USV’s Ryan Roberts carries the ball down the field past Hardin Northern’s Nolan Hopson and Kaden Guinn on Friday night at Hardin Northern.
Jackelyn Johnson | The Lima News
DOLA – Upper Scioto Valley came into Friday’s key Northwest Central Conference football matchup against Hardin Northern riding a seven-game winning streak and was eyeing an outright conference title.
On Friday, USV’s high-powered running offense proved to be too much to handle as the Rams pulled away from Hardin Northern for a convincing 38-10 win at Pete Brunow Field.
Two athletes fueled USV’s running attack.
Senior quarterback Maddox Underwood was a force for USV, rushing for 285 yards on 16 carries with touchdown runs of 75, 52 and 81 yards. Teammate Ryan Roberts rushed for 103 yards on 13 carries and had a TD. Mason Thompson scored the other TD for the Rams.
As a team, USV rushed for 407 yards.
With the win, USV improved to 8-1 overall, 7-0 in the NWCC and are now the outright NWCC champions. Hardin Northern slipped to 6-3 in all games played and 5-2 in the conference.
“I’ve told our guys all year that we’re gritty,” USV coach Dustin Price said. “We may not have the biggest, fastest or strongest guys, but (we) just have that ‘it factor’. … Our guys just play to the best of their ability. We do have a couple guys with some speed. … I’ll take that back,” he said with a grin.
Price praised Underwood on his ability to make defenders miss.
“The play coming out of halftime was supposed to be a sweep to the right. He (Underwood) reverses field and ends up having a huge touchdown. … He just made a play. He makes me look good sometimes,” Price said with a smile.
The play that Price referred to was the very first play of the second half when Underwood broke loose for a 52-yard TD run to extend USV’s lead 22-10.
On the night, Underwood was 1 of 3 passing for 39 yards. On defense, Underwood intercepted a pass.
However, it was Hardin Northern who got on the scoreboard first.
With 15 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Alexander Wilson (14 carries, 45 yards), who switched back-and-forth from running back to quarterback, ran it in from 3 yards out to give the Polar Bears a 7-0 lead.
USV responded with a 1-yard TD run by Roberts and then a 75-yard scamper to the end zone by Underwood to pull out to a 16-7 lead.
At the half, USV led 16-10 and 30-10 at the end of the third quarter.
Price pointed to his offensive line as a key to the running game.
“The offensive line did great. Outside of our guard, No. 77 (Mykal Ellerbrock; 6-foot-3, 305 pounds), they’re all undersized on the line each game. But they all have heart. A couple of them are 165 pounds, but they just have heart. They have that determination,” Price said.
Hardin Northern had a balanced offense on Friday.
The Polar Bears rushed for 163 yards and passed for 190.
Senior running back Nolan Hopson rushed for 118 yards on 26 carries. He also kicked a 22-yard field goal late in the second quarter.
Hopson also got some snaps behind center. Hopson was 1 of 4 passing for 51 yards. Alexander Wilson was 4 of 12 passing for 139 yards.
“Obviously, (Nolan) Hopson is a great player. So, he was our key,” Price said. “He’s made his hay with those big runs. So, that was kind of our thing that we wanted to focus on – not let him get out to those big runs. We needed to bottle him up from not getting that big run, and I think we did that. I knew they were capable of throwing the ball too. They made some passes, but again, we were focused on Hopson. We wanted to make him beat us.”
Price commented about the rivalry between the two programs.
“It’s always a good rivalry. I’m an alumnus from here, and two of our staff members are Brunows. So, this a game that we always look forward to,” Price said.
Hardin Northern’s football field was named after Pete Brunow, a legendary former Hardin Northern football coach.
Score by Quarters
Hardin Northern 7 3 0 0 – 10
Upper Scioto Valley 0 16 14 8 – 38
Scoring Summary
Hardin Northern – 3-yard run by Alexander Wilson (kick by Nolan Hopson); first, :15
USV – 1-yard run by Ryan Roberts (run good); second, 11:57
USV – 75-yard run by Maddox Underwood (pass good); second, 7:33
Hardin Northern – 22-yard field goal by Nolan Hopson; second, :08
USV – 52-yard run by Maddox Underwood (run failed); third, 11:44
USV – 81-yard run by Maddox Underwood (pass good); third, 3:34
USV – 1-yard run by Mason Thompson (pass good); fourth, 1:04
Team Statistics
Hardin Northern USV
163 Rushing Yards 407
190 Passing Yards 39
353 Totals Yards 446
5/16/1 Comp./Att./Int. 1/3/0
13 First Downs 11
13/120 Penalties/Yards 6/60
2/0 Fumbles/Lost 1/1
4/33 Punts/Average 3/38
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Hardin Northern – Nolan Hopson: 26 carries, 118 yards; USV – Maddox Underwood: 16 carries, 285 yards, three TDs
Passing: Hardin Northern – Alexander Wilson: 4 of 12, 139 yards; USV – Maddox Underwood: 1 of 3, 39 yards
Receiving: Hardin Northern – Mason Stewart: 2 catches, 95 yards; USV – Mason Thompson – 1 catch, 39 yards
