Springs Valley Community High School

It didn't take long for the Springs Valley football team to get the upper hand against Mitchell on Friday. The Blackhawks kicked off to open the game, shut the Bluejackets' drive down quickly, and then blocked their punt attempt. On the next play, Ezra Mills took it to the house to get Springs Valley on the board. A Mitchell fumble followed shortly after, then a Larron Childers touchdown run and less than 4 minutes into the game the Blackhawks led 14-0. They rode that hot start and a stout defensive performance to a 45-6 victory. “Just like every game, we tried to emphasize our defense and playing good defense,” Springs Valley coach Jason Lowe said. “The blocked punt was huge. That was something we’ve worked on for two weeks so to come out and get that right off the bat was huge.” Lowe challenged his linemen to be the better line against the Bluejackets and they stepped up to do just that. On offense they paved the way for the Blackhawks to average more than seven yards per carry with 246 on 35 attempts. Defensively they had a pair of sacks, a quarterback hurry, four tackles for a loss, and 15 total tackles. “It’s huge for us. Those are guys who we’re trying to bring along and teach as we go. We have some youth up there, so it’s a good mix and they seem to be working really well together and getting better every week,” Lowe said. “To see them come out and kind of take that challenge head-on was awesome.” Kayce Jones' effort was a big part of the line's strong night. The sophomore plugged holes all night defensively, finishing with 8.5 tackles, a sack and a tackle for loss from his defensive tackle position. It was a promising sight for the Blackhawks' coaching staff, which hopes to see Jones continue to trend upward as the season progresses. “Kayce has really bought in the past few weeks and he’s a great athlete. He’s not always been a lineman, he’s just kind of grown into that mold with the way he’s developed and how he’s been working in the weight room," Lowe said. "I’m trying to teach him as we go that we’re putting him up against guys who aren’t as fast as him, aren’t as physical and maybe even aren’t as strong. I thought he did a great job of showing that tonight.” Mills was one of the major beneficiaries of Springs Valley's line play against Mitchell. He got eight carries and made the most of them, racking up 105 yards and 4 touchdowns. The performance came on the heels of a season-opener against Eastern Greene in which the senior carried the ball 18 times for 124 yards and three touchdowns. It's been a strong start to the season, to say the least. “I tell him all the time that I love watching him play,” Lowe said. “He’s doing such a good job of really leading our offense and being a leader and buying into our philosophy and identity. We talk about it all the time, his mantra is ‘Just Run Buck’ and he’s done that. “To see a kid who’s worked that hard and waited his turn go out and have two nights like this to start the season, I couldn’t be more happy for him.” With the win, Springs Valley (2-0, 1-0 PLAC) continued building momentum heading into its week three showdown with county rival Paoli. The Blackhawks will try to beat the Rams for the first time since 2015 in what's expected to be the first Orange Bowl unaffected by COVID since 2019. As they approach the bout, their focus will be the same as it was heading into their matchup with Mitchell. “It’s the same that it was this week. We have kids on our team who want to be all-conference players and we have kids on our team who want to win the conference. The message this week was that you probably can’t accomplish those two things if you don’t win tonight and it’s no different next week. “I’m just excited that they get to play here. Hopefully we have a huge crowd, I’m looking forward to it.” BLACKHAWKS 45, BLUEJACKETS 6 Mitchell (0-2);6;0;0;0—6 Springs Valley (2-0);21;17;7;0—45 FIRST QUARTER SV: Ezra Mills 9 run (Griffin McGee kick), 9:39. SV, 7-0. SV: Larron Childers 3 run (McGee kick), 8:21. SV, 14-0. MIT: Kale England 10 run (run failed), 2:27. SV, 14-6. SV: Mills 41 run (McGee kick), 2:12. SV, 21-6. SECOND QUARTER SV: Mills 9 run (McGee kick), 7:01. SV, 28-6. SV: McGee 40 field goal, 1:05. SV, 31-6. SV: James Walls 43 interception return (McGee kick), 0:42. SV, 38-6. SV: Mills 28 run (McGee kick), 9:33. SV, 45-6. TEAM STATISTICS ;;Mitchell;Springs Valley First downs;7;12 Rushes-yards;34-110;35-246 Passing yards;0;46 Total yards;110;292 Passes;0-2-1;2-5-0 Fumbles-lost;0-0;0-0 Penalty yards;9-65;7-55 RUSHING Mitchell: England 18-81, Wesley Hallatt 4-21, Ethan Turner 12-8. Springs Valley: Mills 8-105, Childers 7-45, Christian Hamilton 9-38, Mavrick Land 3-32, Augie Purkhiser 4-16, Konner Chase 3-5, Keyton Jones 1-5. PASSING Mitchell: Turner 0-2-1-0. Springs Valley: Land 2-5-0-46. RECEIVING Mitchell: N/A Springs Valley: Walls 1-33, Keaton Pritchett 1-13.