By Ted Waddell
JEFFERSONVILLE — October 19, 2004 – Some folks might have thought a bunch of turkey buzzards circling over the field before Saturday’s varsity football game between the home team Bulldogs of Sullivan West and the Tri-Valley Bears might be a bad omen.
But in the ever-changing world of sports, the vultures proved a good luck charm for the Bulldogs as they bit the Bears 28-2.
SW improved to 6-0 on the season and T-V dropped to 3-3.
With 59.9 seconds remaining in the first quarter, SW’s Corey Hornicek scored on a 1-yard run in the wake of a pass reception by Andre Trujillo.
The PAT kick sailed through the uprights to put the Bulldogs up 7-0.
At 11:00 in the second period SW running back Orion Darder raced into the end zone, only to have the TD called back for offensive holding.
With 6:13 left in the quarter, Darder scored on a 4-yard touchdown run. The PAT was good, and SW had a 14-0 lead.
At 1:43, Bulldog quarterback Joe Meyer connected with Steve Daley on a 5-yard touchdown pass. The PAT cleared the bars, putting the Bulldogs up 21-0.
With about a minute remaining in the half, Darder intercepted a Joe Garigliano pass on the SW 15 to stop a T-V drive.
At 9:42 in the third period, Hornicek sprinted around the right end on a sweep play for his second TD of the afternoon. The PAT was good, and the Bulldogs led 28-0.
Later in the quarter, Bear defenders Owen Williams and Kevin Hornbeck pulled off a tackle in the end zone, giving T-V two points on a safety.
On the next T-V possession, running back Alan Coombe finally got his wheels rolling and picked up significant yardage. But he had to watch it go up in smoke as SW linebacker Steve Daley recovered a T-V fumble deep in Bulldogs’ territory.
In a penalty-ridden fourth quarter, the Bulldogs got nailed for a couple of 15-yard flags for taunting the opposition.
Adding insult to injury, Peters had a 30-plus yard run called back for guess what – offensive holding.
Sporting a pair of taped up ankles, Peters looked like a spats-clad hipster from the Roaring 1920s as he weaved through the Bears’ defense. The senior running back rushed seven times for 91 yards and also completed a 30-yard halfback option pass.
With two and a half minutes left in the game, the Bears came knocking at the doghouse door. But T-V then got socked with a 15-yard penalty. A couple of plays later, SW took over on downs after the Bears came up short with a pass attempt on a fourth-and-35 play.
As a team, SW ran the ball 36 times for 199 yards. Hornicek had eight carries for 44 yards, Daley ran six times for 32 yards and Darder rushed seven times for 28 yards.
Bulldog quarterback Joe Meyer completed 7-of-11 passes for 112 yards. Andre Trujillo caught five of those passes for 81 yards and Brett Yeomans had two receptions for 31 yards.
Defensively, SW had six quarterback sacks.
“It was a good, tough game,” said SW Coach Ron Bauer.
Coombe paced the Bears’ offense with 94 yards on 10 carries. Josh Smith ran 10 times for 33 yards, Danny Walter had two carries for 7 yards and Daniel Knox had three rushes for 4 yards.
Garigliano was 6-of-16 passes for 63 yards. Coombe caught two passes for 37 yards, Smith had two receptions for 17 yards and Matt Smith and Knox each caught one pass.
“Except for a short stretch in the second period, we played well on defense today,” said T-V Coach Dave Viglione.
Notes: SW will host Highland this Saturday in a key Section IX Class B Division II contest. With a victory, the Bulldogs would clinch the Division II title.
Kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m. at SW’s Jeffersonville-Youngsville campus.
T-V will host John S. Burke Catholic High School on Saturday in a non-league contest. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.