MARION — A sigh of relief filled the air in River Valley’s locker room after Friday’s 20-14 win against Clear Fork in an Ohio high school football matchup.
A slow first half doomed the Colts, who suffered a similar fate earlier this season in a loss to Granville.
Clear Fork actually got on the board first with 9:23 left in the first quarter when QB Brennan South connected on a 16-yard TD pass to Tacoma Orr.
The Colts wouldn’t score again until late in the third quarter. By then, the Vikings had posted three TDs on runs of 6, 50 and 36 yards to build a 20-7 lead.
South ran it in from 17 yards out with 54 seconds left in the third to close the gap to 20-14. Neither team scored in the final period.
Clear Fork managed just 216 yards of offense, rushing 33 times for 108 yards and completing 16 of 22 passes for 108 yards. South gained 60 yards on 19 carries.
River Valley, which avenged a 48-6 loss to the Colts last year, rushed for 214 yards on 44 attempts, completing just one of eight passes for 10 yards.
Clear Fork slipped to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference. The Colts slipped to ninth in Division IV, Region 14 computer rankings, one spot out of the postseason picture.
Clear Fork has a chance to jump right back into the playoff picture next Friday when the Colts travel to Galion (5-0, 2-0). The Tigers currently lead the region.
River Valley is 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the MOAC.
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