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Washington Evening Journal
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Bears move to 2-0 behind strong first half
Fisher totals seven touchdowns, throws for four in first half
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
THORNBURG — Many of the faces are the same, but this isn’t the English Valleys’ football team of 2024.
That team finished its season 1-8. This one is 2-0 after a 52-32 win over HLV-TC Friday night at Tri-County High School.
The biggest reason?
“A big part of it has been the mental game behind it,” head coach Brennen Grimm said. “We really slowed down on our installs for stuff, and they understand it a lot easier this year. Its helped a lot taking that mental approach.”
After a dominant running game in the week-one win, the Bears produced an air raid in the first half.
Quarterback Drew Fisher threw for four touchdowns and ran for two more in the first half.
“We got big guys on our line and this guy right here (Everett Bender) catching passes,” Fisher said. “I couldn’t do it without them.”
On the opening drive of the game, facing a third-and-14, Fisher rolled out to the left and threw to an open Bender, who caught and ran it in from 34-yards out.
On the next offensive possession Fisher rolled to the right on the same play, and Bender scored from 43-yards.
Before the first quarter ended, the Bears ran the exact play once more, and this time connected with Deshon Anderson for a 55-yard score.
HLV-TC responded on the ensuing drive with a six-yard touchdown run from Keegan Gorsh. The Bears led 20-6 after a quarter.
The Warriors also made an effort to throw the ball downfield, connecting on several big plays throughout the game.
One of those came in the second quarter as Gorsh connected with Chase Harriman on a 38-yard score on the go route.
The Bears, for the most part, were able to limit the vertical passing attack in the first half.
“They wanted to throw it deep, so we just had to play deep enough,” Bender said. “We just had to read their hips and be physical.”
The Bears added three more scores, also in the second, including a 20-yard touchdown pass to Colton Mikesell. The score was 38-14 at intermission.
As expected with a comfortable lead, the Bears focused more on running the ball in the second half with running back Braydon Anderson.
“He’s freaky fast,” Fisher said.
Fresh off a 205-yard game, Braydon Anderson extended the lead to 46-14 in the third with a score.
The biggest play of the night for the Warriors was a 57-yard catch-and-run from Sean McCulloch which set up a six-yard touchdown pass to Tristan Pirkl.
The Warriors added two more scores in the fourth.
A hot start for the Bears proved to be the difference in the game.
“Setting the tone of the game has been big for us,” Fisher said. “We want to make sure that when we go out there we show them that we want it more than they do.”
The ability to throw is a bright spot for the Bears as they move forward this season.
“During the summer, we were mostly working on running routes and throwing,” Grimm said. “ We knew if we wanted to take that next step we needed to improve.”
English Valleys now finds itself 2-0 with a key 8-player District 5 game against Winfield-Mt. Union Friday. HLV-TC (1-1) will play at WACO (2-0).
ENGLISH VALLEYS 52, HLV-TC 32
At Tri-County High School
HLV-TC Statistics
Rushes-yards — 23-146
Passing yards — 163
Comp-Att-Int — 8-24-1
Tackles for loss — 2
Scoring
English Valleys … 20 18 8 6—52
HLV-TC..................6 8 6 12—32
EV— Bender 34 pass from Fisher (conversion failed)
EV— Bender 43 pass from Fisher (Colton Mikesell pass from Fisher)
EV — Deshon Anderson 55 pass from Fisher (conversion failed)
HLV-TC — Gorsh 6 run (conversion failed)
EV— Fisher 5 run (conversion failed)
HLV-TC — Harriman 38 pass from Gorsh (McCulloch pass from Gorsh)
EV — Mikesell 20 pass from Fisher (conversion failed)
EV — Fisher 1 run (conversion failed)
EV— Braydon Anderson 2 run (Roejert Patterson pass from Fisher)
HLV-TC — Pirkl 6 pass from Gorsh (conversion failed)
EV— Fisher 15 run (conversion failed)
HLV-TC — McCulloch 13 pass from Gorsh (conversion failed)
HLV-TC — Cael Weisskopf 1 run (conversion failed)
Individual Statistics
Rushing: HLV-TC — Weisskopf 16-150, McCulloch 2-2, Gorsh 5 (-6)
Passing: HLV-TC — Gorsh 8-24-3-163
Receiving: HLV-TC — McCulloch 5-108, Harriman 1-38, Boston Roorda 1-9, Weisskopf 1-8
Defense (leading tackler): HLV-TC — Weisskopf 11 1/2
(English Valleys’ complete statistics were unavailable before press time.)
