Aberdeen holds on for conference road win over Marsh Valley

ARIMO — The Aberdeen Tigers arrived at Marsh Valley High School Friday night to take on the Eagles, having lost their last two games by a combined eight points.

After jumping out to a 13-0 lead early in the second quarter, the Tiger offense was stymied by the Marsh Valley defense for the final 35-plus minutes of the game. The Eagles, who found some offensive rhythm as well in the second half, were driving for a chance to tie the game or take a lead with less than a minute left.

Just when bad thoughts were starting to circulate in the collective minds of everyone on the Aberdeen sideline, senior safety Isaac Driscoll intercepted a pass from Marsh Valley’ sophomore quarterback Hunter East at the Tiger 8-yard line.

“We’ve given teams their money’s worth,” Aberdeen head coach Derek Jolley told EastIdahoSports.com after the game, “I’m glad we finally got one to go our way.”

The Tigers (2-2, 1-0) kneeled out the clock to secure a 13-6 win and get back into the win column, while the Eagles (0-3, 0-1) suffered their first conference loss as a member of the 3A South East Idaho Conference.

“We played well at the start,” Jolley said. “We ate up almost the whole first quarter and got a score, then got a three-and-out — and hats off to (Marsh Valley), they battled all night. … The good thing is, it was a close one but we came out on the right side this time.”

The coach called his team’s effort “a little bit sloppy,” but acknowledged to positives.

“If nothing else, we’re going to be battle tested (going forward),” he said.

Aberdeen took the opening kickoff and asserted its ground attack against its new conference foe, calling 15 straight run plays. The Tigers bled nearly nine minutes off the clock before taking a 6-0 lead on a Jeremy Partida two-yard touchdown run.

After a three-and-out, the Tigers got the ball back and struck much quicker, needing less than two minutes to return to the end zone, with Partida again doing the honors on a seven-yard scoring run.

But that was all the offense Aberdeen could muster, as the Eagle defense clogged all the running lanes the rest of the night.

The Eagle offense, after taking a 13-0 deficit into halftime, came out of the break with its best drive of the night, going 80 yards on 12 plays. Marsh Valley finished the drive in the end zone when East pounded the ball up the middle for the final three yards.

East, who was promoted from JV last week, finished the game with his team’s only score. He also completed four of eight pass attempts for 45 yards.

Marsh Valley’s heavy lifting, though, was done by seniors Preston Guthrie and Luke Schroeder.

Guthrie carried the ball nine times for 45 yards, while Schroeder picked up 65 yards on his seven carries. Schroeder also recorded a forced fumble and fumble recovery on the same play, giving his Eagles an extra second-half possession.

Behind Guthrie and Schroeder, Marsh Valley was driving with a chance to tie or possibly win the game with a two-point conversion. But the play-calling had to change after a holding penalty and a tackle for a loss put the Eagles in a fourth-and-14 hole.

That was when Driscoll swiped the East pass, and with it, Marsh Valley’s hopes for win No. 1 on the season.

“Isaac is a ballhawk — the kid just finds the ball and gets it,” Jolley said.

“When I saw the ball in the air, I’m like, ‘I’ve gotta pick it, or the receiver is gonna catch it,'” Driscoll said of the play.

Having knocked out their short two-game losing slide, the Tigers will now look forward to a showdown with the Bulldogs (1-3, 0-0) at Ririe High School next week. Ririe beat Aberdeen in the state semifinals last year, making their Week 4 matchup even more meaningful.

Driscoll said he expects the game to be “a dogfight.”

Alvarez agreed, but said he believes his team is equipped to beat the Bulldogs and anyone else they face.

“I feel like we’re really well-rounded — we have one of the best offenses in the conference,” the senior running back said, “we just have little mistakes that we need to fix in order to be better.”

Marsh Valley will host the Declo Hornets (4-0) next week.