Leonardo
By (hippy) TED RADICK
- THE COURIER
VAN BUREN — The way Van Buren coach Kevin Shoup looks at it, the best defense is a good running game.
The Black Knights ran the ball 28 times for 181 yards in the second half Friday night and broke open a close game to record a 34-18 victory over Vanlue in a Blanchard Valley Conference game at Van Buren. Van Buren improved to 2-7 overall, 2-6 in the BVC. Vanlue fell to 2-7, 1-7.
“That’s our offense,” Shoup said. “That’s what we’ve been trying to accomplish all year.”
Van Buren finished the game with 303 rushing yards on 51 attempts. Logan Eaton led the way with 133 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries, including a 70-yard score with less than a minute to play that iced the game for the Black Knights.
Zane Kieffer also did his share of toting the pigskin, finishing with 120 yards and two scores on 20 carries.
“We were able to finish drives,” Shoup said. “We’ve been able to move the ball effectively at times this season, but finishing drives was key tonight.”
Perhaps the most important of Van Buren’s drives came in the fourth quarter. Van Buren took over on downs on its 29, leading 20-12 with 9:30 remaining in the game. The Black Knights reeled off a 12-play drive that ate nearly 6 1/2 minutes off the clock. Kieffer plunged in from 1 yard out with 3:01 left.
“The main thing today was our linemen blocked really well,” Kieffer said. “They got a lot of push, and we got to the line with no problem and hit the second level. When we get to the second level, we’re pretty good. Our receivers blocked well, too, and that helped spring us on the outside.”
“That running game is definitely an effective weapon for them,” Vanlue coach Chris Yeater said. “They just went off tackle on us and ran some trap plays, and they were very effective at it.”
After Kieffer’s short touchdown run, the Wildcats answered with a long scoring drive. Vanlue quarterback Dillon Kliesch hit five of seven passes on a 73-yard drive, finishing with an 11-yard scoring strike to Alex Blair. The two-point conversion pass failed, however, leaving the Black Knights ahead 27-18 with 1:06 left.
Eaton, who had scored in the opening minute of the fourth quarter on a 4-yard run, then took a counter draw to the left side for his long touchdown run to put the game out of reach.
“We came out in the second half and we wanted it,” Shoup said. “We were disappointed at halftime. Vanlue obviously got some momentum with that play. Right before we came out, I reminded our guys that we were still winning.”
“That play” Shoup mentioned was a 30-yard touchdown pass from Kliesch to Jonathon Kloepfer on the final play of the first half.
Kliesch hit Mason Amesquita for a 29-yard gain to the Van Buren 17 before two penalties pushed the Wildcats back. With five seconds left in the half, Kliesch lofted a pass that Kloepfer caught in traffic at the 3. The Vanlue receiver was hit, spun toward the end zone and fumbled, but was ruled to have crossed the plane of the goal line.
“I made my case, I stood my ground and you have to move on,” Shoup said.
The Vanlue scoring drive brought the Wildcats to within 13-12 at halftime.
“Our kids fight, they’ve fought all season,” Yeater said. “There’s been games this season when we’ve gotten our butts kicked, and they come back Monday for practice ready to fight again.”
Van Buren broke on top early as the Black Knights took the game’s opening possession 60 yards for a touchdown. Kieffer capped the seven-play drive with a 9-yard scoring run.
Vanlue answered on its second possession as Blair, coming in motion from his wideout spot, took a jet option run 31 yards for a score. Both teams missed their initial extra-point attempts and the game was tied 6-6. Van Buren’s Ryan Adolph hit Brandon Lucas for an 11-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Adolph finished 4 of 7 for 29 yards.
Kliesch was 22 of 37 for 240 yards for Vanlue. His numbers might have been even better had his receivers not dropped several passes.
“We had some mistakes, the kids know that,” Yeater said.