Week 4 preview: Tippecanoe Valley seeks to tip scales vs. Tipton

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Tipton (1-2) at Tippecanoe Valley (3-0), 7 p.m.

Landon Durkes returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown just three plays into Valley’s game against Twin Lakes last week.

Add in 123 yards and two touchdowns on the ground from Nate Parker and a 53-yard touchdown reception from Wade Jones and Valley was on their way to a 35-0 halftime lead and a 35-7 win.

Parker now has nine career 100-yard rushing games, including two in a row, according to Valley football historian Micah Lukens. He is 159 yards rushing away from passing Lee Swihart and moving into Valley’s all-time top five in career rushing yards. He is also four points away from passing Swihart on Valley’s all-time scoring list.

Valley coach Stephen Moriarty said Durkes’ pick-six and the early rushing exploits were highlights of the game, which marked Valley’s first game ever against the Indians.

Another emerging performer is Trent Marshall, who had six carries for 41 yards and also caught a 22-yard touchdown pass.

“He’s just very smart, very intelligent,” Moriarty said. “Always goes 100 percent, and he’s very athletic to be honest with you. The way that he went up and caught the touchdown pass late in the second quarter, he had to (go) back behind his shoulder and made a great grab. He just adjusts well in the air.”

The early returns on Class 3A, Sectional 28 would appear to be impressive as six of the eight teams, Valley included, are 3-0.

Valley will look to keep pace with their sectional rivals when they host Tipton Friday. The Blue Devils, a Class 2A team, are coming off a 39-0 loss to Class 3A, No. 6 West Lafayette last week. Though they are 1-2 on the season, Tipton has had only twio losing seasons in the last decade.

Calvin Condict ran 26 times for 111 yards in the loss to West Lafayette.

“He reminds me of the back we just played (Cole Robertson of Twin Lakes,” Moriarty said of Condict. “Very fast and quick. Their offense is built off just getting people on people. They’re zone outside, zone inside. You block the guy in front of you and let the back find the hole. It’s not like a predetermined hole. Kind of like our offense, where we’re predetermined where we’re going to try to go to, where they’re more of a zone offense, zone running. He does a great job of finding the gaps and squeezing through there.”