Friday night’s River Ridge matchup at Dwight Bogle Stadium between Hidden Valley and the Carroll County Cavaliers was an exercise in trying to stay dry as downpours swamped the proceedings.
The Hidden Valley football team certainly did their part to assist the poncho-clad fans.
Running and passing the ball at will, Hidden Valley jumped out to a 35-0 halftime lead, sending the scoreboard clock to continuous running mode for the second half, as the Titans dominated the visitors from Hillsville 42-0.
It was Hidden Valley’s fifth straight win to improve to 5-1 on the season. Carroll County fell to 1-4.
The Titans wasted no time in entertaining the boisterous, yet damp, Hidden Valley homecoming crowd.
Senior captains Nate Atkins and Mason Dermott each scored rushing touchdowns in the first quarter, Atlins coming from 3-yards out and Dermott following with a 48-yard breakaway that had the Titans on top 14-0 after one quarter. Dermott finished with a game-high 121 yards on the ground
Like the skies above Edmunds-Hammes Field, Hidden Valley poured it on in the second quarter.
The Titans scored 21 unanswered points in the second frame, including a pair of Jake Smiley touchdown passes. The first was a 17-yard hookup with senior wide receiver Chris Wilburn. The second was a 6-yard toss to senior captain Taylor Flynt. Despite the tough conditions, Smiley threw for 113 yards to round out the balanced Titan attack.
Hidden Valley, which had forced a Carroll County safety early in the second quarter for 2 points that made up for a pair of missed PATs, added a touchdown before halftime for the fan-friendly 35-point margin that set the stage for the potentially quick final 24 minutes of play.
Titan sophomore Ryan Mitchell made it 42-0 in the third quarter on a 10-yard TD run, and the Hidden Valley defense, which held the Cavaliers to only 60 total yards for the game, finished off the job.
“We have no excuses,” Carroll County first-year head coach Eddie Sloss noted after the game. “Hidden Valley is a very good team with a very strong program. All week we talked about our defense needed to keep their offense off the field. We have some seniors on this team that are starting their first football games this season. Our goal is to get better, hit the weight room and pick up the intensity.We’ll come back to practice on Monday and keep working.”
“Tonight we simply stuck to our game plan,” Hidden Valley head coach Scott Weaver said outside the Titan locker room. “We dealt with the distractions of homecoming week well, and we were able to get out of here healthy. In the River Ridge you take no victory for granted, but these guys are expecting to win.”
Hidden Valley now looks for its sixth straight win when it travels to Blacksburg Friday night. Carroll County will make its second trip in as many weeks to Bogle Stadium when the Cavs take on Cave Spring this Friday.
Bill Turner