KV ends woes with trouncing of Clark

Font Size

Email

Bookmark

Black Text

White Text

HAMMOND -- At some point that tough schedule -- some would call it masochistic in the Northwest Crossroads juggernaut -- had to pay off, right?

After five straight losses to start the campaign against teams with a combined record of 20-5 before Friday's action, Kankakee Valley used all that built-up frustration against Clark in a 31-6 trouncing at Fort Pioneer.

And it wasn't that close as the Kougars (1-5) ran at will in the first quarter -- their first 11 plays and 14 of the first 18 were on the ground with two of the other four plays pass receptions for first downs -- for a 21-0 lead before Clark fans were settled in the stands.

"At the end of last week's game (a 41-14 loss against Griffith), we reached out and challenged our kids to have a good week of practice," KV coach Mike Peo said. "I thought our intensity was much better."

That was an understatement as the much bigger Kougars ran straight up the middle for huge chunks of yardage.

Whether it was four consecutive runs by Adam Mandeville on the first possession for a combined 33 yards that set up a four-yard touchdown plunge by Dylan Patrick, or a 21-yard scamper by Patrick on the second possession that set up a 16-yard run around left end by Kale Popp for another TD, all Clark coach Dave Verta could do was shake his head.

He knew it wouldn't be easy from the start.

"They play teams like Lowell and Hobart and Griffith, so they have a tough schedule," Verta said. "They played like a (Class) 4A school tonight."

Peo was just happy to see his team get its first victory.

"In our conference, you learn pretty darn quick to play a tough brand of football," he said. "If you don't, you just don't get beat, you get hurt."

It didn't help the cause of the Pioneers (3-3) that they were missing a couple keys to the offense -- junior quarterback Micah Rooke and junior lineman A.J. Barrera.

Rooke was serving a mandatory one-game suspension for being ejected from last week's 36-28 loss to East Chicago for fighting. Barrera had a knee injury, though Verta said he could be back for next Friday's Great Lakes Conference match against Gavit.

"We had three sophomores and two freshmen on the line tonight," Verta said. "(Berrera) is a big player in the middle. When you don't have him it makes a big difference."

Patrick led the Kougars with 133 yards rushing on only 13 carries, two of them TD runs. Mandeville added 88 yards on the ground. Clark's only score came on a nine-yard run from Cameron Copeland with 12 seconds left in the game.