Shriver, Andrews Prolific For Valley
NORTH MANCHESTER – The mood around the Tippecanoe Valley football program is sure to be better this weekend.
The Vikings got healthy in a hurry Friday night by mashing Manchester 58-43 in the Three Rivers Conference opener for both teams.
Valley bounced back big time after an unexpected 0-2 start and several injuries in last week’s home loss to Bremen.
Viking quarterback Ben Shriver, who was just cleared to play on Thursday after hurting his knee last week, was unstoppable Friday night. The senior connected on 19-27 passes for 428 yards and six touchdowns.
Valley, which has shared the TRC title each of the last two years, led 27-0 after the first quarter against the winless Squires. The Vikings led 40-7 at halftime before the hosts scored a plethora of points in the final half in a game that was over quickly.
The Vikings, who blew out Manchester 51-14 last year, piled up 581 yards of total offense Friday night.
Star receiver Tanner Andrews also had a monster night for the Vikings. The Division I prospect, who was also shaken up last week, had eight receptions for 290 yards. Andrews caught touchdown tosses of 38, 53 and 40 yards from Shriver.
Jonah Mikel had three receptions, all for touchdowns for Valley. Mikel scored on strikes of seven, 10 and 13 yards.
Nolan Sponseller led the ground game for Valley with five carries for 98 yards, including a 56-yard touchdown run. Chris Torpy had 55 yards rushing and a pair of scores.
Lucas Schilling ran for four touchdowns and also threw two touchdown passes for Manchester.
Valley hosts Southwood (1-2, 0-1) next Friday night.