Valley football: No. 15 Valley, BC look to put last week behind them

Junior linebacker Jesse Putnam (15) and the Vikings' defense hope to return to their dominating ways Saturday at Benedictine.
(Chris Allen/Democrat-News)

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He should know. Last Saturday, his Vikings were on the verge of upsetting third-ranked Lindenwood, leading by a point in the final minute. Yet, the Lions scored twice in 20 seconds -- the second on a bad snap recovered in the end zone -- to pull out a 45-37 victory.

"We had a chance to put them away and just didn't do it," Troth said. "We're one play from being 3-0.

"That's the frustrating part," he added. "We needed to pick up a first down and didn't do that and the defense needed to make a stop, and it had the previous two times out there."

If the outcome of that game was exasperating to Valley, which lost only two spots in the NAIA poll by dropping to No. 15, consider what happened to its next opponent last week.

Benedictine was just five points behind Central Methodist, which had only beaten the Ravens twice in their history, in the fourth quarter when quarterback Bryant Jackson -- a true freshman from Lee's Summit West who was expected to back-up a senior this season -- threw touchdown passes of 84 and 56 yards as the Eagles pulled away for a 45-26 win.

"Some of those plays, [Benedictine] was in position to make plays, and just didn't," Troth noted.

Jackson wound up with 506 passing yards and four TDs to be named the NAIA "offensive player of the week," an honor which should not sit well with the Ravens.

"They got a little bit embarrassed," Troth said. "They'll be out for someone's scalp."

The "scalpees" would presumably be the Vikings, who could also have a mad on heading to Atchison, Kan., for Saturday's Heart of America Conference tilt.

Benedictine (2-1, 2-1 HAAC) is not as bad on defense as CMU's 645 total yards of offense made it look, although it allowed 324 passing yards during a 24-7 win over William Jewell -- then limited Evangel to 250 yards while rolling to a 30-13 victory.

"Those are things you usually don't see from a Benedictine defense," Troth allowed. "I'm sure they're going to fix that."

Although the Vikings (2-1, 2-1) are 14th in the nation with 450.3 yards per game on offense, Troth said "there are still some things we have to get better at."

"We have to execute our base stuff" against the Ravens, he said. "We'll have to mix it up pretty good."

Although Valley is third nationally against the run (45.0 yards per game) and seventh in overall defense (243.3), the Lions exposed some vulnerability. Benedictine should be much better on offense with the return of senior quarterback Ryan Kelly, out last week due to illness.

"Without him in there, they were predominantly run," Troth said. "With him, they have more of a throwing threat.

"I think he's as good as any quarterback in the league," Troth asserted.

Junior D.J. Matysek, who is averaging 90.8 yards per game and 4.6 yards per carry, is the type of pounding running back for which the Ravens are known.

This, therefore, is not going to be an easy game for either team -- especially since a second loss before the season is halfway over would make reaching the playoffs a more arduous task.

"There's still a lot of football to be played," Troth remarked.