PREP FOOTBALL Unbeaten Beaver Local defeats Rayen

The Beavers used some big plays early to hand the Tigers their second loss.
By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
LISBON -- Beaver Local High remained undefeated with a 35-22 victory over The Rayen School Saturday night.
The Beavers (3-0) used big plays early to take the lead, but had to withstand a rally by the Tigers (1-2).
Dan Kinsey, a 6-foot-2, 168-pound sophomore, returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown, and his brother Dave's conversion put Beaver Local ahead 7-0 with the contest only 11 seconds old.
"I got out of two tackles and the left side of the field was open for me," said Dan Kinsey.
The score stayed that way until Matt Vujaklya intercepted a Ty Paige pass at the Beavers' 34-yard line with 6:04 remaining in the first half. On the first play from scrimmage junior Jake Robinson, normally the Beavers' tailback who was at quarterback in place of the injured Derek Smith, ran a keeper 66 yards for a touchdown.
Big halftime lead
Robinson scored another touchdown on a 2-yard run, his fifth of this season, with 24 seconds remaining in the first half, giving Beaver Local a 21-0 lead. That score was set up when Adam Hoppel blocked a Rayen punt.
Hoppel finished the game with seven tackles and two sacks.
Robinson was injured on the Beavers' first drive of the third quarter, but Stephen Mercer came in and drilled a 25-yard touchdown pass to Matt Vujaklya with 9:50 remaining in the third quarter.
Paige, a 5-11 junior, engineered a nine-play, 53-yard drive, ending it with a 2-yard pass to Chris Holland with 1:02 remaining in the third quarter. The two-point conversion made it 27-8.
After a Beaver Local punt, Paige fired a 54-yard touchdown strike to Keiyh Ratliff. Then the Tigers forced a turnover and Paige's 1-yard scoring run with 5:53 remaining closed the margin to 27-22.
Following the kickoff, Beaver Local, behind 5-11 senior Jordan Williams, drove 58 yards in nine plays, with Williams scoring from the 6.
"This was a tough game," said Beaver Local coach Rich Wright. "Rayen is very physical and they played hard with an offense that is very tricky at times and we -- myself and the team -- almost lost our composure."
Rayen had 311 total yards to the Beavers' 283. Paige rushed for 123 yards on 24 carries and was 12-of-26 passing for 119 yards.
The Beavers were led by Robinson with 77 yards on seven carries.
"Our special teams hurt us and our field position in the early going was dictated by their play," said Rayen coach Pete Lymber.
"but I am happy our kids came back from a big deficit. They hit us with big plays early and we were in a huge hole then we came up with a lot of offense too late."