Wolverines clinch banner season, move on in playoffs

EARLHAM – Nodaway Valley won its second school playoff victory 26-0 Friday, imposing its will on Earlham defensively and capitalizing on turnovers offensively.

Friday’s shutout marks the second consecutive shutout for the Wolverines’ defense and the fourth this season.

Nodaway Valley head coach Duane Matthess said the team is starting to “buy in” on defense, allowing the athletes to play “fast and physical” to let their athleticism take over, and the win, marks a change in the group that there is a “belief” in the program.

A fumble from the first play of scrimmage spelled the beginning of the end for Earlham. The Cardinals put the ball on the ground in all four quarters, finishing the game with eight fumbles and one interception. Nodaway Valley recovered four of the eight fumbles.

The Wolverines had the ball inside the red zone twice in the first quarter. The first drive stalled out, turning the ball over on downs. After stopping Earlham and forcing a short punt, the Wolverines went for a fake field goal. The attempt was stopped, keeping Nodaway Valley out of the end zone early.

Another strong defensive stop put the Wolverines in Earlham territory for the third consecutive possession.

Tony Ayase pounded the ball into the end zone to give Nodaway Valley a 6-0 lead with 10:43 left in the second quarter.

Matthess said after the loss against Earlham on homecoming in a 21-14 loss, Ayase took the loss hard, pounding his fist in the ground because “he knew he let this one get away from him.”

Friday, in the win, Ayase led the charge for Nodaway Valley on both sides of the ball. He rushed for team-highs in carries with 19 and yards with 78.

“I put (Ayase) up for defensive MVP for our district, and he didn’t get it. I thought he should have got it, to be honest with you,” Matthess said. “The final vote came down to Earlham. So, I told him this was the time for him to go out and make a statement. He belongs as one of the best defensive players in our district. I think tonight he showed it. He was all over the field, and I’m just damn proud of him. Tony Ayase is a huge part of what we do, and without him, we would certainly struggle.”

The second quarter continued to be all Nodaway Valley. The Wolverines didn’t start a possession outside of Earlham territory until the second half.

Nodaway Valley recovered a fumble near the 40-yard line. The drive stalled before recovering a fumble on the next Earlham possession, now on the 13-yard line.

On fourth-and-1, Matthess called a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Earlham was penalized with an encroachment call to give the Wolverines a fresh set of downs. They capitalized, scoring again from Ayase from around five yards and converting the two-point conversion on another Ayase rush to go up 14-0 with 4:05 left in the second quarter.

At halftime, Nodaway Valley’s defense gave up 19 yards of total offense, 18 from passing. Entering Friday, Earlham had passed for 188 yards on 23 attempts and rushed for 1,759 on 322 attempts.

The second half started with Nodaway Valley taking 6:24 off the clock on a 10-play drive, ending with a Caelen DeVault touchdown off a misdirection.

Nodaway Valley used its best athlete on the field more in the run game instead of through the air, passing nine times in the game.

DeVault came off misdirections and sweeps, running hard through defenders to keep drives alive, balancing the running game with Ayase from an unbalanced look. DeVault finished with 11 carries for 69 yards and one touchdown.

“The sweep play was working really well,” Matthess said. “Caelen was doing a great job ready Tony (Ayase’s) blocks. Then, Tony was just our grinder up the middle.”

The Cardinals responded with their best drive of the night. Earlham marched down the field before losing a fumble to Nodaway Valley at the end of the third quarter, as Nodaway Valley’s offense slowed until the end of the fourth quarter.

With 3:34 in the fourth quarter, Adam Ayase scored after Nodaway Valley recovered Earlham’s eighth fumble of the game to seal the win and advance to the Round of 16 for the first time in program history.

“I really felt that our guys, to be honest with you, imposed their will against a team that, when you look at them compared to us, their sidelines doubled up compared to ours,” Matthess said. “Anyone who looks on paper probably doesn’t expect us to win this game. I give credit to our players. They’ve got a ton of heart, and they play like it.”

UP NEXT – With the second playoff victory in the program’s history, Nodaway Valley travels to Grundy Center to the face top-ranked, undefeated Spartans. Grundy Center has allowed 34 points this season, making the Spartans the toughest test this year for Nodaway Valley.

Nodaway Valley 26, Earlham 0

Nodaway Valley 0 14 6 6 - 26

Corning 0 0 0 0 -0

2nd quarter

NV – Tony Ayase 1 rush (Tony Shaw kick, no good), 10:43.

NV – Tony Ayase 4 rush (Ayase rush, good), 4:05.

3rd quarter

NV – Caelen DeVault 2 rush (Tony Shaw kick, no good), 5:36.

4th quarter

NV – Adam Ayase 10 rush (Tony Shaw kick, no good), 3:34.

Individual leaders

Rushing: NV - Tony Ayase 19-78-2, Caelen DeVault 11-69-1, Adam Ayase 11-63-1, Nate Russell 8-(-6), Tony Shaw 2-(-4).

Passing: NV - Nate Russell 1-7-0 for 4 yards.

Receiving: NV - Caelen DeVault 1-4.

Tackles (solo-assists): NV - Tony Ayase 8 (5-6), Cachlea Kennedy 6 (5-2), Avery Phillipi 3.5 (3-1), Adam Ayase 3.5 (1-5), Caelen DeVault (1-4), Matthew Weber 2 (2-0), Michael Britten 1.5 (1-1), Colbin Funke 1.5 (0-3), Anthony Shaw 1 (0-2), Evan Forcht 1 (0-2), Boston DeVault 1 (1-0).