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Versailles
junior Colin Peters (15) heads for the end zone Friday night
against Germantown Valley View.
Peters carried the ball 23 times for
196 yards with a 54 yard touchdown run. Versailles went to 1-1 with a
31-27 victory.
CNO Photos By Chuck Runner, tigerballonline@netzero.net
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Versailles
holds Valley View at bay
Tigers get well deserved first win
By George Starks
VERSAILLES - It may have been the longest 1:16 in the history of
Versailles High School.
Trailing Germantown Valley View 27-24 with 2:40 remaining in the game,
the Tigers did the unspeakable on the Spartans sidelines.
Versailles went 61 yards in only four plays in just 1:24, highlighted
by a 51 yard run by junior Colin Peters.
Than run set up a first and goal from the one and with 1:16 showing,
quarterback Jerrod Niekamp ran it in for the score, giving the Tigers a
31-27 lead.
As the Tigers were ready to kick off, play was stopped for lightening.
That brought out boos and jeers from the fans from both sides as the
lightening was apparently in the Celina area.
When play resumed, it was the Tigers defense that prevailed giving the
Tigers the four point victory.
“I think were we sitting in a good position and the situation favored
us,” said Versailles coach Adam Miller. “We scored right before play
was called and the momentum was in our favor. We didn’t have to travel
an hour and a half to get here. I knew we were in a good situation to
finish this game and get the win.”
When play resumed at 6 pm Saturday evening, the Versailles defense
recorded two more picks. Croy Dieringer got the first one and it was
Barga that picked off the Spartan quarterback with 15 seconds remaining.
“Our defense was the ones that benefited from the stoppage of play,”
said Miller. “Our biggest thing is that we have to believe in ourselves
and we are doing that. We had our back against the wall and we came
through in the end.”
In a game that was back and forth most of the evening, it was senior
Jayce Barga that proved to be the Spartan killer on defense.
Barga stepped up midway through the first quarter when he intercepted a
pass at the 20 yard line, returning it to the Versailles twelve.
The Tigers were unable to find pay dirt but was able to claim a 26 yard
fieldgoal with 3:48 remaining as senior Zach Steinbrunner and the
Tigers were up 3-0.
Versailles later went up 10-0 on a 54 yard bust by senior by Peters
with 11:02 remaining in the half.
Valley View started to pick up the pace and a minute and a half later,
on a 63 yard run, the Spartans were within a 10-7 count with 9:34
remaining.
Versailles went up 17-7 just eight seconds later when senior Kyle
Dieringer took the first and 10 handoff at the Tigers 20 and ran it 80
yards for the score.
Valley View would once again answer at the 2:56 mark and the Tigers
would cling to that three point lead that was set up with the 26 yard
fieldgoal in the first quarter.
“That interception by Jayce was the difference in the first half,” said
Miller. “Once we got to moving the ball and scoring, we were able to
feed our emotions and the kids got it going. The kids started to
believe in themselves and things really started to pick up.”
The second half picked up right where the first half ended.
Big plays highlighted both teams offense in the fourth quarter as the
Spartans had plays of 20 yards on a touchdown pass play as well as a 68
yard pass play giving them a 27-24 advantage with 2:40 remaining.”
“The defense stepped up especially in the third quarter for us,” said
Miller. “Their defense was just as deadly as ours was as well and
neither offense could move the ball. This was a night of big plays for
both teams. We played solid on defense. It was nice that we had those
three points early and that was huge for us. This was a big win for us.”
Now 1-1 on the season, the Tigers will travel to Delphos and a MAC
clash with the kids at St. Johns.
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The
Versailles defense loomed big when it counted down the stretch,
holding the Spartans
out of the end zone when it counted most to
preserve the win.
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