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ALEXANDRIA -- Coming off a last-minute loss last week against Newport to open the season, the Juniata Valley Hornets came into Friday night's matchup against North Star looking for a victory.
Led by a two-touchdown performance by junior Andrew Clark, the Hornets came away with a 26-6 bounce-back win Friday night at AR Simkins Memorial Field.
Both teams were evenly matched for most of the first quarter, until with 1:27 left in the frame, Elah Glenny hauled in a 21-yard touchdown pass from Jett Rand to put the Hornets up.
"I could have done a little bit better on the defensive side, but overall, I think our team played amazing," Glenny said.
In the second quarter, Juniata Valley came out firing as Trenton Norris caught a pass from Rand from 10 yards out to increase the Hornets' lead by six points.
"We played tonight with a lot more energy," Juniata Valley coach Bill Musser said. "We played tonight with a lot more passion and purpose."
Later in the quarter, Clark ran the ball 4 yards for a touchdown with Norris converting on the two-point run.
Clark followed that up at the 4:45 mark of the quarter with a 2-yard touchdown run to put the Hornets up 26-6 at halftime.
"I ran as hard as I can," Clark said. "Putting my shoulder down and making them pay."
Musser lauded Clark's performance and hard work leading up to the game.
"Andrew would be the first one to tell you that his performance was predicated upon what his players and teammates were doing around him," Musser said. "He took advantage of the opportunity he was given."
After losing at the last minute last week against Newport, getting a win on Friday served as a huge confidence booster.
"That's a good win for these kids," Musser said. "They're definitely going to be more confident moving forward."
With 9:06 left in the second quarter, Kasey Yoder racked up an 18-yard touchdown run for North Star to put it on the board before halftime.
At the end of the night, too many fundamental errors haunted the Cougars.
"I think turnovers in the first half were the difference," North Star coach Bob Landis said. "We put the ball on the ground way too much."
Play of the game: Clark's touchdown run late in the second quarter sealed the win early.
Player of the game: Rand completed 14 of 28 passes for 248 yards and two scores.
Unsung heroes: Juniata Valley's defense played shutout ball in the second half.
Most vital statistic: The Hornets finished the night with 253 passing yards.
Notable: The Hornets committed nine penalties for 65 yards.
Records: Juniata Valley (1-1); North Star (1-1)
Next week: Juniata Valley travels to Glendale while North Star heads to Meyersdale.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
North Star 0 6 0 0 — 6
Juniata Valley 6 20 0 0 — 26
First Quarter
JV - Glenny 21 pass from Rand (Kick failed), 1:27.
Second Quarter
JV--Norris 10 pass from Rand (Conversion failed), 11:52.
N--Yoder 18 run (kick failed), 9:06.
JV - Clark 4 run (Norris pass from Rand) 7:56.
JV Clark 2 run (conversion failed) 4:45
TEAM STATISTICS N JV
First downs 14 10
Total yards 205 349
Rushes-yards 28-112 33-96
Yards passing 93 253
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 8-22-3 16-29-2
Punts-avg. 4-29.5 0
Fumbles 2 0
Penalties-yards 2-10 9-65
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--North Star, Yoder 14-37, Eshelman 9-39, Hawkins 2-28, Koval 1-3, Steltzer 1-3, Paulin 1-2. Juniata Valley, Clark 17-64, Rand 4-10, Prough 3 (-11), Weirich 2-10, Smith 1-4, Harker 4-11, Snyder 2-8.
PASSING--North Star, Yoder 8-22-3-93. Juniata Valley, Rand 14-28-2-248, Clark 1-1-5-0.
RECEIVING--North Star, Hawkins 1-9, Lasky 1-5, Steltzer 2-12, Eshelman 1-26, Pristas 1-30, Koval 1-11. Juniata Valley, Smith 3-68, Norris 4-47, Glenny 6-113, Harker 2-25.