Happy Valley had to work overtime, but the Warriors picked up a big road Region 1-2A win on Friday night.
Joseph Sowards scored on a 10-yard play in overtime and the Warrior defense kept South Greene out of the endzone to give Happy Valley a thrilling 26-20 victory on Rebel Hill Friday night.
It is Happy Valley’s fourth straight victory as HV improves to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in region play.
Friday night was a back-and-forth battle.
The Warriors opened the scoring with a one-yard run from Sowards with 4:50 left in the first quarter, but South Greene answered as Jacob Suson hit Conner Race for a 13-yard pass. The Rebels added the two-point conversion to take an 8-6 advantage into the second quarter.
The Rebels struck first in the second quarter as Trey Gentry caught a Suson pass for a 25-yard score, but the Warriors held SG out of the endzone on the two-point try.
Happy Valley evened things up with 24 seconds remaining as Sowards scored on a two-yard run and added the two-point conversion.
That tied the game at 14-14 at the half.
The teams continued to trade drives in the second half as the defenses set the tone. SG scored with 39 seconds remaining in the quarter as Nash Rader scored on a 10-yard run to take a 20-14 advantage after three complete quarters.
Happy Valley, however, kept on fighting.
Sowards found his way into the endzone with 5:13 showing on the scoreboard on a four-yard run to tie things up at 20-20.
SG moved into Warrior territory, but the HV defense came up with a big stop at their own 27 with just over a minute to play.
That set up the first overtime, and the Warriors were able to secure the win with a Sowards score.
Sowards finished the game with 131 yards on 26 carries, while Aiden Paul had six carries for 27 yards. Jamie Esterline had 23 yards rushing.
Rader finished with 119 yards on 20 carries for the Rebels and added two catches. Susong was 12-of-21 for 140 yards.
