Seniors Russell Nieman (left), Caleb Kurtenbach (5) and Oliver Schmitt combine to tackle the Clarksville ball carrier in Friday’s opening round playoff game. (Photo courtesy of Leah Kruse)
For the second time this season the Turkey Valley football team fell to fourth-ranked Clarksville; however, this time it also ended the Trojans’ season in the first round of the eight-man playoffs.
Falling behind early, TV couldn’t recover in the second half with the Indians rolling to a 68-26 victory. Turkey Valley ends the season 5-4.
“This was a tough game to end the season. The players battled hard for the whole game. But the size and speed of Clarksville wore us down in the second half,” said Coach Mark Scott. “Our young players showed improvement throughout the year and the five seniors ended their high school careers with three playoff appearances (four if you count the COVID 2020 season where every team was in the playoffs.)”
Falling behind
While Clarksville struck for the first score, the Trojans knotted the score 6-6 with 6:53 left in the first quarter on a 10-yard run by Oliver Schmitt. The tie didn’t last long as the Indians put the ball in the end zone just over a minute later with 5:49 to play. In the red zone to wrap up the opening period, Logan Busta put the ball in the air for JD Kruse to grab for a 13-yard touchdown and the two-point pass to Burke Busta put TV on top 14-12 with 10:24 left in the first half. From there Clarksville took control again, moving down the field methodically to score. On the next TV possession, Schmitt tied the score again 20-20 with 8:33 left. The Indians would score once more before the break, taking a 28-20 lead.
In the second half, the Trojans couldn’t get back in an offensive rhythm, giving up three more scores in the third quarter and two in the fourth. A 10-yard pass from Schmitt to Caleb Kurtenbach in the final quarter would be the last for the Trojans.
The numbers
The Trojans rushed for 164 yards and passed for another 147 for 311 total.
Turkey Valley was led by Schmitt, who had 143 yards rushing. L. Busta completed 6-of-10 passes for 107 yards while Schmitt completed 2-of-4 for 40. Schmitt caught three passes, with JD Kruse and B. Busta hauling in two apiece. Kurtenbach brought down one pass.
On defense, Kurtenbach had nine solo and three assisted stops while Schmitt had seven solo and four assisted tackles. With four solo and two assisted stops each were L. Busta and JD Kruse.
Acknowledgements
The Trojans graduate five seniors — Oliver Schmitt, Burke Busta, Caleb Kurtenbach, Russell Nieman and Braylen Byrne. With no juniors on the squad this season, Turkey Valley has several key players who will return with varsity experience but will also have some big holes to fill.
Game stats
Total yards: Turkey Valley 311; Clarksville 480
Passing (comp/att/yds): Logan Busta (6-10, 107 yds., 1 TD); Oliver Schmitt (2-4, 1 TD, 2 INT)
Rushing (att/yds): Schmitt (30-143, 2 TD); Burke Busta (7-17); L. Busta (6-4)
Receiving (att/yds/TD): B. Busta (2-61); JD Kruse (2-44, 1 TD); Schmitt (3-33); Caleb Kurtenbach (1-9, 1 TD)
Tackles (total): Kurtenbach (10.5); Schmitt (9.0); B. Busta (7.5); L. Busta (5.0); JD Kruse (5.0); Hunter Kruse (4.5); Jordan Kriener (4.0); Russell Nieman (3.5); Treyton Franzen (1.0)
Punts (att/yds): Schmitt (3-100)
Kick-offs (att/yds): Schmitt (5-163, 1 TB)
Kick-off returns (att/yds): Schmitt (8-120); L. Busta (1-15)
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