With a playoff game on the line, Central Valley rose to the challenge on Friday. They strolled past the Elizabeth Forward Warriors with points to spare, taking the game 31-15. That result was just more of the same for these two, as Central Valley also won the last time the pair played back in November of 2021.
Leading Central Valley to victory were Steven Rutherford and Jance Henry Jr. Rutherford rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown, while Henry Jr rushed for 50 yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance gave Rutherford a new career-high in rushing yards.
Another reason for the win was Central Valley's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for eight sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Tyler Ondrusek and Ethan Shearer, who racked up five sacks between them. Ondrusek has been hot for a while, having also posted five or more total tackles the last 16 times he's played. Central Valley got some further help from T. Mason Dixon: he picked up a sack and made nine total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Central Valley was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 321 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Elizabeth Forward only rushed for 57.
Several Warriors players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Connor Stokes, who picked up 139 receiving yards and a touchdown. Stokes got the majority of those receiving yards when he pulled down a pass and took off for a gain of 80 yards. Another player making a difference was Ryan Messina, who threw for 279 yards and a touchdown.
Central Valley has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a massive bump to their 7-5 record this season. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 35.8 points per game. As for Elizabeth Forward, the defeat snapped their winning streak at seven games and leaves them with a 8-4 record.
Central Valley will face off against Avonworth at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. Avonworth will roll in looking for their fourth straight win, something Central Valley surely won't give up without a fight. Elizabeth Forward does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
