STILL THE TEAM TO BEAT...is Miami East after an impressive win over Arcanum to open conference action.

By Dwaine Maxson
Miami East defeated Arcanum 35-12 last night to claim their first win of 2009.

The Vikings got the lead early and kept the lead the rest of the game. Although the Trojans fought back hard it was not enough last night.

After receiving the opening kickoff Miami East scored quickly on a two play drive that started on their own 29 yard line. Both plays were runs by Tyler Dunivan. The second being a 58 yard run for a touchdown and the early lead. Then on the ensuing kickoff Tylor Matheson’s squib kick bounced off an Arcanum player near the 35 yard line and Viking Tyler Franz recovered on the Trojan 41 yard line. The Vikings then engineered an eight play drive resulting in a Brock Smith 11 yard touchdown run to put Miami East up 14-0 with 8:23 left in the first quarter.

Despite being down 14-0 early Arcanum did not give up as the Vikings struggled to get much their next few offensive series as the Trojan defense held. In the second quarter Arcanum seemed to pin the Vikings deep in their own territory down on the East five yard line after a punt. The Vikings then managed a 12 play 95 yard scoring drive. The first key play on that drive was a Dalton Saylor 41 yard pass to Jared Brown. Then after a Trojan offsides penalty the Vikings then had first down and 5 on the Arcanum 35 yard line. After two short runs by Tyler Dunivan and Brock Smith they had fourth down and 1 on the Trojan 32. Kyle Noe then had his first of two short but big carries of the night by getting the first down on a 2 yard carry. A few plays later Brady McMaken ran in on a 25 yard dive to put the Vikings up 21-0 with 1:28 remaining in the first half.

After the kickoff Miami East held Arcanum to just a few yards and forced them to punt inside their own ten yard line and the Trojans managed only a short punt. The Vikings then took over on the Arcanum 33 yard line. On their first play, Jared Brown had his second big catch of the night after getting a 30 yard pass from Saylor to set up first and goal on the Trojan 3 yard line. A few plays later Kyle Noe had his second short but big carry for a 3 yard touchdown with just seven seconds left in the half.

“Noe got the toughest yards tonight,” Viking Head Coach Max Current later commented.

Miami East got its final touchdown of the night on a 12 yard by Dunivan in the third quarter. Arcanum got both of their touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The first on a 21 yard run by Josh Stone and the second on a 40 yard run by Brad Rothwell.

“We came out and played better this week and got up early. Arcanum didn’t give up and we earned the win,” said East Coach Current. “We managed to come up with big plays in key situations which helped.”

Tyler Dunivan lead the Vikings with 132 yards on 16 carries for two touchdowns. Miami East quarterback Dalton Saylor was also 5-10 passing for 107 yards on the night. Derrick Baker was the Trojans’ leader with 98 yards on 20 carries and he also was 3 of 4 passing for 16 yards.

Next week Miami East (1-1, 1-0) hosts Mississinawa Valley (2-0, 1-0), while Arcanum (0-2, 0-1) travels to Twin Valley South (0-2, 0-1).

Score By Quarters:
Miami East.......14......14......7......0 - 35
Arcanum...........0.......0.......0......12 - 12

Scoring Summary:
ME-Tyler Dunivan 58 yard run (Josh Snyder kick).
ME-Brock Smith 11 yard run (Snyder kick).
ME-Brady McMaken 25 yard run (Snyder kick).
ME-Kyle Noe 3 yard run (Snyder kick).
ME-Dunivan 12 yard run (Snyder kick).
A-Josh Stone 2 yard run (kick failed).
A-Brad Rothwell (pass failed).