By TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports Report
NEWARK VALLEY — Susquehanna Valley spoiled Newark Valley’s Homecoming game Saturday afternoon, defeating the Cardinals, 35-14, in Section IV Football Conference action.
NV lost quarterback Nate Hinckley to injury late in the first half and he would not return. Josh Karp and Titus Callahan were knocked out of the game briefly on the Sabers’ possession just before that, which resulted in a touchdown and helped the visitors build a 28-0 halftime advantage.
With only 11 seniors and juniors suited up, lack of experience also played a role in the NV setback.
The Cardinals came out motivated and moved the ball deep into Sus Valley territory before a penalty forced them to turn the ball over on downs. A fumble later in the half also contributed to a Sabers TD.
Jesse Frear and Maddox Kopko, the team’s senior standouts, accounted for the TDs.
Frear scored on a 4-yard run with 3:17 left in the first quarter, but the two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful, making it 6-0 heading into the second quarter.
He took it in from the one at 8:30 of the second period and the PAT run was good to give Sus Valley a 14-0 lead.
Kopko, a Millersville University commit who transferred in from Pennsylvania’s Central York added a 7-yard keeper with 4:29 to go in the half and the Sabers’ kicked the PAT to push their advantage to 21-0.
Frear scored his third TD of the afternoon on an 80-yard run at the two minute mark and Sus Valley took a 28-0 cushion into the half.
The Sabers would add one more TD in the second half on a 64-yard run by Kopko and the PAT kick made it 35-0.
NV would get a pair of TD runs from Karp. He scored on a 2-yard run with two seconds left in Q3 and a 3-yard run with eight seconds remaining in the game.
SV (2-2) chalked up 328 yards offense, rushing for 232 of it. Frear had seven carries for 105 yards and Kopko added 88 on six runs. Kopko went 5-for-7 through the air for 96 yards with 6-foot-4 tight end Sam Miller snagging three for 51 yards and Aiden Howard grabbing a pair for 45 more.
Newark Valley had 232 yards, 223 coming via the run.
Reserve back Troy Stebbins rushed for 49 yards on nine carries while Karp had 11 carries for 48 yards. Logan Rhodes had nine runs for 44 yards, Hoover rushed 12 times for 32 yards, and Zion King and Hinckley ran the ball five times each, picking up 26 and 24 yards, respectively.
Jackson Hoover completed one pass to Gabe Merrill for nine yards.
The Cardinals (1-4) host Tioga (3-2) next Saturday in the Division VII opener for both teams.
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PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
