Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Moshannon Valley’s Tanner Kephart scores on a blocked punt against Glendale on Friday night.
FLINTON — It seemed certain Glendale was going to respond to a Moshannon Valley touchdown in the fourth quarter and draw to within two points on Friday night at Dr. Roy F. Baker Field.
But then something memorable happened in the 57th meeting of the backyard rivalry that changed the game between the winless teams.
Mo Valley’s Luke Yarger recovered a fumble at the Black Knights’ 10-yard line. On the next play, with Glendale most likely focusing on Levi Knuth, Tanner Kephart burst through the middle of the line and outran everybody to the other end of the field for a 90-yard touchdown run.
The swing of momentum propelled the Black Knights to their first win, 29-14. It was Mo Valley’s first victory over Glendale since beating the Vikings in 2018, 48-32.
Sequence of the game: Yarger’s fumble recovery was followed by Kephart’s 90-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
First momentum shift: Senior Skylar Williams blocked Zeke Dubler’s punt in the second quarter, and Kephart picked the ball up at the Glendale 5 and scored easily, making the score 16-7.
Player of the game: Knuth ran for 184 yards on 25 carries and scored on runs of 5 and 1 yards. He also had a sack for a 9-yard loss.
Unsung heroes: The Moshannon Valley defense recovered three fumbles.
Most vital statistic: The Vikings ran more plays, 64-43, and had more yards, 361-283, but the turnovers were big.
Moshannon Valley coach Michael Keith on beating Glendale for the first time since 2018: “I said to these guys ‘doesn’t this feel good? Let’s do this more often.’”
Glendale coach Dave “Spank” Trexler on the momentum swing in the fourth quarter: “There were a lot of turning points in the game. But any time a swing of events has points involved, it magnifies it.”
Notable: Mo Valley holds a 35-21-1 edge in the series. … Dubler ran for 117 yards on 18 carries and scored on a 3-yard run. … Glendale’s Jimmy Sutton scored on a 21-yard run. …Viking quarterback Troy Misiura completed 15-of-22 passes for 164 yards.
Next week: Moshannon Valley hosts Northern Bedford. Glendale hosts West Branch.
Records: Moshannon Valley (1-2); Glendale (0-3)
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Moshannon Valley 3 13 0 13 –29
Glendale 7 7 0 0 –14
First Quarter
MV–Collins 27 field goal, 6:23.
G–Dubler 3 run (Beatty kick), :50.6.
Second Quarter
MV–Knuth 5 run (Collins kick), 7:15.
MV–T. Kephart 5 blocked punt return (kick failed), 5:04.
G–Sutton 21 run (Beatty kick), 1:39.
Fourth Quarter
MV–Knuth 1 run (Collins kick), 10:51.
MV–T. Kephart 90 run (pass failed), 8:11.
TEAM STATISTICS MV G
First downs 14 16
Total yards 283 361
Rushes-yards 37-261 42-197
Yards passing 22 164
Passing (comp.-att.-int) 3-6-0 15-22-0
Punts-avg. 3-46 3-14.3
Fumbles-lost 1-1 3-3
Penalties-yards 2-15 6-43
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Moshannon Valley, Knuth 25-184, T. Kephart 6-87, Kurten 6-(-10). Glendale, Dubler 18-117, Sutton 11-62, Potutschnig 8-34, Vereshack 1-1, Misiura 4-(-17).
PASSING–Moshannon Valley, Kurten 3-6-0-22. Glendale, Misiura 15-22-0-164.
RECEIVING–Moshannon Valley, T. Kephart 2-11, Yarger 1-11. Glendale, Cree 6-90, Tarnow 4-42, Dubler 2-21, Potutschnig 2-6, Sutton 1-5.