Swan Valley football manhandled visiting St. Charles 42-14 in a match-up of TVC powerhouses to open the football season Thursday evening. Both teams pounded the ball away on the ground with the Vikings out-gaining the Dawgs 337 to 215.
Jonathan Grace scored on a 14-yard touchdown run For the Vikings. On the Vikings next possession Jeremy Gordon ran 82 yards down the sideline to give Swan Valley a 14-0 lead. Grace broke free again for a 52 yard touchdown run and dashed in for the two point conversion putting the Vikings up 21-0. On the kick off, Bulldog David Atkins broke a couple of tackles and scampered 84 yards for a TD (PAT failed) to trail 21-6 at the half.
Lucas Isom scored on a quarterback sneak from 1 yard out, followed by touchdown runs of 13 and 9 yards by Jamie Jimenez breaking the game for the Vikings 42-6.
Nathan Bryan got St Charles back on the board with a 62 yard TD run to finish the scoring and a 42-14 win for Swan Valley.
Johnathan Grace led the Viking with 156 yds rushing and 2 TD's, Jeremy Gordon had 84 yds rushing with 1 TD and Jamie Jimenez had 33 yds and 2 TD's. QB Lucas Isom completed 2 of 3 passes for 50 yards and added 15 yards on the ground with 1 TD.
Nathan Bryan led the Bulldogs with 119 yards rushing while Parker Davenport ran for 42 yards. Steve Rinz added 24 and Hayden Rusz had 23 yards on the ground.
Swan Valley (1-0) travels to Hemlock next Thursday, while St. Charles plays at home hosting defending state champion Ithaca. Both games kick off at 7 p.m.
Former coach Rich Bell was presented the game ball after the win. Bell coached the Vikings for the last 10 years. Swan Valley honored former player Brandon Walker with a moment of silence before the game and friends and family released balloons. T-shirts with his name were worn in his honor. Walker, who graduated in June died tragically in a car crash this summer.
