Turkey Valley football team routs West Central

JACKSON JCT -  The Eight-Man No. 8 Turkey Valley football team took advantage of five first half West Central turnovers to crush the Blue Devils, 62-12, Friday at home to improve to 2-0 overall.

The Trojans raced to a 22-6 first quarter lead before adding four more scores in the second quarter to build a commanding 54-6 halftime lead.

“Offensive stats-wise, it was not a good game for us,” TV Coach Mark Scott noted, referring to the fact the Trojans tallied only 136 total yards rushing. “West Central turned the ball over five times in the first half, which gave us extremely short fields. Our players took advantage of that.

“We did show improvement from the first game (against Kee on Aug. 25). Our young offensive line of Brady Schmitt, Gage Gruenberg and Kannon Leuenberger showed improvement and did a great job. They gave (quarterback) Ethan Leibold time to complete all three passes he threw.

“Defensively, West Central threw the ball well early by completing eight of 10 passes and a touchdown. With our special teams, Braeden Baumler continues to kick well as he had three touchbacks. Our only turnover came on as we received the kick at the beginning of the second half. An errant kick bounced off a front lineman’s helmet back to West Central,” Scott said.

The Trojans opened the scoring early in the first quarter on a 32 yard touchdown run by Will Einwalter. Cale Reicks ran the ball in for two points.

After West Central scored on a touchdown pass to cut the lead to 8-6, Ethan Leibold completed a 33 yard touchdown pass to Cale Reicks. Einwalter scored on a two-point run. Later in the first, Braeden Baumler scored on a one-yard run to give TV a 22-6 lead.

Turkey Valley put the game out of reach in the second period with four touchdowns to take a 54-6 lead at intermission. Will Einwalter scored on runs of 19 and three yards, and he had a 19 yard interception return for a score. Leibold completed a 25-yard touchdown pass to Cale Reicks for the other score. Leibold completed two two-point conversion passes and he ran the ball in for two points. Einwalter scored one two-point run.

The Trojans added their final touchdown in the third period on a three yard run by Dylan Elsbernd. Jason Herold caught the two-point pass from Leibold.

TV statistics

Ethan Leibold completed three of three pass attempts for 73 yards and two scores. Cale Reicks had three catches for 73 yards and two scores.

Will Einwalter gained 54 yards rushing and had three touchdowns on three carries. Dylan Elsbernd had 34 yards and one score on nine carries. Braeden Baumler had 25 yards and one score on five carries. Cale Reicks had 13 yards rushing, and Ethan Leibold had 10 yards rushing.

On defense, Eli Nymeyer led TV with seven tackles, including three solo stops. Dylan Elsbernd had 6.5 stops, including four solo tackles. Luke Mueller had six tackles. Seth Huinker and Elliott Dietzenbach each had five tackles. Cale Reicks tallied 5.5 tackles. Jason Herold had 4.5 tackles. Braeden Baumler and Ethan Leibold each had four stops. Keegan Balk had 3.5 tackles.

Einwalter and Reicks each had one interception. Baumler, Mueller and Reicks each tallied one fumble recovery. Baumler had nine kickoffs for 424 yards and three touchbacks.