Bryce Novak was making his first start as Valley Christian's quarterback in place of the injured Jay MacIntyre, but as long as he had triple threats Ryan Severson, Kirk Johnson and Raigan Hubbard standing staunchly behind him, the Warriors knew everything would be fine. Valley Christian responded with a dominant 42-21 victory over Bishop O'Dowd Friday night in Oakland, rushing for 495 yards in the win.
“I thought we came out with more enthusiasm this time,” said Valley Christian head coach Mike Machado. “It showed on offense, we moved the ball well, defensively we got stops."
Severson led the offense with 230 yards and three long TDs on just 10 carries. But he wasn’t just a factor on offense, as he contributed three solo tackles and picked up two interceptions for an additional 33 yards.
“It was a team effort,” said Severson. “We play by the motto team work makes the dream work. All game we kept fighting and never gave up.”
The stalwart Warrior defense stifled O’Dowd’s typically strong passing game as the Dragons were cross the midfield stripe the entire first half. The Warriors were able to anticipate the pass and be there for the tackle, allowing Dragons senior quarterback Dominic Miroglio to complete just 7-of-16 passes for 77 yards in the first half.
“We left ourselves no option but to come out in the second half and go hard because they embarrassed us in the first half and we couldn’t come out with a total embarrassment,” said Miroglio. “We had to give them something.”
The Dragons came out strong in the third quarter, anxious to make up for their slow start. Defensive back De’Zhon Grace gave O’Dowd momentum with his fumble recovery leading Miroglio to find his senior receiver Kevin King in the end zone. Although the Dragons' kick was blocked, they immediately regained momentum by recovering an onside kick. Miroglio then found receiver Dominic Gomes up the sideline, who ran it in for the touchdown. After Miroglio completing the two point conversion to Gomes, the Dragons were back in the game, down 28-14.
“We had to get the momentum back on our side,” said Novak. "We talked about it at half time that they were going to do whatever they could to get back in the game and we just had to find a way to get down the field and score.”
As Hubbard, Valley's senior fullback, jumped up to snag a pass, he came down abruptly, injuring his knee. His status is unknown, but as he was carted off the field, the Warriors continued to fight on.
As the Dragons were closing in for a third touchdown, the Warrior found strength in their defense as defensive end Garrett Gregory deflected Miroglio's pass, allowing defensive back Tyler Robbins to pick up an interception. With the Warriors at their own five-yard line, Severson found an opening on the left side and exploded for a 95-yard touchdown with eight seconds to play in the third quarter to increase the lead to 35-14.
All night, junior Charlie Nelson was able to control the line of scrimmage on the offensive and defensive lines for the Warriors, opening the holes for running backs.
“They had no answer for the double tight,” said Nelson. ”Our run game was unstoppable.”
