English Valley wins final home game

NORTH ENGLISH — English Valleys won its final home football game of the season and halted a four-game losing streak last Friday, beating New London 52-40 at Tim Carson Field.

The Bears ran the ball at will against the Tigers, amassing 428 yards on 42 plays and scoring six of their seven touchdowns.

Junior Ben Coffman had a career night for EV, carrying the ball 22 times for 283 yards and four TDs.

Senior Myles Grove and sophomore Deshon Andersen each had 10 rushes for a total of 174 yards and one touchdown apiece.

The night didn’t start well for the Bears as New London, 1-6 coming into the game, jumped out to a 22-6 first quarter lead.

No problem.

By halftime the Bears had whittled that lead down to six points, 34-28. EV continued its way back in the second half, outscoring New London 24-6, including 22-0 in the third quarter.

Big plays fueled the Bears. Five of their seven touchdowns were 40 yards or longer.

Coffman found the end zone on a 43-yard run in the first quarter, a 76-yard jaunt in the second period and runs of 54 and 26 yards in the third quarter.

Andersen scored twice in the second quarter, on a 41-yard run and 65-yard kickoff return, and Myles Grove had the shortest of EV’s touchdowns, a five-yard run.

The Bear’ defense gave up hardly anything to the Tigers in the second half and forced three turnovers — fumble recoveries by Luke Moore and Keyden Lown, and an interception by Drake Axmear.

Sophomore Cael Grove collected a team-high 12 tackles, nine of those solos and two for lost yardage.

The Bears improved their record to 3-5. Despite not qualifying for the playoffs, which begin this Friday, EV still gets to play this week, picking up a ninth game on the road against Easton Valley.