Germantown-Farmersville Valley View Spartans

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Friends and family around Germantown tell me there's some hope that Valley View is returning to small-school prominence after a couple years of tough injuries and underperforming, so I think it's time to start a thread over here for my alma mater.

Week One - Valley View 45, Thurgood Marshall 6

Week Two - Valley View 42, Indian Hills 41

One year after a heartbreaking loss at Valley View, the Indian Hill Braves lose another to the Spartans, this time in stunning fashion. In perhaps the game of the young year, Valley View knocked off Indian Hill 42-41 in the final seconds Friday night, running their record to 2-0, while the Braves fall to 1-1. . . .

After falling behind 35-28 with 7:35 left in the game, Indian Hill responded with two Jacob Bauer touchdown runs (16 and 8 yards) to take a 41-35 lead with just 47 seconds remaining. However, Logan Kornman's extra point attempt was blocked, leaving the Braves with an ominous six point lead. With just 47 ticks on the clock, Indian Hill seemed safe.

Not so fast, as the Spartans drove the length of the field and with just seven seconds remaining, Valley View's John Day lofted a perfect pass in the front corner of the end zone to junior receiver Justin Griffiths for a 22-yard touchdown, and the game was suddenly tied. All that remained was the usually automatic extra point attempt. This time, Valley View knocked it through and they had a miraculous come-from-behind 42-41 win.

Week 3 - Valley View 28, Lemon Monroe 0

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Oakwood 28, Valley View 24

Really tough loss for the Spartans, given that they were up 21-0 in the first quarter. Sounds like they just fell apart.

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Valley View 44, Milton Union 0

The Spartans (4-1) bounced back from their first loss last week to Oakwood to pile up 509 yards of total offense. Quarterback Johnny Day was 12-of-17 passing for 235 yards and three touchdowns. Lucas Donson caught five passes for 109 yards and two scores. Travis Dalton carried the ball eight times for 153 yards including an 80-yard TD run.

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The Spartans take it to future Buckeye Sam Longo's Bellbrook club, Valley View 35, Bellbrook 6. That Oakwood loss in which they gave up a 21 point lead is a hard pill to swallow, but it looks like VV is back on track and on the road to a playoff birth this season if they can keep it up. They're now third in the D3, Region 12 computer rankings, with big games against Franklin next week and then an ominous showdown with undefeated Brookville, the long-ago powerhouse of the SWBL (prior to the Spartans' own era of dominance), to end the regular season.

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Valley View 48, Franklin 7. Commanding win in what was presumed to be a looming challenge.

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Valley View 42, Carlisle 14

Recap

Still #3 in D3, Region 12 rankings

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Eaton 38, Valley View 27

Ugh. The inconsistency with this team is incredible. They should still make the playoffs, and have a shot to knock off undefeated Brookville and score some solid computer points, but they're making things harder for themselves.

[DaytonBuck]

That may have been the first time Oakwood beat Valley View in 25 years

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Originally Posted by DaytonBuck

That may have been the first time Oakwood beat Valley View in 25 years

I believe they've knocked off VV a couple times in the past few years, actually. Oakwood's had some decent teams in recent times, and VV has been down lately. Which leads to . . . .

Brookville 27, Valley View 20.

Computer points standings pending . . . .

[DaytonBuck]

Valley View was war machine in the 90s

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Originally Posted by DaytonBuck

Valley View was war machine in the 90s

Yup. That was my era. Three state championships while I was in middle school / high school. We were always going back and forth from D-IV and D-V, but, off the top of my head, I can remember guys accepting football 'ships from places like Stanford, West Virginia, Cincinnati, and Louisville, not to mention several MAC schools. Hopefully they'll get back to that level again, but I think some of the other small schools have caught up.

Looks like Valley View still gets in as the 5 seed, meaning they'll have to go up to Columbus to play Eastmoor Academy. Anyone have any info on Eastmoor?

[DaytonBuck]

Originally Posted by sepia5

Yup. That was my era. Three state championships while I was in middle school / high school. We were always going back and forth from D-IV and D-V, but, off the top of my head, I can remember guys accepting football 'ships from places like Stanford, West Virginia, Cincinnati, and Louisville, not to mention several MAC schools. Hopefully they'll get back to that level again, but I think some of the other small schools have caught up.

Looks like Valley View still gets in as the 5 seed, meaning they'll have to go up to Columbus to play Eastmoor Academy. Anyone have any info on Eastmoor?

I know continuing at 90's level is probably unrealistic but any reason for their dip? They probably won 90 something SWBL games in a row.

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Originally Posted by DaytonBuck

I know continuing at 90's level is probably unrealistic but any reason for their dip? They probably won 90 something SWBL games in a row.

Well, I think there are several things. A big thing to me is that other small schools' strength and conditioning programs have caught up with Valley View's. Years ago, Shane Hannah, a VV alum that played O-line at Michigan State and eventually for the Cowboys, bought a state of the art weight room for a small, rural, low-budget school district that largely competed against other small, rural, low-budget school districts. I think for a long time kids from VV were just ahead of the strength and conditioning trend that eventually caught on at other schools. They were bigger, stronger, and faster.

I think Jay Niswonger has had a lot to do with the success at VV. He was an innovative coach that was running offenses and defenses that most high school coaches weren't familiar with, but, again, I think coaching at other schools has caught up with him. Niswonger has been at VV for over 20 years and has a reputation for risk taking. Sometimes it serves him well while other times it doesn't. Lately, I don't think it has. Niswonger, by the way, was an early proponent of playing kids on only one side of the ball to keep them fresh, and I know when I was in high school it worked out well for him. Not sure his teams are deep enough to do that anymore, though.

VV always used to have plenty of good athletes and a handful of great athletes. I watched Aaron Foucht outperform Ahmed Plummer and his Cincy Wyoming club one year for instance. Guys like Butch Stidham, Tim Bush, Andy Keating, Dustin Strayer, and Brock Bolen come to mind as guys who had D-1 offers of varying prominence. These were guys that weren't necessarily just great football players, they were great athletes, often starring in sports like baseball, football, and wrestling. For whatever reason, I think they've still had good athletes recently, but not so many great ones.

I haven't been able to follow them all that closely since I've moved away, but I know they were working with a Freshman QB a couple years ago when they went 3-9, after their starter was dismissed from the team and their backup went down with a season-ending injury. They've had some discipline problems and some tough luck with injuries in general recently.

I don't know that they'll ever reach the level of dominance they once saw (Versailles, for instance, hasn't ever gotten back to where they once were, either), but I don't think they'll be going away entirely any time soon. Kids used to move to Germantown to play for Valley View--Brock Bolen moved from Springboro, for instance; a kid named Lance Bundy moved from Preble Shawnee years ago and was a big contributor. I don't know that that will happen anymore because other teams have caught up, but if they have a couple stellar athletes come through again, I think they could win another championship, because the same coaching staff is largely in place.

[DaytonBuck]

Originally Posted by sepia5

Well, I think there are several things. A big thing to me is that other small schools' strength and conditioning programs have caught up with Valley View's. Years ago, Shane Hannah, a VV alum that played O-line at Michigan State and eventually for the Cowboys, bought a state of the art weight room for a small, rural, low-budget school district that largely competed against other small, rural, low-budget school districts. I think for a long time kids from VV were just ahead of the strength and conditioning trend that eventually caught on at other schools. They were bigger, stronger, and faster.

I think Jay Niswonger has had a lot to do with the success at VV. He was an innovative coach that was running offenses and defenses that most high school coaches weren't familiar with, but, again, I think coaching at other schools has caught up with him. Niswonger has been at VV for over 20 years and has a reputation for risk taking. Sometimes it serves him well while other times it doesn't. Lately, I don't think it has. Niswonger, by the way, was an early proponent of playing kids on only one side of the ball to keep them fresh, and I know when I was in high school it worked out well for him. Not sure his teams are deep enough to do that anymore, though.

VV always used to have plenty of good athletes and a handful of great athletes. I watched Aaron Foucht outperform Ahmed Plummer and his Cincy Wyoming club one year for instance. Guys like Butch Stidham, Tim Bush, Andy Keating, Dustin Strayer, and Brock Bolen come to mind as guys who had D-1 offers of varying prominence. These were guys that weren't necessarily just great football players, they were great athletes, often starring in sports like baseball, football, and wrestling. For whatever reason, I think they've still had good athletes recently, but not so many great ones.

I haven't been able to follow them all that closely since I've moved away, but I know they were working with a Freshman QB a couple years ago when they went 3-9, after their starter was dismissed from the team and their backup went down with a season-ending injury. They've had some discipline problems and some tough luck with injuries in general recently.

I don't know that they'll ever reach the level of dominance they once saw (Versailles, for instance, hasn't ever gotten back to where they once were, either), but I don't think they'll be going away entirely any time soon. Kids used to move to Germantown to play for Valley View--Brock Bolen moved from Springboro, for instance; a kid named Lance Bundy moved from Preble Shawnee years ago and was a big contributor. I don't know that that will happen anymore because other teams have caught up, but if they have a couple stellar athletes come through again, I think they could win another championship, because the same coaching staff is largely in place.

The weight room and I remember when I was in high school Valley View always had kids going to speed camps and doing stuff like PEP at St. E's. They where way ahead of the curve on strength and conditioning stuff. I remember my high school coach saying VV's weight room was better than most DIII colleges. I think Billy Jewel came from Carlisle, Tanner something Preble Shawnee. They did do a great job on getting transfers from around the SWBL

Brock Bolen's dad is a great American.

The guy is a great coach but I remember being at the 2000 playoff game vs. Ironton and seeing Strayer get hurt and Nate Wharton going in and VV still trying to throw a lot.

That and the Bolen celebration penatly where they missed the extra point and the other team tied the game and beat them in overtime.

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Originally Posted by DaytonBuck

The weight room and I remember when I was in high school Valley View always had kids going to speed camps and doing stuff like PEP at St. E's. They where way ahead of the curve on strength and conditioning stuff. I remember my high school coach saying VV's weight room was better than most DIII colleges. I think Billy Jewel came from Carlisle, Tanner something Preble Shawnee. They did do a great job on getting transfers from around the SWBL

Brock Bolen's dad is a great American.

The guy is a great coach but I remember being at the 2000 playoff game vs. Ironton and seeing Strayer get hurt and Nate Wharton going in and VV still trying to throw a lot.

That and the Bolen celebration penatly where they missed the extra point and the other team tied the game and beat them in overtime.

You know your stuff, Dayton. You're thinking of Tanner Neal, who I graduated with in '99, and played a mean safety at VV. We had a real good team that year and were cruising to a big showdown with Coldwater before we ran into Cincy Wyoming who finally beat us, led by future OSU recruit Richard Hall, who was simply unstoppable that night (I want to say he went for about 250 yards or so, and we had a heck of a run defense). (Too bad Hall never got his grades in order, by the way.) I was also at that 2000 Ironton game (it actually technically occurred in 1999, I think; either way, Ironton always had our number) and it was an absolute meltdown. The moment Strayer went down, the game went south. That game was also indicative of the risk taking that Niswonger lives and dies by. It's been a while, but I seem to remember him going for it on something like 4th and 5 inside our own 25 with four or five minutes left in the game. We didn't get it, and that was all she wrote. But yea, we had a sizeable lead when Strayer went down and there was no reason to keep throwing the ball all over the place.

You bring up a good point with some of the passing camps VV used to participate in way back when. I remember going to a party down in Highlands, KY my senior year with some girls my buddies and I met on spring break. Who should we run into there but Jarred Lorenzen, the Round Mound of Touchdown. Talked to him for a while and when he found out I went to Valley View all he could do was talk about how impressed he'd been with our guys, who had almost knocked off Highlands in a camp the summer before.

And my sister, who was friends with Brock's sister, tells me his dad really does have a room with pictures on the wall of the bodies of all the guys he's taken out. He was the former business partner of Larry Flint, too, if I remember correctly. Guy's a character.