with under a minute left in the half Pauley put the ball on the ground and coming away with it for Licking County was Holloway. The offense would not be able to capitalize thanks to a penalty and a missed field goal from Sean Brechbill (Newark).


Licking County received the ball to start the 2nd half and they quickly went to work. Samsel connected with Jacob Culver (Granville) for 10 yards and a first down. Samsel later hit Jalen White (Lakewood) for 12 yards setting up a first and goal at the three. Samsel scatted in from there making this a 6-0 game. Lining up in a swinging gate formation Brody Driskel (Newark) took the snap rolled to his right cut up field to make this an 8-0 game, with 4:54 left in the third. The drive took 9 plays, and total 62 yards. Yes, that drive total more yards than the Licking County team had in the entire first half?


Facing a fourth and four with 4:06 showing on the clock Edwards found a wide opened Landon Iden (Maysville) for 16 yards. Edwards would get dropped for a loss of four when Brayden Mariett (Licking Valley) and Holley introduced themselves to the quarterback. A short time later Edwards found Braylon Lowery (Meadowbrook) for 19 yards. Edward connected with Lamonica for 7 yards to set up the same combo for a 3 yard touchdown. Lamonica, who's listed at 6-4 gave the Licking County team problems a few times in this game. The two point conversion pass was batted down by Evan Mead (Johnstown) to keep this an 8-6 game, with 15.4 seconds left in the quarter.


The fourth quarter would bring one score and a player ejection and several unsportsmanlike penalties with it. Samsel hit Culver for 31 yards, with 6:07 left. But the Muskingum Valley defense stiffened up from there to get the ball back to their struggling offense. Edwards would be picked off by Holloway with 4:23 left. With 1:39 left Edwards got picked again, this time Brody Barrows came up with the pick. The final touchdown of the game came with 1:23 left, and it was a 1 yard Samsel run, with the point after kick from Brechbill we had a final score, 15-6.


My unofficial stats


Licking County

49 plays

138 yards

Passing, 6-17


Muskingum Valley

45 plays

182 yards

Passing, 10-18 2 Ints


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