OAK HILL – It was a battle of brute force and the Symmes Valley Vikings found the force was with them.

Sunday, September 26, 1999

OAK HILL – It was a battle of brute force and the Symmes Valley Vikings found the force was with them. In a clash of power-style team, the Vikings upset the Oak Hill Oaks 14-7 Friday in the Southern Ohio Conference Division I.

It was a huge win win for the Vikings who not only won the first league game of the season but also grabbed a big pile of computer points.

"This was a big win for our kids. The kids really came to play," Vikings coach Herb Conley said. "But the key to the game was our offensive and defensive fronts. They controlled the game. They did an outstanding job."

After Oak Hill gained 84 yards the first quarter, the Vikings defense allowed just 13 yards the second quarter and a meager 3 the third quarter behind the play of outside linebackers Billy McCarty, Jared Leffingwell, and Adam Niece, defensive tackles Clint Wiseman and Matt Ross, inside linebackers Eric Holland and Anthony Owens, and ends Kent Shipley, Joseph Patterson, and Justin Berry.

The Vikings defense sacked Oaks quarterback Josh Brunton four times.

A fumble recovery and some razzle-dazzle gave the Vikings their first touchdown.

Quarterback Noah Henson threw a screen pass to halfback Brad Carpenter who in turn threw to Jeremy Copley downfield on a play that covered 45 yards and put the Vikings up 7-0.

"Carpenter did a nice job throwing that ball, and Noah Henson did a nice job directing our offense," Conley said.

Carpenter intercepted a pass in the second quarter to set up the next score. Aided by a pass interference penalty, the Vikings scored with Carpenter running the final yard and it was 14-0 at the half.

Carpenter finished with 104 yards on 25 and Henson added 26 on six carries.

The 151 yards rushing was the result of the blocking by the offensive line led by Todd Adcock at center, Anthony Owens and Eric Holland at the guards, Justin Berry and Ross at the tackles, and Michael Doss at tight end.

"They flat out just whipped us up front," Oak Hill coach Merril Triplett said. "They look at this as their biggest game of the year and they came up here wanting this game more than our kids did."

Oak Hill cut the deficit in half when Chad Russ scored on a 1-yard run with 3:49 to play. However, the drive took nine plays and ate up a lot of clock.

The Oaks attempted an on-sides kickoff but the ball failed to travel the necessary 10 yards.

Symmes Valley picked up two first downs before turning the ball over to the Oaks who had time for only one play.

Brunton hit Nick Donley with a pass and the Oaks receiver began weaving through the defense before finally being stopped in front of the Vikings bench to end the game.