Valley dominates BTW in region victory

In a Class 5A-Region 2 matchup, the Valley Rams celebrated homecoming night in a big way by downing Booker T. Washington, 42-6.

The story of the night was Valley’s defense, as it held BTW to 6 points, six first downs and 169 yards of offense for the game. BTW could only amass 39 rushing yards, but it did manage 130 yards through the air.

The Rams (6-1, 5-0) started the night off right after a BTW (2-5, 1-4) punt snap sailed over the head of Luther Snipe, giving the Rams the ball on the 6-yard line. Valley quarterback Brent Osborn rolled out to the right from play-action and found wideout Quantavious Lockhart for the touchdown.

Both offenses struggled through the rest of the first quarter. Valley failed to convert on fourth down inside its 20-yard line, and BTW never gained a first down.

Valley continued to struggle in the beginning of the second quarter as running back Richard Hopkins fumbled the ball on his own 20.

But Valley’s special teams would come through.

After a 25-yard punt by Snipe, Valley’s Salasky Gates returned the ball 37 yards to BTW’s 8. Osborn hooked up with Lockhart again for an 8-yard pass for the touchdown, pushing Valley to a 14-0 lead with 6:23 left in the half.

After another BTW punt, Osborn took the ball on play action, finding Gates on a beautiful 54-yard pass for a touchdown.

With a commanding 21-0 lead, Valley still wasn’t finished.

After yet another BTW punt, Valley worked its way down the field, using power running. With 3:09 left in the half, running back Tim’vontae Walker took the handoff and powered his way 13 yards for the touchdown. After, a failed PAT, Valley led 27-0.

To add insult to injury, sophomore defensive back Erique Florence intercepted Snipe’s pass with 22.5 seconds left in the half and went 83 yards for six. Valley decided to go for a 2-point conversion to make up for the missed PAT earlier. Osborn found Gates in the back of the end zone, giving Valley a 35-0 lead at halftime.

In the second half, Valley took the ball and began to eat up the clock. With 8:49 left in the third, Kenorio Warren scored from 5 yards out, pushing Valley to 42-0 over BTW.

With a comfortable lead, Valley began playing its backup players, primarily running the ball.

BTW, however, would not let Valley walk away with a shutout.

Snipe, who is also BTW’s quarterback, hooked up with Oliver Kirksey on a 25-yard pass for a touchdown with 2:18 left in the game. BTW failed its 2-point conversion, giving the ball back to Valley.