Muenster trounces Valley View
Sep. 25—Cabett Blake's first quarter pick six set the tone early Friday night, letting the crowd know how the rest of the night would go.
Blake's interception helped the Muenster football team dominate Valley View at John Kassen Stadium 61-0 Friday night in a non-district game.
Muenster (5-0) scored on the first play from scrimmage and never gave the hosts a chance to breathe.
Valley View (0-4) reached Hornet territory a couple of times but could not solve the Muenster defense.
Muenster coach Brady Carney said the Hornets played well in all phases.
"I thought defensively, we played really well," Carney said. "Especially against the run. Offensively, no turnovers. I didn't think we controlled the line of scrimmages at times like I was hoping we would, like we're going to have to later on down the road, but they gave us a new front defensively. Took me a while to see what they were doing."
Trailing 20-0 in the first quarter, the Eagles reached the red zone for the first time following a 53-yard pass from sophomore Carson Pickett to junior Wyatt Huber, who was tackled at the Muenster 18. Two plays later, Pickett was hit as he threw. Blake, a junior, scooped up the pass and took it 82 yards the other way to score.
"I saw the wide receiver break," Blake said. "We worked on that all week in practice. I just did what I was taught to, and it worked out great."
Muenster recovered a fumble on the resulting kickoff. Two plays later, sophomore Seth Stoffels found senior Grant Hess in the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown. The Hornets' lead grew to 34-0 quickly, and the opportunity for Valley View to claim some momentum vanished.
Carney said that sequence was huge to keep the Hornets in control.
"Overall, just a really good night," Carney said. "Anytime you can keep the momentum from a pick six and you get the ball right back, it's hard from a team to recover from that in the first quarter."
Stoffels started at quarterback after getting the call up from JV. He threw three touchdown passes in his varsity debut. Seniors Grant Hess and Eli Saucer each caught one, as did junior Bradley Lutkenhaus.
Carney said the Hornets knew Stoffel would start Monday, so he had most of the week to prepare.
"I thought he did a really good job, especially throwing the football," Carney said. "He did an excellent job. I'm really proud of him. If we're going to have to stick with him for a while..., this gives him a chance to warm up and get ready for it."
Blake scored a rushing touchdown prior to his pick six. Junior Colton Deckard had two rushing touchdowns, and sophomore Brody Tyler added one in the fourth.
Carney said he is confident after what he has seen from his team so far, but the Hornets still have work to do.
"For us to be as successful as we want to be, we've got to be as good as we can be up front on the offensive line," Carney said. "As far as the team, I think we can be a really good team if we're willing to work hard Monday through Thursday."
