ASTON — For one half of play Friday night, Sun Valley and Great Valley looked like they might need Waze to find a clear route to the end zone.
Whatever the coaches told their respective teams in the locker room, however, seemed to work, as both the Vanguards and the Patriots came out of intermission swinging offensively.
The surge eventually led to Great Valley pulling away for a 21-13 victory in a game where the stamina and endurance of the Patriots played a big role.
“That’s something we pride ourselves on, as we don’t usually have big numbers,” Patriots coach Jeff Martin said. “We practice really fast and we train to play in games this way because we know our guys have to play on both sides of the ball. The past two games have kind of gone the same for us where the first half was tight, but we got worn down. They really stepped up and showed they could do it.”
The Vanguards (0-3) actually got on the scoreboard first behind a 40-yard scoring run from Noah Griffin. He tallied 181 yards on 23 carries on the night, while also hauling in two receptions for 29 yards.
“He walks around like a 60-year-old man, but then you put the ball in his hands and he can pop one at any time. I don’t know where he gets his juice from,” coach Ernie Ellis said of Griffin. “He’s the engine that makes this machine work.”
Great Valley quarterback Braeden Melia, who spread the ball to eight different receivers on the night, did not wait long to return fire as he hit Cole Callahan for a 56-yard catch-and-run to knot the game at 7-7.
“Our quarterback did a great job of throwing the ball. I’ve never had this many athletes on a team,” Martin said. “We have six or seven guys where if we get the ball to them in space, they can make something happen.”
Griffin tacked on a 13-yard scoring run to give Sun Valley a temporary 13-7 lead, but Great Valley’s Nathan Ricciardi had no intentions of leaving Aston without a win. Ricciardi returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards and Melia made short work of the Vanguards defense by hitting Tommy Crouse with a 20-yard pass for a touchdown. The extra point gave Great Valley a 14-13 lead with 11:09 to go in the game.
“I didn’t think I was going to get the ball, but I knew once I saw that gap on the outside if I ran there, my guys would block for me,” said Ricciardi of his crucial kickoff return. “I was happy it set us up to score.”
Ricciardi was not done there.
The talented senior then made another massive play with an interception to put the Patriots in a position to grind down the clock. Sam Snyder eventually scored on a one-yard plunge for a 21-13 advantage.
“That felt so good,” Ricciardi said of his interception. “I just trusted what the coaches called and executed it. We got our first win and it was a good team win, but we have a short week, so we have to get our focus back up and hopefully get another (win).”
For Ellis, the game represented the good of what his team can be, but also the areas where the squad must tighten up to achieve success this season.
“They don’t quit,” Ellis said of his squad. “I’ll give them that. We’ve got to get them to run the system, but they do not quit. Big plays hurt us, but we just have to polish it up. I feel like we can grind with anybody, but we’re not good enough to put teams away yet.”
Ellis also noted that that quarterback RJ Scharrer displayed some of that toughness while being harassed by the Patriots defense.
“(Scharrer) took a lickin’ and kept on tickin’. He’s a sophomore, it’s only his third start, and he’s got a high ceiling,” Ellis said.
