Marian’s Kaleb Lusanga finds the endzone against Tippecanoe Valley Friday night. InkFreeNews photos by Dalton Tinklenberg

By Dalton Tinklenberg
InkFreeNews

AKRON – The Tippecanoe Valley Vikings played host to the Mishawaka Marian Knights Friday night in a cold and rainy second-round sectional game. The Knights walked away with a 29-0 victory that was much closer than the score indicates.

The game opened with the Vikings winning the coin toss before electing to kickoff to begin the game. Marian senior Greg Atkinson took the kick and burst upfield like a cannonball, setting up the Knights near midfield to begin their drive. Marian wasted almost no time in setting a pace that would remain the norm throughout the night, using the running game to drive the football and control the tempo. Senior Kaleb Lusanga was a terror to Valley tacklers all night, bouncing off of tackles and driving the football. His four-yard score barely four minutes into the game put the Knights up 6-0 after a quarter.

The Vikings were quickly halted on their first offensive drive of the night and a punt into the wind set up the Knights with excellent field position. As Marian looked poised to score and put Valley into a two-score deficit early, a familiar name made his presence known. Sophomore Wade Jones snagged an interception to tie the school’s career record and turn away Marian. Unfortunately for Valley, the momentum would last all of about a minute as the offense fumbled to give the ball right back deep in their own territory.

As good as the Valley defense played on Friday night and really all season, they just couldn’t continuously turn the Knights away in short-field situations. Marian would score quickly, again Lusanga converting on a short run, to take a 12-0 lead.

Tippecanoe Valley looks on in disgust as the second half ticked away against Marian.

The remainder of the second half was more of the same as the Vikings put on their best rendition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with a stout defense and anemic offense. Just before halftime, the Vikings forced a punt before showing their first real sign of life. Sophomore Nate Parker took a handoff through the right side of the line and broke into space to pick up a huge chunk of yards. The play put the Vikings on the Marian 39 with less than half a minute to go before halftime. A sack on the very next play sank the boat just as the wind began to fill the sails.

Valley took possession of the ball to begin the second half and quickly gave the home crowd reason to hope. They began to drive down the field and the fans and student section were wild with excitement. After reaching midfield, the wheels fell off the bus, along with the transmission, engine, and door. Multiple sacks and a penalty killed the Valley drive once more, forcing the Vikings to bring out Jones for a punt.

The Knights broke through the line of scrimmage and got to Jones, blocking the punt and further devastating the chances of a Valley comeback. Remarkably, the Valley defense again tightened up and held the Knights to just a short field goal.

One player that was quickly noticed as missing after halftime was senior star, Jamasyn Virgil.

“The white hat took him out of the game because he got injured, he thought,” said Moriarty in regards to Virgil. “He maybe had a concussion, we don’t know for sure but the white hat took him out of the game because he was stumbling around a little bit. He wasn’t allowed to play the second half.”

The score held at 15-0 into the fourth quarter before the defense simply tuckered out from the heavy workload of the night. Greg Atkinson scored his first touchdown of the evening to make it 22-0 about halfway through the fourth quarter. One final mistake by the offense, an interception, as Branson McBrier released the ball as he was being hit, set up the Knights with a short field yet again. Lusanga added his third score of the night a few plays later to make it 29-0.

McBrier finished 6-14 for 55 yards and one interception. Parker led the team in rushing with 27 yards on three attempts. The Vikings finished the game with just 89 yards of total offense on 47 plays, a shocking value considering the team came into the night averaging over 386 yards per game, almost 260 yards a night on the ground.

Despite the tough night and lopsided score, the incredible season the Valley football team had this season. The year before this senior class became freshmen, Valley produced a 2-8 record. Their freshman year, Valley finished 6-5. Each proceeding season saw the program improve until ultimately finishing 2021 with a 10-1 record. These seniors have left Tippecanoe Valley in a much better place than they found it.

“Overall, yes this didn’t end like we wanted it to but overall it was a very good season for the team and for those seniors,” said Moriarty. “All they’ve done going through the program. It’s a long program. You know you start in Pee Wee and you have dreams. I think these seniors have fulfilled their dreams and set a lot of records here.”

Marian (8-3) will now move on the play Jimtown (9-2) next week for a sectional title.