Carpenter, Fields key 2nd quarter romp in "Air Vikes" in shutout win over Crusaders

WILLOW WOOD — After 10 weeks of red-hot play, the Symmes Valley Vikings might have not wanted to take a break.

Unfortunately for Steubenville Catholic, the bye week did little to cool off the "Air Vikes" offense.

Backed by the duo of Bronx Carpenter and Jackson Fields, the Vikings exploded for 34 points in the second quarter and rolled their way past the Crusaders 55-0 on Friday night in the Ohio Division 7 regional quarterfinals at Viking Stadium.

"I was worried how we would come out of that bye week, but we had a good week of practice of working on what we do and paying attention to those details on defense," said Vikings coach Ben Ferguson. "Then we came out here with that 1-0 mentality and took care of business."

Carpenter didn't have quite the huge number game most fans have been accustomed to seeing, but the junior gunslinger was efficient as usual, going 14-of-19 for 245 yards and four TD tosses.

Fields was the top target of the night with 6 receptions for a game-high 123 yards and two scores. Andrew Issacs was one of the other top targets, catching 4 balls for 70 yards and a score.

Defensively, the Vikings smothered the Crusaders, allowing just 57 yards on the ground and 25 yards through the air and forcing three turnovers.

The Vikings wasted little time getting on the board, but not without some trouble.

Facing a 4th-and-15 from their own 45, the Vikings dipped into their bag of tricks and went for the fake punt, as Carpenter slung a 41-yard pass to Issacs to put the Vikings at the Crusader 15.

Two plays later, Asher Maynard ran in from 5 yards out to cap off the drive and Miguel Ferreira added the extra point to make it 7-0.

Issacs and Carpenter would hook up again on the next drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass to double up the lead for Symmes Valley (11-0).

"We got a couple scores early, but we still made some bad penalties to keep (Catholic) drives alive and let them still hang around," said Ferguson. "That's something we can clean up because the stakes are starting to get higher and higher."

Symmes Valley would pick the intensity back up in the second quarter and take complete control of the game.

The next Viking score would come less than two minutes into the second, as Carpenter would hit Fields on an out pattern and Fields would bounce off a hit from a defender and take off 74 yards for an electrifying score.

Maynard would add the two-point conversion run to make it 22-0.

Catholic (7-4) would continue to try and go up top with their air attack, but that would prove to be futile as Fields would pick off Jones' heave in front of the Vikings bench and return it down to the Crusader 21.

On the very next snap, Maynard would get a handoff and push a pile of defenders with him into the end zone to extend the lead to 28-0.

"Asher did a great job really on both sides," said Ferguson. "He had some good physical runs and then did a great job helping to stop the run all night."

Following another fourth down stop, the Vikings would march down the field again and add to their lead.

Carpenter and Fields capped off the drive when Carpenter flipped a pass to Fields off an RPO-option play for an 11-yard score to make it 35-0 with 4:25 before halftime.

Catholic would fumble the ensuing kickoff and Roth would come up from the pile with the ball at the Crusader 27.

The quick change of possession would turn into more points for the Vikings as Aydan Freeman would get into the scoring act with a 2-yard run to cap off the 6-play drive.

Catholic would go three-and-out on their ensuing possession, but a bad snap on the punt would give the Vikings the ball back at the Crusader 19 and one more chance to add points.

On the very next snap, Beckem Roth would get behind the defense and haul in the 19-yard strike from Carpenter. Ferreira would tack on another extra point to make it 48-0 at the break.

From then on, the Vikings coasted but the scoring wasn't quite over yet.

Midway through the fourth, Jordan Nance would air out a bomb to Levi Russell down the home sideline for a 51-yard strike to make the final score.

The Vikings now move onto the regional semifinals where they will host the Shadyside Tigers next Friday night. After falling behind to Eastern Meigs, Shadyside rallied back to win 27-26.

Steub. Catholic 0 0 0 0 = 0

Symmes Valley 14 34 0 7 = 55

First Quarter

SV — Asher Maynard 5 run (Miguel Ferreira kick), 9:55.

SV — Andrew Isaacs 14 pass from Bronx Carpenter (Miguel Ferreira kick), 4:11.

Second Quarter

SV — Jackson Fields 74 pass from Bronx Carpenter (Asher Maynard run), 10:23.

SV — Asher Maynard 21 run (kick failed), 7:49.

SV — Jackson Fields 11 pass from Bronx Carpenter (Miguel Ferreira kick), 4:25.

SV — Aydan Freeman 2 run (kick no good), 1:52.

SV — Beckam Roth 19 pass from Bronx Carpenter (Miguel Ferreira kick), 0:05.

Fourth Quarter

SV — Levi Russell 51 pass from Jordan Nance (Miguel Ferreira kick), 5:22.

———————

CC SV

First downs 8 17

Rushes-yards 26-57 14-62

Passing yards 25 307

Total yards 82 369

Cmp-Att-Int 3-11-1 16-23-0

Fumbles-lost 7-2 1-0

Penalties-yards 8-82 6-70

Punts-yards 2-33.5 1-30.0

———————

Individual Leaders

RUSHING — Catholic Central: Rahim Mitchell 4-minus 10, Daveon Thorn 1-7, Matty Jones 3-7, Chris McCarthy 2-28, Ryan Holzworth 12-58, Treyvon Poole 1-minus 2, Team 3-minus 31; Symmes Valley: Bronx Carpenter 3-minus 12, Jackson Fields 1-22, Enoch Patterson 1-5, Asher Maynard 7-43 TD, Michael Weaver 1-2, Aydan Freeman 1-2 TD.

PASSING — Catholic Central: Matty Jones 3-11-1 25; Symmes Valley: Bronx Carpenter 14-19-0 245 3-TD, Jordan Nance 2-4-0 62 TD.

RECEIVING — Catholic Central: Michael Fabbro 1-17, Rahim Mitchell 2-8; Symmes Valley: Andrew Isaacs 4-70 TD, Levi Russell 2-62 TD, Beckham Roth 4-52 TD, Jackson Fields 6-123 2-TD.