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VALE – Vale head coach Jeff Aldred mentioned the Vale football team had been hyped the week previous to the Ontario Tigers coming to town.
“The players, especially the upper classmen, remember last season,” he said.
During the short season, the Vikings rolled into Ontario on March 12 of this year. The Tigers made the short ride home tough on Vale, grabbing a 16-14 win, Ontario’s lone win of the short season.
On Friday, Oct. 1, Vale made the short ride home tough on the Tiger players, winning 41-6.
Ontario fans had an early hope of a March repeat as the Tigers took their first offensive possession and started on a long drive down the field. The drive ended in the lone score of the game for the Tigers.
The Viking offense answered with a score also in the first quarter, adding two scores in the second and as the half came to a close, Vale led 22-6.
The Vale defense stiffened in the second half, keeping Ontario scoreless while the offense added an additional 19 points for the final score.
The Vale offense was balanced, putting up 222 yards in the first half and adding 225 yards in the second half for a total of 447 yards. The ground game led the charge with Viking players handling the ball 33 times for 254 yards.
Nathan Kimball led the ground game, picking up 117 yards on 17 carries, including two scores. Quarterback Tanner Steele had 7 carries for 88 yards and found the end zone once. Peter McBride had four carries, but two of those were in for the score.
Photo Gallery – Vale v Ontario (JV and Varsity) – Football
In the air, Steele was 9-for-19 for 193 yards with Colton Stepleton the recipient of two of the passes for 84 yards. Owen Crane picked up a lone reception, making it count for a gain of 42 yards.
Ontario quarterback Ruben Hernandez carried the bulk of the offense for the Tigers. Keeping the ball on a quarterback keeper 20 times, Hernandez picked up 67 yards. Through the air, Hernandez was 18-for-27 for 132 yards and two interceptions.
Ethan Hendrickson grabbed three catches for 42 yards and Austin Shepard had two catches, his totaling 39 yards.
Ontario ended the night with 292 yards of total offense led by the air attack for 148 yards. The ground game put up 144 yards on 37 touches of the ball.
