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HOUTZDALE -- Moshannon Valley's offense sputtered early against Juniata Valley on a wet field at CNB Bank Stadium on Friday night.
But once the Black Knights got going, they were hard to stop. Mo Valley had two running backs run for more than 100 yards in its 38-21 win.
Bulldozer Rocco Reifer ran for 223 yards on 24 carries and scored two touchdowns, while Landon Buck amassed 123 yards on eight carries and two touchdowns of 75 and 26 yards. The Knights piled up 386 yards rushing despite the rain and wet field.
"That's pretty good," Mo Valley coach Chris Davidson said. "We've been waiting for that. We were the beneficiary of a couple really long runs. Landon Buck is under the weather. We had to pull him out because he wasn't feeling good. Reifer is a battering ram. We were able to run the ball when we put our minds to it."
"They're well coached and they had a good game plan," JV coach Bill Musser said. "We just have to tip our caps to them. They ran hard and played well."
Play of the game: With Mo Valley holding a 14-6 lead, the Hornets drove to the Mo Valley 7, where Zach Dick missed a 25-yard field goal. Three plays later, Buck outraced everybody for a 75-yard touchdown run with 2:14 left in the first half.
Player of the game: Reifer had 115 yards rushing in the first half and had four runs of 12 yards or more in the second, including a 37-yarder. In the first half, he scored on runs of 30 and 2 yards.
Unsung heroes: The Mo Valley special teams unit gets the nod here. Two special teams plays set up the Knights' first two touchdowns. With time winding down in the first quarter Gavin Lovell partially blocked a Zach Dick punt, setting Mo Valley up at the JV 35.
Three plays later, Reifer rumbled 30 yards for a touchdown with 18 seconds left in the quarter.
On the Green Hornets' next punt attempt, the ball sailed over Dick and into the end zone. Dick managed to bring it out to his 6 before he was tackled. On third-and-goal from the 2, Reifer scampered into the end zone.
"We work incredibly hard on special teams," Davidson said. "We devote a lot of time to it. Tom Janocko pours his heart into it."
Juniata Valley special teams highlight: After Rocco scored on a 2-yard run, Juniata Valley's Bo Hoover returned the kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown.
Most vital statistic: The Black Knights held JV to minus-7 yards rushing.
Musser on his team's play: "We played in spurts. We need to be consistent. We didn't play consistently throughout. We made mistakes at the wrong time."
Passing in the rain: Three Green Hornet quarterbacks combined to complete 17 of 34 passes for 246 yards.
Notable: Juniata Valley scored twice in the second half. Vincent Hoover scored on a 6-yard run, and JV's third quarterback, Nate Rodkey, threw a 68-yard TD pass to Gavin Smith.
Next week: Juniata Valley hosts Mount Union. Mo Valley visits Curwensville on Saturday.
Records: Juniata Valley (2-4), Moshannon Valley (4-2).
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Juniata Valley 0 6 8 7 -- 21
Moshannon Valley 7 13 12 6 -- 38
First Quarter
MV--Reifer 30 run (Smith kick), :18
Second Quarter
MV--Reifer 2 run (Smith kick), 9:03
JV--B. Hoover 80 kickoff return (run failed), 8:48
MV--Buck 75 run (kick failed), 2:14
Third Quarter
MV--Mital 75 kickoff return (kick failed), 11:48
JV--V. Hoover 6 run (V. Hoover run), 9:14
MV--Buck 26 run (Smith kick), 4:57
Fourth Quarter
MV--K. Kephart 14 pass from Mihalko (pass failed), 9:53
JV--Smith 68 pass from Rodkey (Rodkey kick), 2:39
TEAM STATISTICS JV MV
First downs 10 18
Total yards 239 457
Rushes-yards 19-(-7) 45-386
Yards passing 246 71
Passing (comp.-att.-int) 17-34-0 5-14-1
Punts-avg. 4-36.7 2-37.5
Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-0
Penalties-yards 5-32 5-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Juniata Valley, V. Hoover 8-13, B. Hoover 1-3, Williams 8-0, Rand 1-(-5), TEAM 1-(-18). Moshannon Valley, R. Reifer 24-223, Buck 8-123, Cervenak 2-24, B. Kephart 5-13, Krause 1-2, Abernethy 1-1, MIhalko 4-0.
PASSING--Juniata Valley, Williams 15-28-0-159, Rodkey 1-1-0-68, Rand 1-5-0-19. Moshannon Valley, Mihalko 4-12-1-62, Z. Reifer 1-2-0-9.
RECEIVING--Juniata Valley, Norris 7-71, Smith 1-68, Z. Dick 3-53, B. Hoover 5-32, Neri 1-22. Moshannon Valley, Mital 3-41, B. Kephart 1-16, K. Kephart 1-14.