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Valley fell in an overtime heartbreaker to Elmore County on Friday night. The back-and-forth region battle ended with a final score of 20-14. 

“I thought we fought, you know, we played four quarters, a physical football game,” said Ram’s head coach, Adam Hunter. “It is just one of those games that just didn’t fall our way.”

After a long opening punt return, Elmore’s Quarterback, Caleb Spivey, punched it in to open things up.

For balance, Valley’s own QB, Gavin Goss soon answered with a short rushing touchdown to tie it up 7-7 with six minutes left in the first. 

Both teams favored the run, making for lengthy drives. The Panthers used the clock in the top of the second to push their way downfield. Their momentum was squashed when Goss went up for interception in the end zone, however. 

Both teams suffered poor timed penalties. Elmore County coach, Kyle Caldwell, said his team made mistakes early but will go back and look at some of the penalties, which he called, “absurd.” 

The Rams would also take it downfield in the second quarter, with help from a Goss run to the three-yard-line. But, Valley couldn’t finish and turned it over on downs. 

The defense stopped any progress through the third quarter. It was only in the final few minutes of the game that the dam broke. 

A smooth sideline run by Tilyn Carrell got the ball into Valley’s red zone. It was once again Goss who got it across the goal line to go up 14-7 with four minutes left.

But a breakaway run by Elmore County’s Eli Thames had Rams fans on their feet. Goss was able to catch up and bring Thames down on Valley’s 20-yard line. A pass to midfield would tie the game 14-14 with less than two minutes to go. 

The battle would continue into overtime.

The Rams got the ball first. A foreboding fumble was recovered by the offense. The next play Carrell went down with an injury. The Panther’s defense proved insurmountable when they stopped the Rams one yard away from a win, giving Elmore their chance. 

“At the end of the day you preach and preach, just do whatever it takes to find a way to get a win,” Caldwell said. “The kids just believed in each other and they believed in what we do.” 

Valley was able to push Elmore back on the first couple of plays. However, an offsides call put the Panther’s ball on the five. A QB keep by Spivey was all she wrote. Elmore would take the 20-14 OT win. The standings will likely shake up as the no. 4 Panthers improved to 2-2, and no. 3 Valley settled for 2-2 in region play. 

Hunter would single Carrell out for his performance running the ball, as well as the defensive effort throughout the night. 

After the game, Hunter kept his message to his players simple, “This one is gonna hurt, let that hurt mean something.”