Defense makes statement in Vikings win over Pointers

SOUTH POINT —

"I think they came out and did well. I'm not a fan of all the penalties, but that's something we gotta clean up," said Vikings coach Ben Ferguson.

While the initial scoreline shows an offensive explosion, it was the defense that made the biggest impression in the game.

Symmes Valley's defense came up with 5 turnovers and limited the Pointers to just 168 yards of total offense. Of those 5 turnovers, four were interceptions. Andrew Issacs had two, while Connor Moore and xx had the other two.

"The defense did a great job all around. There were some plays where we didn't cover a gap and we'll patch that up," said Ferguson. "But it takes all the pressure off the offense to not have to think they need to score 50-60 points to win a game."

The Vikings came out and did what they do best, flew down the field in 6 plays and covered 72 yards to score on an 8-yard touchdown run from Carpenter and go up 7-0.

Things appeared as though it would turn into a track meet as the Pointers drove down the field in quick fashion as well and were knocking on the door with the ball at the one-yard line, facing a third-and-goal play.

But a hiccup on the handoff put the ball on the turf and big Brayden Sandman came up with the ball at the bottom of the pile and gave the Vikings the ball at their own two.

But Symmes Valley would give away the first points of the game to the Pointers on an errant snap out the back of the end zone for a safety, cutting the Vikings lead to 7-2 at the 7:14 mark of the first.

The Pointers couldn't take advantage of the field position as the Vikings came up with their second takeaway of the game when Connor Moore stepped in front of a pass from the safety position for the pick to give the Vikings the ball at their own 23.

The turnover turned into another touchdown for the Vikings as the offense moved down the field in 9 plays for another score.

This time it was Asher Maynard taking a handoff and finding a huge hole right down the hash and racing 41 yards untouched for the score. Miguel Ferriera added another extra point to make it 14-2 after one quarter of play.

The Vikings continued to pour it on in the second quarter.

Carpenter found Fields for a the first of two scores on the night by the duo to make it 21-2.

Then the defense came up again with a stop inside the red zone after a pass break up by Beckham Roth. On the ensuing play, Carpenter went up top to Isaacs for a 95-yard bomb to put the Vikings up 28-2 midway through the second quarter.

South Point would still show some fight in them with their only scoring drive of the night, taking 9 plays to march 55 yards.

The final play came on a 2nd-and-goal run from Ethan Hunt, who went in from 8 yards out to cut the deficit to 28-8 with 2:58 remaining before halftime.

However, the Vikings would blitz their way back into the end zone with another Carpenter to Fields touchdown pass to make it 35-8. The score was set up on the first play of the drive where Carpenter hit Levi Russell for 32 yards.

Isaacs second interception on the first play of South Point's ensuing possession allowed the Vikings one more chance to add to their lead.

Three plays later, Carpenter tossed a screen pass to Maynard and the junior back broke through multiple tacklers for an 18-yard score to make it 42-8 at the half and close out the scoring for the game.

The Vikings were led by Carpenters 383 pssing yards and 5 total touchdowns. Field wound up with 11 receptions for 137 yards while Isaacs finished with four catches for a game-high 147 yards. Maynard topped out with a game-high 68 rushing yards and 23 receiving yards for the Vikings.

For the Pointers, Vance finished with 64 rush yards and a pair of receptions for 39 yards. Hunt finished with 102 yards passing.

The Vikings will be back home next Friday to host Fairfield Christian Academy and South Point will be on the road at Rock Hill in their conference opener.

Symmes Valley 14 28 0 0 = 42

South Point 2 6 0 0 = 8

First Quarter

SV — Bronx Carpenter 8 run (Miguel Ferriera kick), 10:25.

SP — Safety (Ball snapped out of the back of end zone), 7:19.

SV — Asher Maynard 41 run (Miguel Ferriera kick), 1:09.

Second Quarter

SV — Jackson Fields 23 pass from Bronx Carpenter (Miguel Ferriera kick), 9:14.

SV — Andrew Isaacs 95 pass from Bronx Carpenter (Miguel Ferriera kick), 6:04.

SP — Ethan Hunt 8 run (kick blocked), 2:58.

SV — Jackson Fields 18 pass from Bronx Carpenter (Miguel Ferriera kick), 0:47.

SV — Asher Maynard 18 pass from Bronx Carpenter (Miguel Ferriera kick), 0:07.

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SV SP

First downs 15 12

Rushes-yards 9-76 24-84

Passing yards 383 102

Total yards 459 186

Cmp-Att-Int 29-34-0 7-26-4

Fumbles-lost 2-2 1-1

Penalties-yards 8-85 6-30

Punts-average 1-32.0 1-33.0

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING—Symmes Valley: Bronx Carpenter 4-8 TD, Asher Maynard 5-68 TD; South Point: Landon Vance 14-64, Robert Napier 21-minus 1, Ethan Hunt 8-21 TD.

PASSING—Symmes Valley: Bronx Carpenter 29-34-0 383 4-TD; South Point: Ethan Hunt 7-25-4 102, Landon Vance 0-1-0 0.

RECEIVING—Symmes Valley: Dennis Scarberry 1-minus 6, Levi Russell 5-41, Beckam Roth 1-18, Jackson Fields 11-137 2-TD, Enoch Patterson 2-9, Braylon Mount 2-72 TD, Andrew Isaacs 4-145 TD, Asher Maynard 3-23 TD; South Point: Landon Vance 2-39, Davon Lewis 3-16, Marcus Hanshaw 2-47.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.