Valpo follows Penn upset with Roosevelt rout

Valparaiso defenders Will Hoefflicker (20) and Jerrick Suiter eye Gary Roosevelt's Tracell Britton during the first quarter.
(Guy Rhodes/Post-Tribune)

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GARY -- There was no letdown for Valparaiso after its dramatic victory over Penn last week.

This was no repeat of the Vikings' surprisingly competitive victory over Roosevelt from last season.

All there was on Friday night was Valparaiso's 57-0 rout over the Panthers.

The Vikings (2-0) scored a touchdown on five of their six first-half possessions, with their other drive ending deep in Panthers territory with a fumble, carrying a 37-0 lead -- they also had a safety -- into halftime.

Valparaiso also scored on its first possession of the second half, before going to its reserves in the final minute of the third quarter.

"We had our letdown on Monday and Tuesday," said Valparaiso coach Mark Hoffman, whose team knocked off Penn 10-9 in overtime to open the season. "We had two of the worst practices we've had. But Wednesday and Thursday we were back on task, and we played that way today.

"I'm just happy offensively and defensively. We did pretty much what we wanted to do. We played extremely hard, and we got out of here without any injuries. And all 90 kids got to play."

Nick Thompson rushed for 104 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries. Eric Jackson had 98 yards and a score on five carries. And Michael Perkins added two TDs, running for 40 yards on five carries.

Zach Livovich completed 5-of-9 passes for 71 yards, and had a 5-yard touchdown run.

The Vikings generally blew the Panthers off the line of scrimmage, as their running backs often went untouched until 10 yards down the field, as they rolled up 370 yards on the ground, and didn't punt once.

And whereas Roosevelt (0-2) put up 40 points in a 55-40 loss last season against Valparaiso -- though Hoffman noted the bulk of those points came from Roosevelt's starters against his twos and threes -- the Vikings held the Panthers to 6 yards in the first half, including minus-34 rushing. Roosevelt finished with 79 total yards, including 36 rushing. Quarterback Keenan Davis was under duress throughout the game, facing heavy pressure.

"Valpo came in kind of up," Roosevelt coach Kennedy Hannah said. "They had something to prove after we scored 40 points last year. We just didn't execute to score on them."

J.J. Peller, Jerrick Suiter and Matt Hittinger all had an interception for the Vikings. William West and Tracell Britton each had a fumble recovery for the Panthers, who will seek their first victory of the season next week against Chicago Clark.

"I'm going to make one of those guarantees -- you can quote me on that," Hannah said. "Next Friday night is my game by any means necessary."

Contact Michael Osipoff at 648-3137 or mosipoff@post-trib.com. Comment on this story at www.post-trib.com.