BY BUDDY TABLER
Special to the Tribune
LARNED – The Larned Indians spent most of the first half pounding on the door of Smoky Valley, inside the red zone four times, but came away with no points and a 0-0 halftime score. It came back to bite them as they were edged 8-6 by the Vikings.
On multiple occasions in the first half, Larned on the legs of running back David Colglazier and the passing arm of Mason Miller, took up chunks of yardage and moved into scoring position only to be turned back by penalties.
Twice the Indians got inside the five-yard line but came away with no points. Once, while inside the 25-yard line of the Vikings, Larned had three consecutive illegal motion penalties to stymie a scoring drive.
Meanwhile, Larned’s defense was frustrating Smoky Valley quarterback Ty Heitschmidt and the Viking offense, keeping them out of the Larned side of the field. By halftime Smoky Valley accumulated two first downs and 84 yards, but was tied 0-0.
In the third quarter Larned’s David Colglazier broke loose for a 49-yard run to the Smoky Valley 4 but it was called back on a holding call.
On the same drive, Larned’s Tristan Regan caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Mason Miller but also was called back for holding. Finally, with 6:57 remaining in the third quarter Miller hit Koby Lang with a 6-yard touchdown pass and a Larned 6-0 lead. A run for the conversion failed.
Following the score, Smoky Valley’s offense came alive for the first time all night as they moved on the running of Jack Opat and the passing of Heitschmidt into Larned territory for only the second time all night. With 3:49 remaining in the third quarter Crew Elliot scored on a 6-yard run and he also scored on the conversion run and the Vikings took an 8-6 lead.
In the fourth quarter the two teams traded fumbles on consecutive plays and, three plays later Opat intercepted a Mason Miller pass to stop a drive. With 5:25 remaining in the game, Smoky Valley was again forced to punt and Larned set up on their own 43 yard line with time to win the game.
With 4:30 remaining in the game, Larned fumbled, for their third turnover in the game, and the Vikings recovered on Larned’s 42 and they were successful in running the clock down under ten seconds until Larned intercepted a last-gasp pass with just four seconds remaining and the Vikings had the victory.
Larned drew 11 penalties for 95 yards to blunt numerous scoring opportunities. Quarterback Miller completed 13 passes out of 21 attempts for 169 yards, with Tristan Regan and Lang each having six receptions. David Colgazier led the Indians in rushing with 13 carries for 96 yards.
Ty Heitschmidt completed 6 of 12 passes for 58 yards and had 36 yards rushing for the Vikings. Jack Opat led Smoky Valley with 62 yards rushing on 11 carries.
Smoky Valley (1-0) travels to Belle Plaine and Larned (0-1) will be on the road against Hillsboro.
Smoky Valley 0 0 8 0 — 8
Larned 0 0 6 0 — 6
L—Koby Lang 6 pass from Mason Miller (run fails); SV—Crew Elliott 6 run (Elliott run)
RUSHING—SV—L—Colglazier 13-96
PASSING—SV—Heitschmidt, 6-12, 58; L—Miller 13-21, 169
RECEIVING—SV—
