Valley Christian wins big

in Jennings’ coaching debut

By Greg Gulas

sports@vindy.com

POLAND

The Valley Christian Eagles had a hard time locating the end zone last season, scoring just 79 points.

On Saturday at Poland High School and under the watchful eye of new head coach Albert “Butch” Jennings, they served notice that opposing goal lines no longer needed radar in order to be found.

Trevon Clay rushed for 84 yards and three touchdowns while quarterback Domonhic Jennings threw for 186 yards, accounting for three more scores as the Eaqles stopped the Lowellville Rockets 48-12 at Dave Pavlansky Field.

Clay, who was celebrating his 16th birthday, noted that his offensive line did an excellent job of protecting and opening holes all night.

“Give credit to my offensive line because they are a confident group that worked together tonight to open some big holes for everyone to run through,” Clay said. “It’s nice to get that first victory, but we won’t have much time to enjoy this because we need to get ready for our next game. Coach [Jennings] doesn’t just talk about football, he also talks about playing for God and this group is a very committed group in both of those areas.”

Clay’s 4-yard run on their very first drive staked the Eagles to the early 7-0 advantage just 77 seconds into the season.

A 27-point second quarter, led by Clay — who added two more scores of 6 and 4 yards — helped Valley Christian build a 34-0 advantage.

Jennings found Jaqwaun Dow from 20 yards away while Jamynk Jackson also added a 57-yard punt return in the period.

Lightning caused a 68-minute delay between halves, but when play resumed, Jennings added a 16-yard score for a 41-0 margin and when he found Marcus Roman with a 57-yard strike, they increased their lead to 48-0.

The Rockets avoided getting shut out in Doug Velasquez’s head coaching debut when Jake Rotz found Nate Solak from 13 yards out at the 9:49 mark. Lowellville added another tally as time ran out when Micah Mamuila-Zarlingo scored on a 1-yard run.

Jennings completed 6 of 12 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns while Roman led all receivers with three receptions for 90 yards.

The Eagles defense held the Rockets to just 43 yards in the first half and 147 for the game.

The Rockets didn’t get their initial first down until midway through the second quarter.

Jake Rotz completed three passes for 44 yards for the Rockets.