09/02/2022
BY JACK BULLOCK
SESSER - Making the big plays when they counted, both on offense and defense, the Sesser-Valier/Waltonville Red Devils did something Friday night that they hadn't done in nearly 10 years.

They beat the Fairfield Mules in boy's varsity football.

The Red Devils, trailing 12-7 in the fourth quarter, drove 56-yards in 11-plays, taking up nearly five minutes of game clock to take the lead and then stopped the Mules on a fourth-and-one with 2:01 remaining at midfield to secure a come-from-behind 15-12 victory.

The win improved the Red Devils to 2-0 on the season for head coach Mike Rude.

"This is what high school football is supposed to be about. This was 'gut-check' time for us. We found out tonight what type of team we have," said Coach Rude, who shares head coaching duties with John Shadowens. "I go back to my days at Johnston City. I've never seen a better 'gut-check' defense than what we played tonight. I'm so proud of these kids. It's a great win for these kids."

Senior running back Brock Chelf scored the go-ahead TD and classmate quarterback Carson Hoffard scrambled to his left and dove into the end zone for the two-point conversion.

The Mules and head coach Justin Townsend saw their record dip to 1-1 on the season despite out-gaining SV-W in total yards (296-to-213) and in first downs (18-to-10).

"They (Sesser-Valier/Waltonville) are a great team and they have skill position players all over the place. I thought tonight would come down to the last possession or two and it did," said Coach Townsend.

Fairfield came up empty on its first three possessions in the first half with all three reaching deep into Sesser-Valier/Waltonville territory.

They were stopped twice on fourth down on the Red Devils' 15 and 22 yard lines.

The third trip resulted in a lost fumble by senior running back Luke Sork, recovered by S-V/W's senior linebacker/running back Gabe Gunter at the Red Devils' 32.

"We had the ball twice in the first half where we got down in the red zone once and deep in their territory and we didn't score points either time," said Coach Townsend.

It took the hosts just five plays to find the end zone with Chelf making the longest run of the night by either team.

Racing around the right end, the 5-11 senior raced down the right sideline for 58-yards before being tackled out-of-bounds at the one-yard line.

Gunter scored on a run up the middle on the next play to put the Red Devils on the scoreboard first at the 7:01 mark of the second quarter.

Senior Gavin Dressler kicked the PAT for a 7-0 S-V/W lead.

Although Fairfield moved the ball in the first half, they had nothing to show for it as they trailed by a touchdown at the half.

The Mules appeared to get things squared away as the third quarter began.

Getting the ball back after the Red Devils couldn't move the ball with its first possession in the third quarter, Fairfield finally finished a drive with points.

The Mules grounded out a 13-play, 65-yard crusade to get on the board.

Four different ball carriers chewed up all of the yardage with Sork diving into the end zone on a first-and-goal from the two.

Unfortunately, Fairfield failed on their two-point conversion and trailed 7-6 with 3:27 remaining in the third frame.

For the second consecutive series, Sesser-Valier/Waltonville couldn't move the ball.

Five plays, including a holding penalty against the hosts, netted -4 yards and the Red Devils punted back to the Mules.

Again Fairfield moved into S-V/W.

On fourth-and-eight from the Red Devils' 29, senior quarterback Eric Rodgers dropped back and found Sork over the middle on a post-pattern.

The 5-11 senior took the pass in stride and glided into the end zone to give Coach Townsend and his club their only lead.

Another running play on the two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the score at 12-7 Mules with just 9:08 left in the fourth quarter.

"We had the momentum in the second half but not being able to convert the two-point conversions were big," said Coach Townsend. "I felt like that was kind of a let down. You drive down and score and you feel like you should be able to punch it in but we didn't do that both times."

Sesser-Valier/Waltonville was clearly struggling at this point, having had some players suffering from cramps in the hot, humid air above Carroll Kelly Field.

However Coach Rude saw his team put together the game winning drive.

A big kickoff return (24-yards) by junior Dezmond Malone put the Red Devils in business at their own 44.

Hoffard completed a couple of key passes on the drive to junior running back Wyatt Loucks.

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The first went for nine-yards into Fairfield territory.

The second completion was on a second-and-14, as the pass and catch went for 13-yards to the Mules' 36.

On third-and-one, junior running back Colt Packer gained three-yards for a first down.

As he did for most of the night, Chelf went back to work.

Four straight runs by the senior got the ball to the 15-yard line.

After a Packer rush inside to the 11 Chelf, on his fifth carry, plowed his way into the end zone.

This put the Red Devils up by a 13-12 score.

Conventional play calling would have the Devils take the PAT kick for a two-point spread.

On this occasion, the hosts went for it with a two-point conversion.

Hoffard faked a hand off to the right and then bootlegged to the corner pylon where he beat Fairfield defenders to pay-dirt, putting S-V/W up 15-12 with 3:31 to go.

Fairfield had a chance to put together a drive.

A short kick fielded by junior Alek Couch was returned five yards to the Fairfield 42.

With plenty of time to muster up a drive for a winning score, the Mules gained just eight-yards in three plays and faced a fourth-and-two from the 50.

A run up the middle was stopped for no-gain by the Sesser-Valier/Waltonville defense, which gave the ball back to the hosts with 2:01 left.

It took S-V/W just three plays to secure a game-clinching first down with Packer, Chelf and Malone running the ball.

Two kneel downs by Hoffard sealed the victory for Coach Rude's crew.

The last time that Sesser-Valier/Waltonville beat Fairfield was on September 28, 2012.

The Red Devils won at home, 26-20.

Chelf lead the Red Devils with 117-yards on the ground on 17 carries and a touchdown.

Hoffard connected on 5-of-7 passing attempts for 41-yards with three of the completions going to Loucks for 32-yards.

Gunter carried the ball six times for 16 yards, including a TD run and led his team with eight solo tackles.

Packer added five solo tackles while senior linebacker Colton Payne and defensive back Malone had four tackles each.

Also with four solo tackles were Hoffard as a defensive back and sophomore linebacker Hayden McMurray.

Malone added 42-yards on two kickoff returns.

Kicker Gavin Dressler punted four times for a 35.4 average.

Rodgers ended up 5-of-9 passing for 55-yards and a TD and he also led the Mules ground game with 21-attempts for 102-yards.

Four of Rodgers' passes were to senior wide receiver Reegan Taylor for 26-yards.

Sork finished with 15-rushes for 96-yards and a touchdown on the ground and one in the air.

Sork and junior linebacker Latrael Snyder finished with five solo tackles each while Couch and senior defensive end Payton Allen had four apiece.

One player missing for the Mules was junior running back Jay Snyder, who is lost for the year with a torn ACL/MCL in his right knee.

"I give our guys a lot of credit. We lost our running back Week 1 (Snyder) and we made a lot of adjustments to our offense this week," said Coach Townsend. "Our kids came out and battled, left it all on the field. We just got beat by a really good football team."

The Mules had one telling stat that proved to be part of their downfall.

Coach Townsend saw his club convert just 1-of-6 fourth-down attempts, including the final one which stopped their potential game-winning drive.

Next week Fairfield will host 2-0 Johnston City while the Red Devils host 2-0 Carmi-White County, with both games played next Friday night.

"Our schedule is front loaded, we got Johnston City, Flora and Carmi-White County and all three of those teams could be undefeated when we play them so we have to dust ourselves off and get back to work on Monday," said Coach Townsend.