Football
Valdez Buccaneers vs. Monroe Rams
Posted by Tina Howard on VHS Football Facebook Page
Contributed by Coach Lee Chadwick – The Buccaneers had a beautiful fall Saturday game this weekend. Unfortunately, it seemed that whatever could go wrong, did.
The first series the Bucs put up a stiff defensive effort forcing the Monroe Rams to a turnover on downs. A long run by Hayden Howard quickly put the Buccaneers inside the red zone. The next play, however, a serious miscue resulted in a Buc loss, and the Rams were able to regain their composure and stop the drive on the next three plays. With the Bucs now on defense, another miscue left a Ram player wide open for a pass and a resulting touchdown. With another stalled Buc drive, the Rams ran a similar play again resulting in another touchdown. Finally, a fumble on a Buc drive bounced off the turf directly into a Ram player who returned it for a defensive touchdown. Later in the game, a similar play from a fumble resulted in an 80 yard defensive touchdown for the Bucs. Against a physical team, the Buccaneers rushed for a notable 200 yards, but turnovers and miscues ultimately kept them out of the end zone.
Seniors – Courtesy of VHS
The final score was 58-0 in favor of the Rams. Several factors deserve mention, however. In anticipation of playing Seward in a 9 man game, the last few weeks since our last game with Monroe have been spent in preparation for that change, which is not insignificant. A sudden schedule change due to Covid left us scrambling the past couple days and came on top of a short week due to Labor Day. In addition, a lack of scrimmages and games this year as well as low participant numbers have made it difficult to have meaningful game-like opportunities. The Buccaneers were also without the help of 3 significant starters this weekend. The disjointed nature of this week was a microcosm of this year's season, and it has been difficult to combat. Despite the adversity, the Bucs have been valient in their effort and attitude.
While the scoreboard showed a loss, the Buccaneers were a team that Valdez should be proud of. In the face of serious deficiency of sportsmanship by the opposing team and coaches, the Buccaneers refused to lower their standards in effort, game play, and sportsmanship. I certainly know which team I stand by, both now and well into the future.
We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all those who came to the game and helped in so many ways. We sincerely appreciate your support.
Cross Country
ACS Invite
September 11, 2020
Contributed by Coach Melissa Koontz – The team took to the road on Friday after a two week break from racing and headed to Anchorage Christian School. They hosted a 5k around nearby Cheney Lake. The girls started off the high school races. There were 25 girls from ACS, Grace Christian, Glenallen, and Freshman Anika Palomar of Valdez. The relatively flat course was half pavement and half trail. The team was not looking forward to running on pavement. Palomar looked strong on her first lap around the lake and then overcame a cramp that slowed her pace. She placed 23rd with a finish of 26:51, over 4 minutes faster than her first race.
The boys were up next. State champion Tristian Merchant from ACS and a pack of runners from Grace quickly dominated the race. Junior William Benes held his own, then slowed his pace on the 2nd lap around the lake. He finished 26th out of 42 runners at 20:22. Freshman Rafe Caruthers completed the first lap hot on Benes’s heels, less than a minute behind him. Caruthers fell behind to 35th, but sprinted across the finish line with a new personal record of 22:04, almost 4 minutes faster than his first high school race. Sophomore Cole Wadsworth had been battling knee pain the past two weeks, but overcame it to cruise into a sprint at the finish, placing 35th at 23:48, a season best. Freshman McKennan Mayer made huge strides to set a personal best at 28:31.
We look forward to having Sophomore Jason Smilie back with us next week as we begin to prepare for Regions in two weeks. Next week’s race schedule is currently unknown. We will host a community race on Saturday if we are not traveling.
Go Bucs!
William Benes 26th 20:22
Cole Wadsworth 39th 23:48
Rafe Caruthers 35th 22:04 PR
McKennan Mayer 42nd 28:31 PR
Anika Palomar 23rd 26:51