11/04/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
SESSER - The unknown heroes for the Sesser-Valier/Waltonville Red Devils stepped up once again the team's second round 1A playoff game at home on Saturday.

While the skill position players garner all of the headlines and individual records, the guys in the trenches are a major part of why this squad sits at 11-0.

The Red Devils have now reached the quarterfinals of the playoffs for the first time since 1991 with a convincing 32-8 victory over Catlin Salt Fork.

Junior center Cash Acosta, junior guard Hayden McMurray and senior guard Nathan Galant, along with senior tackle Braydon Short and sophomore tackle Hunter Mannen, proved once again that they are collectively a key element in this memorable season.

Coach Shadowens talked before the season about his team in the weight-room.

“Playoff games is where it (weight room) shows. This is not a bad offensive team we played today but our defense has gotten better each game,” said Coach Shadowens. “We're peaking at the right time, that's a cliché but that's what we're doing.”

Their dominance was especially noticeable on offense as they opened up the holes that allowed senior tailback Dezmond Malone to not only rack up 105-yards rushing but also score on a pair of long touchdown runs.

The first one of 36-yards opened the scoring and his 49-yard fourth quarter TD put an exclamation point on the victory for coaches John Shadowens and Mike Rude, who share the duties for the Black Diamond Conference champs.

The 5-11 senior now holds the Sesser-Valier program's all-time single season rushing mark with 1,574-yards, eclipsing the mark held by former Red Devils' standout Tyson Shurtz from 2001.

“Yes it does. It feels really good. But I can take all of it (credit) I give it all to my O-Line,” said Malone about the rushing record. “It (quarterfinals) means a lot. We haven't done it since 1991.”

The Red Devils will host Greenfield/Northwestern next Saturday at 2:30 pm at Carol Kelly Field.

The Tigers rallied from a 14-0 deficit to beat Casey-Westfield 16-14 on Saturday, scoring the tying touchdown and game-winning two-point conversion with just :01.4 remaining.

Both Greenfield/Northwestern and Red Devils are 11-0.

“Now you have to put this team up there with the greatest teams in school history,” said Coach Shadowens. “I can't say enough about the kids as far as adversity goes. That defense was the best we've seen all year (Salt Fork) and that includes Johnston City. Scoring 32-points on these guys was a feat.”

Sesser-Valier/Waltonville senior quarterback Colt Packer passed for 134-yards on 12-of-17 attempts, including a three-yard TD pass to Malone in the second quarter.

Packer also gained 45-yards on the ground on 10-attempts.

His top target on Saturday was senior wide out Wyatt Loucks, who caught six of the throws for 64-yards.

Loucks was also a key in the defensive secondary for the Red Devils with an interception and several pass deflections.

Malone caught a short TD pass while senior Braden Genisio also caught a key 24-yard pass.

Pacey Dudley, a senior running back, added 78-yards on the ground for SV/W on eight-attempts as the Red Devils reached the Elite Eight.

Short also added a catch on a deflected pass where he rambled down the field into Storm territory.

Although a holding penalty brought it back, the net gain was 11-yards.

Defensively the Red Devils allowed just a single score, late in the third quarter, and only 103-yards on the ground.

The Storm, who averaged 27-points a game on the season heading into the second round contest, saw their campaign end at 8-3.

Junior quarterback Jameson Remole was pressured all day and managed just a 9-of-25 performance passing the ball for 133-yards but over half of those yards came on two long passes (33 and 36-yards).

Uncharacteristically the Red Devils had a pair of turnovers for the first time in a game in 2023.

The first one occurred when SV recovered fumble on a misplayed punt by Salt Fork to take over the ball on the Storm 16-yard line.

But Malone, in one of the few mistakes on the day, fumbled on the next play to give the ball back to Salt Fork.

The Red Devils forced a punt four plays later and the short kick set SV/W up in prime field position at the Storm 36.

Malone took a hand-off, burst through the line and headed down the right sideline for the game's first score.

Although the two-point conversion failed, the 36-yard TD put the Red Devils up 6-0 with 8:25 left in the first quarter.

The visitors had a prime chance to score after the next SV/W possession.

Gambling on a fourth-and-four from their own 25, Packer was stopped short of the yardage needed, giving the Storm the ball at the SV/W 27.

Loucks made his first big defensive play, going high in the air to intercept a Remole pass to turn the ball back over.

“Loucks will be in the boxscore for a couple of catches but how many balls did he bat down today?” said Coach Shadowens. “We think we have the best secondary in the conference. Today the atmosphere was special. We have great support here.”

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The second Red Devils score was in the second quarter.

Sesser-Valier/Waltonville went 55-yards on six plays with Packer hitting Malone on a swing pass from the Salt Fork three-yard line.

The Malone dive into the endzone made it 12-0 Devils at halftime.

Twice in the second quarter the Storm got into Red Devils' territory without scoring.

On a fourth down at the SV/W 22, Red Devils' junior linebacker Tristen Gordon sacked Romole for a six-yard loss.

The next time that the Storm got the ball it came on an interception on a Packer pass by senior linebacker Cam Merritt at the Red Devils' 37.

But the chance was wasted when sophomore running back Ian Church was stuffed at the line by the Red Devils' defense on fourth-and-two from the SV/W 12 with :34.6 remaining.

As they did most of the game, the Storm moved the ball but couldn't find the endzone.

Romele rushed for two gains of 17-yards in the next Salt Fork drive to start the second half.

But another defensive stand by SV/W turned the ball back over on downs at the Red Devils' 20.

Sesser-Valier/Waltonville finalized its next possession of 80-yards on 11-plays, which included a 15-yard sideline penalty against the Storm.

Packer ran it in from one-yard out for an 18-0 spread with 3:30 left in the third quarter.

The only points Salt Fork put on the board came on its next offensive series.

A three-yard TD run from Remole with just :14.6 left in the third and a two-point conversion pass from Remole to junior Pedro Rangel.

The score capped a nine-play, 67-yard march that made it 18-8.

A successful onside kick gave the ball back to the Storm, and some brief hope, at the Red Devils' 47.

Then the Red Devils made another stand, forcing another turnover on downs.

Packer led his team down the field with a big run to start the drive that would use nearly seven minutes of game clock.

Six-three, 250 junior Caedan Hicks started the next drive for Devils by going on a nine-yard run on the first play and scoring the fourth TD for SV/W.

Packer tossed a 12-yard scoring strike to Hicks, who took the swing pass on the left side of the field and rambled into the endzone for a 24-8 lead with just 4:51 remaining.

Salt Fork again moved the ball to the Red Devils' end of the field but Loucks broke up a fourth-down pass by Remole.

Malone added to his scoring total and surpassed the previous season rushing on one play a few moments later.

The senior again broke through and motored down the right sideline for the final points of the contest.

Dudley ran in the only successful two-point PAT for the club to close the scoring.

“It's great. Just the energy and atmosphere today. The school's loving it, we're loving it, it's just a great time to be a Red Devil right now,” said Packer. “That's the way it is every week, we have a great group of guys that all do their job and get it done on the field. Dez is scoring the touchdowns but the O-Line is getting him there.”

Packer, who is standout basketball player for Sesser-Valier, says hoops can wait.

“We've run into this a little bit in the past few years (football playoffs) and we're happy with it,” added Packer. “We will come into basketball with the same mindset that we have with football.”

The Sesser-Valier/Waltonville vs. Catlin Salt Fork match up was just the second sports contest between the two schools.

The Storm topped the S-V boy's basketball team in the 1A state championship game back in March of 2010.

Ironically the last time that Sesser-Valier football team reached the quarterfinals it was against Greenfield.

The Tigers beat the Red Devils 14-0 in 1991.