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THREE SPRINGS -- Juniata Valley had a two-score lead on Southern Huntingdon at the half, but the Green Hornet coaching staff wasn't thrilled with the lackluster play of the offensive line through the first two quarters.
JV's line got the halftime message, came out in the second half and asserted itself -- opening up holes for the running game to be all but one pass play after the break.
The Green Hornets established themselves on the ground, got some timely plays on defense and special teams en route to getting a running clock going late in the contest of a 44-22 victory over the Rockets on Friday night.
"We really had to challenge the line. They were kind of just, in the first half, not being consistent, Juniata Valley coach Bill Musser said. "They'd come out hard a couple of plays, then they'd take a play off. In the third quarter, I thought they played really well as they took control and advantage of the line of scrimmage."
Play of the game: Leading 21-6, JV was forced to punt the ball away on the first offensive drive of the second half. However, the Green Hornets got a big break when JV sophomore Gavin Smith fell on a muffed punt for JV at the SH 34. JV later scored on a Bobby Hess 14-yard run.
Musser: "Our special teams has been working extremely hard here recently -- we're starting to get some kids back that had been out health-wise that were on special teams."
Player of the game: Vincent Hoover carried the ball 13 times for just 28 yards in the opening half, but behind the recharged and refocused line, the senior churned out 86 yards on 14 attempts for a game total of 114 yards on 27 tries. He scored three touchdowns.
Hoover: "In the first half, we started off good, then fell off. In the second half, we regrouped and found what we needed to do to execute. It was a great team effort."
Unsung hero: Juniata Valley's Dalton Weirich scored two touchdowns -- a 76-yard punt return and a 61-yard interception return. He also added a second pick.
Most vital statistic: The Green Hornets forced two fumbles and came up with three interceptions with Aaron O coming up with the third pick. Four of the five turnovers led to touchdowns.
Southern Huntingdon coach Aaron Batzel: "That's been the storyline for us all year. We get ourselves in good position and then we find a way to mess it up."
Notable: JV's Damian Williams completed four passes for 106 yards with Zach Dick hauling in three of them for 84 yards and Jett Rand the other for 22 more yards. … The Rockets got two touchdown passes from Aiden Berrier to Rowdy Grissinger (55 and 27 yards) in the final 2:49 of the game. … Berrier finished with 185 yards through the air. … Southern's Eli Rice was ejected from the contest with 4:42 remaining in the game.
Records: Juniata Valley (4-5); Southern Huntingdon (1-8).
Batzel: "Tonight, it was blatantly obvious, that game wasn't a blowout like the scoreboard shows. It should have been a lot closer."
Next week: Juniata Valley travels to Windber; Southern Huntingdon hosts Clear Spring.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Juniata Valley 14 7 14 7 -- 42
Southern Huntingdon 0 6 0 16 -- 22
First Quarter
JV--V. Hoover 3 run (Rodkey kick), 5:10.
JV--Weirich 76 punt return (Rodkey kick), 3:06.
Second Quarter
JV--V. Hoover 3 run (Rodkey kick), 8:25.
SH--Boden 14 run (run failed), 7:12.
Third Quarter
JV--Hess 14 run (Rodkey kick), 8:35.
JV--Weirich 61 interception return (Rodkey kick), 0:08.
Fourth Quarter
JV--V. Hoover 2 run (Rodkey kick), 4:42.
SH--Grissinger 55 pass from Berrier (Berrier run), 2:49.
SH--Grissinger 27 pass from Berrier (Gibbons run), 1:12.
TEAM STATISTICS JV SH
First downs 18 10
Total yards 259 272
Rushes-yards 46-153 29-87
Yards passing 106 185
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 4-10-0 11-23-3
Punts-avg. 4-32.8 4-33.8
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-2
Penalties-yards 7-50 6-37
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Juniata Valley, V. Hoover 27-114, Rand 2-5, Williams 6-(-8), Hess 7-14, B. Hoover 2-17, Neri 2-11. Southern Huntingdon, Rice 4-21. Berrier 18-56. Gibbons 3-(-13), Boden 4-23.
PASSING--Juniata Valley, Williams 4-10-0-106, Rand 0-0-0-0, V. Hoover 0-0-0-0. Southern Huntingdon, Berrier 11-23-3-185, Gibbons 0-0-0-0.
RECEIVING--Juniata Valley, Dick 3-84, Rand 1-22. Southern Huntingdon, Rice 2-38, Gibbons 3-33, Grissinger 4-89, Cromwell 1-11, Flood 1-14.