(Photo courtesy of Sheri Thompson)
CANEY — Limiting Neodesha to just 28 total yards, including a net of minus-25 yards on the ground, Caney Valley rolled to a 47-6 victory over Tri-Valley League foe Neodesha last Friday at Caney Valley High School Stadium.
“It was a pretty good effort on our part,” said CVHS coach Criss Davis. “Our run defense did a good job. We didn’t give their quarterback a lot of time to throw the ball. We really shut their running game down the whole game. I think we are starting to hit our stride. It was a pretty good team effort all around.”
The Bullpups were coming off consecutive road wins over Cherryvale and Eureka. Making its first home appearance of the season, Caney Valley improved to 3-0 overall. CVHS will next host Columbus on Sept. 27 in the Class 3A-District 1 opener for both teams. Both teams will enter the contest unbeaten as the Titans also stand at 3-0 following a 41-19 home win over Girard last week.
On the other side, Neodesha continues its search for win No. 1 of the season as it dropped to 0-3 overall. The Bluestreaks open up Class 2A-District 5 action on Sept. 27 when they entertain Douglass. The Bulldogs are 1-2 on the season after suffering a 22-0 shutout loss at Marion last week.
Caney Valley grabbed control of things from the start, including a 20-point opening quarter. Ben Nunneley put the Bullpups on the board with a 47-yard touchdown run, and Eryk Kyser followed with a two-yard run into the end zone. Quarterback Trey Richey later found Andrew Bowman on a 15-yard scoring strike to give the host team a 20-0 advantage after 12 minutes of action.
Richey tossed two more touchdown passes before halftime. Both of those throws went to Tanner Rose on completions of 45 and 30 yards that gave the ‘Pups a 34-0 edge at the break.
CVHS finished off the convincing victory with two more scores. Kyser had his second rushing touchdown on a run of 11 yards in the third quarter, and Richey tacked on an 54-yard scramble for six in the final period.
Neodesha ran back the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown as Andrew Harrall sprinted 89 yards for the score to avoid the shutout.
It was the third straight season the Bullpups held the Bluestreaks to single digits. Caney Valley has now won 11 of its last 12 meetings against Neodesha.
Statisically, CVHS dominated the contest, including a 357-28 advantage in total yardage. The Bullpups racked up 227 yards on the ground, including a game-high 130 yards on 10 carries by Nunneley. Richey also completed six of his 10 passes for 130 yards, while tacking on 82 yards rushing on four carries.