A careful pace
JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley's big-play offense took a more methodical approach in Friday's Northern Eight clash against Butler.
One wouldn't have guessed that by looking at the scoreboard.
Hank Royal rushed for 103 yards and four touchdowns and Seneca's starting defense surrendered less than 50 yards as the Raiders earned the right to keep the Butler Eagle Traveling Trophy for another year with a 43-7 win at NexTier Stadium.
SV coach Dave Vestal believed that attention to detail in practice would lay the foundation for victory.
“Overall, I thought we had a very good week of practice,” he said. “We got better. A lot of guys got experience tonight and we're building depth. We're healthy for the most part and that's good to see.”
Royal capped Seneca's first two drives with short touchdown runs and the Raiders led 15-0 after one quarter.
Butler's offense struggled to find continuity, due in part to the absence of starting quarterback Shad Stepp, who was injured and did not play.
Luke Michalek guided the Tornado (0-5, 0-3) on the team's first two drives, which resulted in a pair of three-and-outs. Brandon Fleeger then took over and remained at signal caller the rest of the game.
“Shad is out indefinitely with a knee injury,” said Golden Tornado coach Rob Densmore. “Our plan coming in was to play both of our (healthy) quarterbacks.”
Senior Damien Pickett set Butler up with decent field position with kickoff returns of 26 and 35 yards in the opening quarter, but the Tornado were unable to mount a threat in both cases.
Corey Laskey scored on a 1-yard rush and Jack Cook connected with Corbin Kessler on an 18-yard scoring pass in the second quarter. By halftime, the Raiders held a 29-0 lead and had outgained Butler 296-26.
“Seneca Valley (3-2, 3-1) is a very good football team with great athletes,” said Densmore. “We did some things defensively to try and slow them down and I thought we had some success, but they had some kids break loose.”
Kessler took over 10 snaps at quarterback. Along with catching four passes for 90 yards and rushing eight times worth 68 yards, he completed his only pass attempt for 11 yards.“He played some at quarterback last year,” said Vestal of Kessler. “He can do a lot of things on the football field and is a very special player.”“I take snaps at quarterback every week in practice,” said Kessler. “We have to do that in case something happens to Jack. I can run every play he runs and I'm comfortable at the position.”Royal added two more scoring runs in the third period, his last one coming from 20 yards out.Butler junior running back Antonio DeVaughn scored late in the fourth quarter on a 5-yard run, capping a 56-yard drive.Keeping the Traveling Trophy for a ninth consecutive year was important to Kessler and his teammates.“It's a big deal for us,” he said. “It's like a tradition now for us to win it. We never want to have to turn it over to them (Tornado).”Another loss will not keep Densmore from steering Butler's ship in the right direction.“When you're losing, it's easy to just bury your head in the sand, but these kids aren't giving up on us and we're not giving up on them,” he said.
