Paint Valley falls to Minford; teams combine for 77 points
At the start of the season, Paint Valley head coach Pete Hollon said his team would face a very tough and brutal non-conference schedule, and he was right.
In their Week 3 non-conference game against the Minford Falcons, the Bearcats battled tough and nearly gained their second win of the season. But once the final second ticked off the clock, the final score wasn't in their favor, as they lost to the host Falcons, 42-35.
The loss moves PV to 1-2 overall, though in this game it was PV who began the game with a 14-0 lead.
PV head coach Pete Hollon described this game as "good, bad and frustrating."
"We did everything right to start the game," he said. "We were driving for a possible 21-point lead, but a fumble on the 8-yard line hurt our momentum and we never recovered.
"After that fumble, they scored, then on the kickoff, we fumbled and they scored again. Later, we had a personal foul and it went to fourth down on us, and that just changed the momentum."
The first TD of the game and for the Bearcats came with a pass from Anthony McFadden to Mason McCloy for 93 yards and six points. The PAT by McFadden put the Bearcats ahead, 7-0.
For the game, McFadden finished 15-of-20 for 346 yards and four touchdown passes. He also ran for 86 yards on 13 carries. McCloy led all wide receivers of PV with four receptions for 112 yards.
"This was a personal best for Anthony," Hollon said of his Week 3 performance. "He executed well, and it is no secret we are trying to utilize his arm. He kept us in this game.
"What I like best as a coach is we had six guys catch a pass, and that is rare and a good thing for a high school QB to be able to do. It was just an outstanding night for him."
PV then went ahead by 14 points following a 1-yard run by Caleb Johnson and PAT by McFadden in the first quarter.
The Bearcats were on their way to a 21-point lead, but a fumble on the MHS 8-yard line turned out to erase all of their momentum, as the Falcons scored the next 21 points in the first half.
In the second half, Minford scored two more touchdowns for their 35 total points.
As for PV, they scored three touchdowns in the second half, including a TD pass from McFadden to Tony Hatfield, followed by a another pass-and-catch by McFadden and Hatfield that went 77 yards. Hatfield finished with three receptions for 83 yards.
The final TD pass for PV came in the fourth with McFadden finding Gavin Mendenhall for 67 yards.
PV finished with 481 yards of offense (43 plays), while their defense allowed MHS to gain 370 yards on 64 plays.
"I was pleased with the effort, and I've said from day one, our non-league schedule was going to be brutal," Hollon said. "We are a better team for playing this schedule."
Also for the Bearcats offensively, Teagan McFadden had eight carries for 47 yards and four receptions for 44 yards. Trevor Medley had two receptions for 34 yards.
On defense, PV was led by Corey Freeman with 22 tackles, followed by Teagan McFadden with 17 tackles and Johnson with 13 tackles.
Next for the Bearcats is the start of the Scioto Valley Conference schedule, a conference they were tri-champions of last season. PV will host Unioto on Friday, Sept. 21.
"We are excited to start conference play," Hollon said. "Everyone will have a clean slate, but just because we are done with our non-conference schedule doesn't mean the schedule will be any easier.
"This will be a tough game for us."
Unioto will enter the game 1-2 overall, losing 39-23 on Friday night to Fairfield Union.