OWEGO - Snow filled the air Wednesday evening in Owego's regular season opener where the River Hawks' began their quest for another sectional championship by taking down Susquehanna Valley 38-6.

OFA started the night with their defense quickly forcing three straight three and outs, while the River Hawks' offense did their part, finding the end zone with a trio of Kylie Grippen touchdown passes on their first three possessions.

The first touchdown pass went to sophomore, Ashlyn Dalton, while the next two Grippen touchdown strikes came on the next two offensive snaps. First was a 50-yard bomb, once again to Dalton followed by a 38-yard touchdown pass to Lexi Herceg.

With the score 19-0, Susquehanna Valley finally found a little bit of a rhythm on their next possession, but the drive was cut short, thanks to a first down saving tackle from Owego's Kayla Newman. 

OFA took over on downs in Saber territory and went right back to work offensively. Grippen found Dalton on a short pass that moved the ball to the 15-yard line, before senior, Bella Silvestri ran it in for the score to cap off the drive. With the extra point converted, this put Owego ahead 26-0 midway through the first half.

The next drive for SV saw similar results with the River Hawks' showcasing lock down defense and giving their offense another crack before the break.

This time, however, it was Susquehanna Valley's defense that rose to the challenge, intercepting Grippen with 4:44 left on the first half clock.

The Sabers couldn't turn the turnover into points though, due to a tackle in the backfield by Dalton that forced a fourth and fourteen, which ultimately got the OFA defense off the field with no damage done.

On the ensuing play, it was Grippen finding Olivia Dodge over the middle and taking it all the way for the score. This would be Grippen's fourth and final touchdown pass of the day. The failed extra point attempt made the score 32-0 in River Hawks.

Owego was able to take that lead into halftime after OFA defender, Leah Clark knocked down a Sabers pass to help force another turnover on downs with 50 seconds left on the clock.

The second half began with a long Owego drive, but ended up being halted at the Susquehanna Valley one-yard line. The next possession for the Sabers saw them get their only score of the evening with a 65-yard scamper down the sideline. The failed extra point brought the score to 32-6.

The final points in the game happened on a drive orchestrated by Herceg, who stepped in at quarterback for some late game reps. After Herceg kept it herself on a read-option play for 40-yards, she then hit Alysssa Harrington on a pass down to the goal line. Herceg rushed for a touchdown on the next play to make the score 38-6, Owego.

Offensively on the night, Kylie Grippen was 13-19 for 192 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. Ashlyn Dalton caught five balls for 82 yards and a pair of scores. Olivia Dodge chipped in with a td and 41 yards on three receptions, while Lexi Herceg added two scores of her own, one receiving and one rushing. Bella Silvestri added a rushing touchdown and carried the ball four times for 17 yards.

When asked about how she thought the home opener went, Kylie Grippen said "Everybody stepped up and I thought my blockers and receivers were phenomenal. "We watched a lot of film going into the game and I thought our blockers did a great job stopping some of their biggest threats."

A fantastic defensive night was lead by Kylie Craven. The sophomore had seven tackles and one quarterback pressure. Silvestri and Dalton each finished with five tackles on the night. Dalton also tallied a sack and Harrington was stellar defensively, racking up four tackles and two sacks. Elaina Anschutz got to the quarterback for a sack as well.

Coach Rusty Virkler was pleased with the start to the season for OFA.

"I thought we got off to a great start. We only had so many days to practice, but we executed well tonight and it worked out for us," said Virkler.

The River Hawks' will take the field again next when they travel to Chenango Valley for the kickoff event this Saturday.