Italy beats Valley Mills 47-20, starts district at 1-0

ITALY – Back-to-back onside-kick recoveries to start the game allowed the Italy Gladiators to jump out to an early 13-0 advantage over the visiting Eagles from Valley Mills.

Junior kicker Elijah Stewart kicked off both times, with Kaelynn Cockran recovering both kicks for the Gladiators. After the first gift, quarterback Gared Wood kept right for 18 yards to the Eagle 10. 2 plays later, Woods connected with Lucky Johnson who made the catch and hurried in untouched, thanks to great blocking by fellow receivers Tripp Slovak and Treylan Fennell. Gladiators were up 7-0 after Rogelio Torres-Landeros booted through the bonus try.

After the second recovery by Cockran, Italy soon drove to the Eagle 4 yard line. Wood rolled right and found Johnson again for Italy’s second touchdown. The point-after attempt failed but what a start for the hometown heroes, 13-0 Gladiators.

Valley Mills responded with a 13-play drive to punch it in from 5 yards out. The bonus kick was true, and the Eagles were within 6 points despite their rocky start, 13-7 Italy.

Not worried, Wood soon dropped back and found Johnson streaking down the middle of the field. Wood let it fly and Johnson caught it in stride and sprinted in, a 59-yard dagger to close out the 1st quarter. Torres-Landeros split the uprights, with Slovak holding and Austin Cate snapping, to make it 20-7 Italy heading into the 2nd quarter.

The Eagles would begin from their own 19-yard line but in just 3 plays, Italy would begin at the Valley Mills 39-yard line after an acrobatic interception by Cockran had Italy’s offense back out on the field.

Wood flares a quick pass out to Fennell who monsters his way to the Eagle 28. A few plays were needed to reach the 24 before Wood flared a pass out to Cockran, who worked the left sideline down to the Eagle 7-yard line.

It took some doing from there, but Wood finally found Fennell in the front-middle of the endzone who dropped to the turf to get under the ball for the 8-yard catch. The referee was on the spot and ruled it a touchdown, 26-7 Italy with 9:47 left before half.

The ensuing drive by Valley Mills came to an abrupt halt at their 44-yard line when defensive tackle J.J. Acosta fell on a loose ball in the Eagle backfield. Masyn Steinmetz delivered the hit while Slovak managed to punch the ball out. The offense couldn’t capitalize, however, and Italy turned it back over to the Eagles at the 48-yard line with time dwindling down in the first half.

Valley Mills mounted a long drive but it flatlined at the Gladiator 10. Italy wanted more and a nice run by Wood, and another bullish catch and carry by Fennell, moved the ball to Italy’s 48. From there, Wood only had time left to launch an unanswered prayer. However, 4 touchdown passes by Wood, with 3 of those going to Johnson, had the Gladiators feeling good about their chances with a 27-7 lead going into halftime.

Italy would manage another score to cap off their opening drive of the 2nd half when Raul Acosta both finessed and powered his way across the goal line from 7 yards out. Offensive linemen Maddox Dickerson, J.J. Acosta, and Garrett Lennon led the way. Torres-Landero’s kick sailed just a few inches over the crossbar but that was all he needed to give Italy a 34-7 cushion.

The Eagles managed to punch in another score from 5 yards out to make the score 34-13, after the point-after failed. With the game still in the 3rd, however, Raul Acosta burst up the middle behind center Grayson Jones for a 52-yard wing-breaker to all but cook the Eagles. Torres-Landero’s, Slovak, and Cate, executed the extra-point try to give Italy a commanding 41-13 lead with the contest rolling into the final quarter.

Raul Acosta would add another TD in the fourth from 5 yards out, and Valley Mills would score one last time on a pass from 9 yards, but it’s Italy who improves to 4-1 on the season and 1-0 in district play.

Italy travels to Rio Vista (2-2) Friday night with the kickoff starting at 7 p.m. Rio’s last outing was a 24-21 loss to Santo. However, the Eagles will have had two weeks to prepare for the Gladiators after enjoying their bye this past Friday night.