Springs Valley Community High School

Jason Lowe challenged his team to set the tone on Friday night. Springs Valley’s second-year football coach was heading into his first matchup with Patoka Lake Athletic Conference foe Crawford County and he wanted his kids to make a statement early. If he had his way, the game would be played exactly how the Blackhawks wanted it to and the Wolfpack would be reeling from the opening kick. And that’s exactly what happened. The Springs Valley defense recovered a fumble on the game’s opening drive, quarterback Mavrick Land scored a touchdown on the ground a few plays later, and the ‘Hawks were off and running. They’d go on to defeat Crawford County 71-0. “I loved it. Going into the Crawford game was a drastically different feeling than the previous three weeks so as a coach you don't know how the kids will respond,” Lowe said. “I love our kids and the way they prepare, so all week I had a feeling they would come out and set the tone early.” Land was far from the only Blackhawk to find the endzone on Friday. In fact, 10 different players found a way to score for Springs Valley and even more impacted the game in other ways. Versatility and depth are two of the biggest parts of this team’s identity and Friday’s win was a display of what the Blackhawks can do when they spread the ball around. “It's very important (to us). We feel like we have a ton of kids that can make plays and hurt defenses and we are trying to get the kids to understand and believe that too,” Lowe said. “It's easy to be a playmaker and want to make all of the highlight plays, but it's important for us offensively to spread the ball around and put kids in positions to make plays.“ Springs Valley’s display of depth even reached down to its junior varsity players, who played much of the second half and performed well despite their inexperience at the varsity level. Christian Hamilton finished the game as Springs Valley’s leading rusher, carrying the ball seven times for 56 yards. Noah Allstott also played well, using the two carries that he got to rack up 46 yards and score his first varsity touchdown. Kaden Dunn also got in on the scoring, catching a 10-yard pass for his first varsity touchdown. There were plenty of others who made plays as well, as evidenced by the fact that the Blackhawks held firm on defense and didn’t allow a single point in the second half even with their younger players on the field. “It’s super fun to see the underclassmen go out there and get some touches and prove that they can do it. I just love seeing it,” Mills said. “I was getting hyped on the sideline for them and they work really hard in practice as a scout team, so I love seeing them go out there and play against a varsity-level opponent.” Early in the game, an older Blackhawk reached a significant milestone. By successfully converting his first two point after attempts of the game, senior kicker Griffin McGee scored the 100th point of his career. It was a fitting game for McGee to reach that mark, as back in 2019 he scored the first points of his career on a field goal against Crawford County. “I cannot say enough about Griffin McGee. I've said for two years that Griffin is a weapon and I think over the course of the past two seasons people have seen that. I'll be surprised if I ever see another player work as hard on his own craft or skill set as Griffin McGee does,” Lowe said. “I don't know that I can put a value to or describe how valuable he is to our program. I'm so happy for the success he has had the past 2 seasons and I'm very excited about the future that he has ahead of him.” The win was a historic one for Springs Valley (4-2, 2-2 PLAC). It was the first time that a Blackhawk football team scored 70 or more points in a game and, because the ‘Hawks also shut out the Wolfpack, their margin of victory was also the largest in program history. Both of the previous marks were set in 1991, when a Springs Valley team led by coach Bill Harris beat North Daviess 67-0. It was the second week in a row that the Blackhawks pulled off a rare feat, as in the week prior they beat a Class 3A team for the first time in a decade. Those wins have been galvanizing for Springs Valley, especially coming right after tough losses to Paoli and West Washington as well as the loss of Springs Valley Youth Football League player Treven Ball, which shook the Springs Valley community. Through these two victories, they’ve shown their toughness and they’re going to need it in the coming weeks. Up next they’ll square off with Tecumseh, one of the top teams in Class 1A, and after that they’ll face Perry Central and North Daviess. “I think this team can go through a lot of adversity. We’re tough, mentally strong,” Mills said. “We took some tough losses, but we just used that as motivation to leap forward and get these two wins.” BLACKHAWKS 71, WOLFPACK 0 Springs Valley (4-2);27;30;7;7—00 Crawford County (0-6);0;0;0;0—00 FIRST QUARTER SV: Mavrick Land 2 run (Griffin McGee kick), 8:56. SV, 7-0. SV: Konner Chase 41 run (McGee kick), 6:00. SV, 14-0. SV: Jaheim Hamilton 18 reception from Land (McGee kick), 3:02. SV, 21-0. SV: Jack Dalton 3 run (McGee kick failed), 0:28. SV, 27-0. SECOND QUARTER SV: Keaton Pritchett 5 reception from Land (McGee kick), 9:59. SV, 34-0. SV: Ezra Mills 2 run (McGee kick), 6:12. SV, 41-0. SV: Jonas Hammond safety, 5:15. SV, 43-0. SV: Pritchett 31 reception from Land (McGee kick), 4:36. SV, 50-0. SV: Chase 5 run (McGee kick), 1:45. SV, 57-0. THIRD QUARTER SV: Kaden Dunn 11 reception from Land (McGee kick), 5:00. SV, 64-0. FOURTH QUARTER SV: Noah Allstott 30 run (McGee kick), 6:38. SV, 71-0. TEAM STATISTICS ;;Springs Valley;Crawford County First downs;8;1 Rushes-yards;27-216;26-(-82) Passing yards;115;46 Total yards;331;-36 Passes;7-8-0;3-6-0 Fumbles-lost;3-0;3-2 Penalty yards;7-55;5-17 RUSHING Springs Valley: Christian Hamilton 7-56, Augie Purkhiser 7-30, Ezra Mills 6-34, Konner Chase 2-46, Noah Allstott 2-46, James Walls 1-5, Jack Dalton 1-3, Mavrick Land 1-2. Crawford County: Tanner Arnold 12-(-42), A. Arnold 7-(-12), Nash Stroud 2-4, Izaiah Jenkins 2-(-2), Quentin Bell 2-(-22), Aiden Bell 1-(-8). PASSING Springs Valley: Mavrick Land 6-7-0-110, Landon Weeks 1-1-0-5. Crawford County: Quentin Bell 1-3-0-17, Tanner Arnold 1-2-0-0, Aiden Bell 1-1-0-29. RECEIVING Springs Valley: Keaton Pritchett 2-56, Jaheim Hamilton 2-41, James Walls 1-23, Kaden Dunn 1-10, Evan Brown 1-5. Crawford County: Cody Wheatley 1-29, Nash Stroud 1-17, Aiden Bell 1-0.