Viking offense has 'Fields' day in win over Marauders

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POMEROY  — In a game that saw lots of offensive stats piling up, Jackson Fields had a field day of his own.

The sophomore receiver found himself a key target for quarterback Bronx Carpenter, and the duo helped the Symmes Valley Vikings outscore the Meigs Marauders 56-42 in an old fashioned shootout on Friday night.

Both teams moved the ball up and down the field all night, amassing 875 total yards, 14 touchdowns and 46 first downs. But in the end, the Vikings came up with 3 key turnovers - including interceptions by Levi Roth and Asher Maynard.

Fields wound up leading all receivers with a career-best 267 yards receiving, caught a team-high 9 passes, and found the end zone three times.

Carpenter and the Symmes Valley aerial attack carved up the Meigs defense to the tune of 420 passing yards and 25 first downs. Even running back Asher Maynard got into the act with a 28-yard pass to Fields on a fourth down play to set up a score to begin the fourth quarter.

Carpenter's 392 yards through the air was also a career-high for the sophomore.

The win moved the Vikings to 2-0 on the season. The loss dropped the Marauders to 0-2 to begin the year.

Meigs took the opening kickoff and appeared as if they would grab the early lead when Nash Yates gained 5 yards on a run to the Viking 5, but the ball was stripped and recovered by Zayne Wilson.

Just a few plays later, the Vikings cashed in on the takeaway.

Carpenter found Fields wide-open on an RPO play, hitting the sophomore in stride for a 77-yard touchdown strike. Miguel Ferreira added the extra point to make it 7-0.

Meigs responded with an 18-yard touchdown run from Beckham Blackstone to make it 7-6 and then came up with a fumble recovery on the Vikings ensuing possession.

Cleland would throw his first touchdown pass of the night to Wyatt Hudson from 8 yards out to give the Marauders the lead. Cleland followed up with a pass to Isaiah Arms for the 2-point conversion to make the score 14-7 with 2:52 left in the opening quarter.

Cleland finished the night 20-of-29 for 262 yards through the air and 3 touchdown passes. He also led the team in rushing with 14 carries for 66 yards and a rushing touchdown on a designed run with 7:13 left in the game that cut the Vikings' lead to 48-42.

In the second quarter, the Vikings got back on the board again through the air, as Carpenter found Andy Strow for the first of two touchdown scores between the two. The extra point was blocked to keep Meigs ahead.

After another score from Meigs, the Vikings rattled off 21-straight points to take the lead for good.

The first score was a touchdown run from Maynard and Carpenter found Strow again to give the Vikings a 27-22 lead at the break.

The third score came at the beginning of the third, as Carpenter lofted a pass into the back corner of the end zone to a leaping Fields for the 16-yard score. Ferreira nailed the extra point to extend the Symmes Valley lead out to 34-22.

Both teams traded scores in the third frame, as Cleland threw two more touchdown passes to Griffin Hudson.

Then Maynard scored his second touchdown on the night from 1 yard out to help give the Vikings a 40-36 lead going into the fourth.

Symmes Valley opened the scoring in the fourth, as Carpenter and Fields hooked up for the third time. This time a 6-yard touchdown pass into the back corner of the end zone. The two decided that one more scoring play between them wouldn't hurt, and Carpenter hit Fields for the two-point conversion to make the score 48-36 with 9:03 remaining.

Meigs scored again to cut the deficit to 48-42, but Symmes Valley was able to move the chains and mlet the clock. On first-and-goal from the 10, Maynard cut through the middle of the defense for his final touchdown of the night and rounded out the scoring for the game.

Strow finished with 6 catches for 37 yards to go along with his 2 scores. Gradee Holland had 38 yards on 3 catches. Roth caught 4 balls for 23 and Maynard had 48 yards on 7 receptions.

Maynard finished the game with a team-high 44 yards on the ground to go along with his 2 scores.

Hudson was the main target for the Marauders passing attack, with 12 catches for 129 yards and 3 touchdown catches. Jacob White had 4 catches for 62 yards.

Sy. Valley 7 20 13 16 = 56

Meigs 14 8 14 6 = 42

First Quarter

SV — Bronx Carpenter 77 pass to Jackson Fields (Miguel Ferreira kick), 7:57.

Me — Beckham Blackston (kick no good), 7:25.

Me — Gunnar Cleland 8 pass to Griffin Hudson (Beckham Blackston kick), 2:52.

Second Quarter

SV — Bronx Carpenter 10 pass to Andy Strow (kick blocked), 11:54.

Me — Gunnar Cleland 17 pass to Jeremiah Martin (Gunnar Cleland to Isaiah Arms), 11:16.

SV — Asher Maynard 1 run (Bronx Carpenter run), 9:06.

SV — Bronx Carpenter 7 pass to Andy Strow (pass failed), 0:18.

Third Quarter

SV — Bronx Carpenter 16 pass to Jackson Fields (Miguel Ferreira kick), 9:00.

Me — Gunnar Cleland 14 pass to Griffin Hudson (Cleland run), 6:50.

SV — Asher Maynard 1 run (pass failed), 3:31.

Me — Gunnar Cleland 15 pass to Griffin Hudson (pass failed), 0:07.

Fourth Quarter

SV — Bronx Carpenter 6 pass to Jackson Fields (Carpenter to Fields), 9:02.

Me — Gunnar Cleland 6 run (pass failed), 7:13.

SV — Asher Maynard 10 run (Bronx Carpenter to Gradee Holland), 1:37.

———

SV Me

First downs 25 21

Rushes-yards 16-28 33-165

Passing yards 420 262

Total yards 448 427

Cmp-Att-Int 26-37-1 20-29-2

Fumbles-lost 3-1 2-2

Penalties-yards 5-40 9-70

Punts-average 1-38.0 1-42.0

———

Individual Leaders

RUSHING – Symmes Valley: Beckham Roth 1-0, Asher Maynard 15-44 3TD, Bronx Carpenter 2-19, Team 1-minus 7; Meigs: Gunnar Cleland 14-66 TD, Beckham Blackston 8-48 TD, Griffin Hudson 7-33, Jeremiah Martin 1-5, Nash Yates 1-5, Cooper Jude 2-8.

PASSING – Symmes Valley: Bronx Carpenter 31-42-1 392 4TD, Asher Maynard 1-2-0 28; Meigs: Gunnar Cleland 20-29-2 262 3TD.

RECEIVING – Symmes Valley: Andy Strow 6-37 2TD, Levi Russell 1-7, Gradee Holland 3-38, Beckem Roth 4-23, Jackson Fields 9-267 3TD, Asher Maynard 7-48; Meigs: Isaiah Arms 3-44, Griffin Hudson 12-129 2TD, Jeremiah Martin 1-17 TD, Jacob White 4-62.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.