Springs Valley Community High School

As it took the field on Friday, the Springs Valley football team was faced with a challenging set of circumstances. On the opposing sideline stood the Salem Lions, a Class 3A opponent. The Blackhawks hadn’t played a team from a school that big in nearly 10 years let alone beaten one. Even more challenging was the fact that the Blackhawks were playing just days after the sudden loss of Springs Valley fifth-grader and youth-league football player Treven Ball, which shook the entire community but the Springs Valley football program particularly. Over the next few hours, the Blackhawks would rise above both competition and tragedy, doing their best to honor Treven by beating Salem 23-16. “I couldn't be more proud of our players and coaches. The kids had a great week of practice and it showed tonight,” Springs Valley coach Jason Lowe said. “Our players showed so much resiliency all week and I love how hard they played tonight. We told them before the game that they had a chance to bring a lot of joy to a lot of hurting people and that's what they did.” The win was Springs Valley’s first over a Class 3A team since 2012, when the Blackhawks beat a fledgling Silver Creek program 46-29 in their season-opener. Prior to their run against Silver Creek, they hadn’t beaten a Class 3A team since 2003 when they took down North Harrison. It was the sort of win that shows that a size disadvantage can be overcome, even in football where it’s tougher than most sports. “We love it. This was a big week in our program,” Lowe said. “Our seventh-grade team beat (Class) 2A Forest Park, our eighth-grade team beat (Class) 2A Southridge, and then this win (over a 3A school) tonight. Just shows how hard the kids in our program are working.” The Blackhawks rode a very balanced offense to the win over Salem, finishing nearly even in passing and rushing yards. Springs Valley quarterback Mavrick Land was excellent against the Lions, completing seven of his 10 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown. He also scored with his legs. He spread the ball around to four different receivers over the course of the game as well, allowing the guys around him to make plays. “Offensively our kids just take what the defense gives us,” Lowe said. “Mav did a nice job tonight as did some of the guys around him.” On the ground it was all about Ezra Mills. The senior toted the rock 31 times — a career high by quite a margin — and 145 yards, also a career high. His touchdown just before halftime put the momentum firmly in Springs Valley’s favor and at the end of the game the Blackhawks turned to him to close it out, handing him the ball time and time again on the final drive to ice it. Mills has been that reliable all season, but in a close game like this one it’s particularly important for Springs Valley to be able to lean on a veteran like that. “It’s really nice,” Lowe said. “Ezra brings a physicality and a vocal leadership style that not all players bring.” Springs Valley (3-2, 1-2 PLAC) answered the bell after suffering two losses in a row and has every intention of correcting its course as the season progresses. They’ll have three challenging games to close the season — at Tecumseh, at Perry Central, and their home finale against North Daviess — but first they’ll travel to Crawford County this week. That game should provide them an opportunity to build up even more momentum before they attack the home stretch of this season, but at the moment they’re just focusing on improving every day. “It's important but it's also important to get better each day. That’s what our kids did this week, show up each day and get better,” Lowe said. “We have three tough games to end the season, but hopefully with each passing week we can continue to get better in practice each day. That was a big part of our success tonight.” BLACKHAWKS 23, LIONS 16 Salem (1-4);0;0;6;7—16 Springs Valley (3-2);3;13;7;0—23 FIRST QUARTER SV: Griffin McGee 22 field goal, 7:03. SV, 3-0. SLM: Jonny Tally 21 field goal, 1:37. 3-3. SECOND QUARTER SV: Xander Cook 22 pass from Mavrick Land (McGee kick), 4:50. SV, 10-3. SV: Ezra Mills 1 run (McGee kick failed), 0:25. SV, 16-3. THIRD QUARTER SV: Land 4 run (McGee kick), 8:21. SV, 23-3. SLM: Evan Bowling 16 run (Tally kick failed), 4:31. SV, 23-9. FOURTH QUARTER SLM: Bowling 60 run (Tally kick), 11:11. SV, 23-16. TEAM STATISTICS ;;Salem;Springs Valley First downs;6;12 Rushes-yards;28-189;41-131 Passing yards;66;145 Total yards;255;276 Passes;5-10-0;7-10-1 Fumbles-lost;0-0;0-0 Penalty yards;13-74;8-50 RUSHING Salem: Bowling 10-162, Kaleb Tucker 9-3, Kellen Humphrey 6-17, Hayden Baughman 3-7. Springs Valley: Mills 31-145, Land 7-(-14), Konner Chase 2-0, Jack Dalton 1-0. PASSING Salem: Tucker 5-9-0-66. Springs Valley: Land 7-10-0-145. RECEIVING Salem: Baughman 2-46, Stephenson 2-8, Blake Lohrman 1-12. Springs Valley: Chase 4-77, Jaheim Hamilton 1-40, Xander Cook 1-22, James Walls 1-6.