Bearcats showed improvement in '11
Lead Summary
By
The Highland County Press-
BAINBRIDGE — The 2011 football season has come and gone for the Paint Valley Bearcats. They ended the season with a loss to the Unioto Shermans, 35-14, wrapping up the year at 4-6 overall and 2-5 in the Scioto Valley Conference.
"We played competitive football this season," PV head coach Pete Hollon said. "Our defense took strides this year in the right direction to play championship-caliber football."
Against Unioto, the Shermans took a 14-0 lead with first-quarter touchdowns from a 61-yard run by Storm Cottrill and a 12-yard catch and pass from Stephen Vanderpool to John Vanderpool.
The Bearcats scored in the second quarter with Mark Clifford running seven yards for a touchdown. Murray kicked the PAT for a 14-7 score.
In the third, Cottrill scored on a 5-yard score, but Paint Valley's Dylan Estep came back, answering with a 22-yard reception from a touchdown off a pass from Eli Barker.
The Shermans finished with two more scores as Cottrill ran for seven yards and John Vanderpool rushed for a 2-yard score.
Paint Valley was led by Kyle Kottenbrook with 107 yards rushing on 17 carries. Clifford ran for 71 yards on 16 carries.
For the season, Clifford led the Bearcats with 971 yards rushing on 150 carries. He scored 11 touchdowns. Kottenbrook, in five games, rushed for 407 yards on 71 carries. Barker finished with 563 yards on the ground on 102 carries. Barker, the quarterback, was 51-of-119 for 738 yards passing this season with four touchdowns.
Receiving this season, Estep had 12 catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns. Robbie Hummell had 11 receptions of 162 yards. Logan Ackley had 10 catches this season for 196 yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively for PV this season, Riley Markko had 82 tackles, with 12 sacks and three caused fumbles. Of the 82 tackles, nine were for loss.
Nate Yoakum had 83 tackles on the season (five for loss) with two forced fumbles.
Dylan Fewster led PV with 95 tackles, four for a loss.
On the season, PV averaged nearly 16 points per game but allowed 21 ppg as they had a negative turnover ratio on -14.
"With the negative ratio we had, and only a five-point difference in the points for and against average show just how competitive our team was this season," Hollon said. "In four of our six losses, we were either tied or down by one score in the final eight minutes."
In the fourth quarter in these four losses, PV was outscored 34-7.
"We played in a lot of close games this season. A break here or there, and we are near the top in the league standings. We have to learn how to win games in the fourth quarter."
The Bearcats had 28 turnovers this season, eight coming in the fourth quarter of the four close losses.
This year was a step in the right direction for PV.
"We took drastic steps this season," Hollon said. "Our seniors and underclassmen played well together this year. We had a lack of consistency, but was a successful year.
"Compared to '10, we played very competitive this year. We feel the program is on solid ground, we have good numbers, and come December we'll be ready to get back at it … football season never ends at Paint Valley."
Hollon spoke about his seniors.
"It's been an enjoyable season. The seniors had some of the best leadership in the past seven or eight years," Hollon said. "We had 96 workouts from December through training camp, and they worked hard and were a very good senior class."[[In-content Ad]]
"We played competitive football this season," PV head coach Pete Hollon said. "Our defense took strides this year in the right direction to play championship-caliber football."
Against Unioto, the Shermans took a 14-0 lead with first-quarter touchdowns from a 61-yard run by Storm Cottrill and a 12-yard catch and pass from Stephen Vanderpool to John Vanderpool.
The Bearcats scored in the second quarter with Mark Clifford running seven yards for a touchdown. Murray kicked the PAT for a 14-7 score.
In the third, Cottrill scored on a 5-yard score, but Paint Valley's Dylan Estep came back, answering with a 22-yard reception from a touchdown off a pass from Eli Barker.
The Shermans finished with two more scores as Cottrill ran for seven yards and John Vanderpool rushed for a 2-yard score.
Paint Valley was led by Kyle Kottenbrook with 107 yards rushing on 17 carries. Clifford ran for 71 yards on 16 carries.
For the season, Clifford led the Bearcats with 971 yards rushing on 150 carries. He scored 11 touchdowns. Kottenbrook, in five games, rushed for 407 yards on 71 carries. Barker finished with 563 yards on the ground on 102 carries. Barker, the quarterback, was 51-of-119 for 738 yards passing this season with four touchdowns.
Receiving this season, Estep had 12 catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns. Robbie Hummell had 11 receptions of 162 yards. Logan Ackley had 10 catches this season for 196 yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively for PV this season, Riley Markko had 82 tackles, with 12 sacks and three caused fumbles. Of the 82 tackles, nine were for loss.
Nate Yoakum had 83 tackles on the season (five for loss) with two forced fumbles.
Dylan Fewster led PV with 95 tackles, four for a loss.
On the season, PV averaged nearly 16 points per game but allowed 21 ppg as they had a negative turnover ratio on -14.
"With the negative ratio we had, and only a five-point difference in the points for and against average show just how competitive our team was this season," Hollon said. "In four of our six losses, we were either tied or down by one score in the final eight minutes."
In the fourth quarter in these four losses, PV was outscored 34-7.
"We played in a lot of close games this season. A break here or there, and we are near the top in the league standings. We have to learn how to win games in the fourth quarter."
The Bearcats had 28 turnovers this season, eight coming in the fourth quarter of the four close losses.
This year was a step in the right direction for PV.
"We took drastic steps this season," Hollon said. "Our seniors and underclassmen played well together this year. We had a lack of consistency, but was a successful year.
"Compared to '10, we played very competitive this year. We feel the program is on solid ground, we have good numbers, and come December we'll be ready to get back at it … football season never ends at Paint Valley."
Hollon spoke about his seniors.
"It's been an enjoyable season. The seniors had some of the best leadership in the past seven or eight years," Hollon said. "We had 96 workouts from December through training camp, and they worked hard and were a very good senior class."[[In-content Ad]]