Hidden Valley held Cave Spring to a pair of field goals through 3 1/2 quarters, then withstood a late Knight score as the Titans defeated their Southwest County rivals 21-12 Friday night in front of a packed house at Dwight Bogle Stadium.
Both River Ridge squads advanced to post-season playoffs, with Hidden Valley, via the win, getting a first round bye in Region IV Division 4. Cave Spring will open Region IV Division 3 action this Friday night (Nov. 9th) as the Knights entertain 4-6 Abingdon at Bogle.
Friday night, it was the Hidden Valley defense that set the tone in the regular season finale that will keep the Paint Can Trophy at Hidden Valley for the upcoming year.
Cave Spring got on the scoreboard on their opening possession. After a stalled drive, Daniel Seymour connected on a 36-yard field goal that gave the Knights the quick 3-0 lead.
Later in the opening frame, Duke-bound Jake Kite took a reverse pitch and raced untouched 20 yards to the house to put Hidden Valley up 7-3 after the Landon Dermott PAT. Neither team found the end zone before halftime.
The Titans upped their advantage to 14-3 with just under 3 minutes left in the third quarter when running back Walker Brand plunged in from two-yards out. Brand finished the game with 92 rushing yards on 17 carries to lead the Titans.
Seymour added his second field goal early in the fourth quarter to cut the Hidden Valley lead to 14-6, before the turning point of the game went the Titans way.
After a penalty forced Hidden Valley into a third-and-25 situation, Kite managed to escape the Cave Spring secondary for a 40-yard gain. It eventually set up Brand’s second touchdown of the night on a 7-yard run that gave the Titans the 21-6 cushion.
“To me, that (Kite’s key run) was the turning point,” Hidden valley head coach Scott Weaver noted afterward. “It’s really nice having him on your team.”
Cave Spring closed to the final margin when wide receiver Jack Woody hauled in a 13-yard highlight reel touchdown catch late in the fourth. The Knights came up short on the 2-point conversion attempt that left them shy of a potential miracle comeback.
“We made minor mistakes tonight,” Weaver added. “But, nothing as severe as last week.” Hidden Valley had five turnovers against Salem that ended their hopes of a River Ridge title one week earlier.
“Cave Spring is a good team,” Weaver pointed out. “We thought they would throw more. But, our defense played well and executed. It was strength on strength tonight.”
Connor Baker led the Cave Spring attack with 129 passing yards on 17 completions of 24 attempts. Titans QB Nic Ratliff was 6-of-8 through the air for 92 yards.
“I think we were inside the red zone three times and what did we score, twelve points?” Cave Spring head coach Tim Fulton said at midfield afterward. “We were moving the ball well with our running in the first half. Hidden Valley then made some adjustments. We’ll keep working.”
BILL TURNER game story/photo
