Creek Valley Defeats Arthur 40-35

Creek Valley football has turned their fortunes around in the previous two weeks, winning their second game of the season Friday night by a score of 40-to-35 against the visiting Arthur County Wolves. Storm head coach Joe Kupper's team came out fired up and ready to play, scoring a touchdown on their first possession behind the tough running of senior Sam Grabowski to go up 6-to-0 after failing to complete the point after attempt.

The Storm's defense then shut down Arthur County on their first possession, and recovered a fumble by the visitors to take possession in scoring position deep in Wolves territory. But the Storm were unable to punch the ball through into the end zone, and gave the ball back to a Wolves team that was pinned deep in their own territory. But the Wolves were able to get out from under the shadow of their own goal post, when Arthur County senior Colten Storer ran the ball through the Storm defense from endzone to endzone, scoring a touchdown for the visitors. But there was a holding penalty on the play, taking Arthur County's points off the board, but leaving them at midfield to continue their drive. The Storm's defense stiffend, and the Wolves turned the ball over on downs, ending the first quarter with the Storm leading 6-to-0.

Creek Valley started the second quarter with a drive highlighted by a 36 yard pass completion to Grabowski, then a series of plays that brought the Storm down the Arthur County's six yard line, but the drive stalled again with the Wolves taking over on downs yet again deep in their own territory.

This time, Arthur County was able to sustain a drive with long runs again from Storer, and cashed in with their first points of the game, taking a 7-to-6 lead against Creek Valley.

After a kick return to midfield, the Storm could not advance the ball as penalties and a sack for a big loss stopped their drive and gave the ball back to the Wolves with 31 seconds remaining in the half. Arthur County then connected on a long pass that went all the way for a touchdown, and Creek Valley went into the break trailing the visitors 15-to-6.

But the Storm came out in the second half unbowed, and battled the Wolves through the second quarter, scoring eight points against the visitor's 12 points, making the score 23-to-28 to start the fourth quarter. The Storm took over in the fourth quarter, finishing the game strong by scoring 22 points against Arthur County's 12 to earn the victory with a final score of 40-to-35. This is the Storm's second win against three losses in the 2018 season, finally bringing some success for a program that had suffered a winless drought for many years, and sending the Storm faithful home with a victory to celebrate.

Creek Valley sophomore Justin Ningen gained a total of 214 yards (120 passing and 94 rushing) with two touchdowns, junior Patrick Hansen had 85 total yards with two touchdowns, and senior Sam Grabowski had 135 total yards (68 rushing and 67 receiving) with a touchdown in the victory. Creek Valley next travels to Potter to take on the Coyotes Friday night.

After the game, Creek Valley head coach Joe Kupper said, "I'm really pleased to see our young men battle from behind to get the win. They showed a lot of mental toughness and grit, and executed well on both offense and defense."

Kupper added, "We felt like we started too slow in the first half, and need to play four full quarters of football. We're now looking forward to playing Potter-Dix and having the opportunity to run our win streak to three in a row."