Football Recap: Valley Christian Triumphs

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Previous 5 Games

10/24/25 - Away	55-54 W
09/20/24 - Home	56-38 W
09/15/23 - Away	28-13 W
10/22/21 - Away	37-0 W
08/29/20 - Home	39-0 W

Winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Valley Christian). They slipped by the East Palestine Bulldogs 55-54 on Friday. The Eagles haven't had any issues with the Bulldogs recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive win against them.

Several Bulldogs players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Clark Rutledge, who threw for 221 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and also rushed for 66 yards and one TD on only eight carries. Rutledge's passing game has become a key predictor of East Palestine's success: the team is 6-1 when his passer rating is 100 or higher, but only 1-2 otherwise. The Bulldogs also got a significant boost from Zach Schnelle, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 134 yards.

Valley Christian's victory bumped their record up to 4-5. As for East Palestine, they have been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four matchups. That's put a noticeable dent in their 7-3 record this season.

Valley Christian does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for East Palestine, they didn't take long to hit the field again: they've already played their next contest, a 36-35 win against Western Reserve on the 31st.