ALONE AT THE TOP...is where Justin Baker and the Miami East Vikings found themselves after Friday night.

By Dwaine Maxson
OCTOBER 3, 2008 - WEST ALEXANDRIA
Miami East won convincely Friday night as they defeated Twin Valley South 69-26. Turnovers and mistakes proved to be to costly for the Panthers as the Vikings capitalized on them. The the Vikings defense forced six turnovers while their offense gained 457 yards in total offense.

On the opening kickoff Miami East kicked a squib kick and actually recovered it on South's 36 yard line. Then on the Vikings very first offensive play Tyler Dunivan ran it in 36 yards to put them up 7-0 with just nine seconds into the game. Again on the next kickoff the Vikings kicked a squib kick and recovered it. Then a few plays later they scored on a Brock Smith 27 yard run and after Josh Snyder's kick they were up 14-0 with just 50 seconds into the game. Later in the first quarter Sam Smallwood would score two more touchdowns on runs of 4 and 8 yards before the Panthers finally scored on a 61 yard pass from Miles McCollum to Roy Wysong to make the score 28-7. The Vikings' Brock Smith caught a 17 yard pass from Justin Baker to finish out the scoring in the first quarter.

In the secord quarter, Brock Smith struck again on a 54 yard run to put Miami East up 42-7. Later Dunivan scored the Vikings next touchdown on a 2 yard run. South's Steve Balthis scored on an 11 yard run near the end of the first half to make it 49-13 at half.

The Panthers opened the second half by recovering a Viking fumble on the opening kickoff to set themselves up near East's 25 yard line. A few plays later Skyklar Reckers scored on a 19 yard run for another Panther touchdown. Miami East came charging right back with a three play drive ending on a 13 yard touchdown run by Smallwood to make the score 56-20 in the Vikings favor. After that East starting playing their second string offense. Later in the third quarter the Vikings' Kyle Rowe returned a Panther punt 59 yards for another Miami East touchdown.

The Vikings' final touchdown came in the fourth quarter on a 17 yard run by Josh Snyder. Twin Valley South scored the final touchdown on an Austin Cole two yard run.

"We did a lot things of things really well tonight on both sides of the ball. Although we did have a few too many penalties. We did expect to win tonight, but were surprised to score 69 points again this week. We thought it would be lower than that. South just made some mistakes that we did a great job of capitalizing on. Schondo (Jason Schondelmyer) is a good coach and he will have South getting better and they are going to be tough to play," Viking coach Max Current said after the game.

Sam Smallwood had another good performance with 108 yards on just 13 carries for three touchdowns. Although Miami East's Brock Smith had a career night by gaining 150 yards rushing on just 6 carries while catching one pass for 17 yards and scored three touchdowns. "That is the great thing about our team. If your defense takes one of us away one of the others will have a big game," Smith later commented.

Next week the Vikings host National Trail, while Twin Valley South hosts Bradford.

Score by Quarters:
..........................1......2.....3......4.....FINAL
Miami East............35....14....13....7.......69
Twin Valley South...7.....6......7.....6.......26

Scoring Summary:
ME-Tyler Dunivan 36 yard run (Josh Snyder kick).
ME-Brock Smith 27 yard run (Snyder kick).
ME-Sam Smallwood 4 yard run (Snyder kick).
ME-Smallwood 8 yard run (Snyder kick).
TVS-Roy Wysong 61 yard pass from Miles McCollum (Jesse Koeller kick).
ME-Smith 17 yard pass from Justin Baker (Snyder kick).
ME-Smith 54 yard run (Snyder kick).
ME-Dunivan 2 yard run (Snyder kick).
TVS-Steve Balthis 11 yard run (kick failed).
TVS-Skylar Reckers 19 yard run (Koeller kick).
ME-Smallwood 13 yard run (Snyder kick).
ME-Kyle Rowe 59 yard punt return (kick failed).
ME-Snyder 17 yard run (Snyder kick).
TVS-Austin Cole 2 yard run (run failed).

Records: Miami East 6-1 (6-0), Twin Valley South 3-4 (3-3).