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| Shizz
September 5, 2011
3:52:44 PM
Entry #: 3794417
| Since the Orange Bowl between The Rams and Blackhawks is this Friday I thought I would share these two articles about the Orange bowl games in 1997 and 1998 (the 39th and 40th Orange Bowls)Hope Everyone Enjoys it
1997
PAOLI - A power shift in Orange County football took place Friday night at Cook Field, and it made an audible noise. It wasn't a low rumble like a ground-churning earthquake. It was more of a whoosh!, like the backblast of a jet engine. In fact, it was m
any whooshes!
The jets came from the Paoli backfield, which flew several sorties and strafed perennial powerhouse Springs Valley in leading the unbeaten Rams to a 32-0 victory in the 39th edition of the Orange Bowl.
Senior tailback Aaron Florence (14 carries for 180 yards), senior backup tailback Kyle Nichols (8 for 97), and senior reserve fullback Russell Lewellyn (3 for 48) combined for five touchdowns which averaged 50.2 yards per play, easily offsetting Valley
tailback Michael Allstott's 209 yards on 35 carries.
Whoosh!
"Their speed was very impressive,'' said Valley coach Kevin Mills. "Florence was outstanding. He made some runs against us that we haven't seen for a long time. I'm not overly pleased with our tackling, but he's so low to the ground that it makes it toug
h to tackle him, and he's very quick on top of that.
"Their defense (which has now registered 10 consecutive shutout quarters) is so quick to the ball, too. They played well. That's a solid team and it's going to take a good one to beat them.''
Paoli coach Steve Stirn, who is now 2-1 in the county encounters, wasn't expecting the outpouring of offense, but he wasn't totally shocked, either.
"Aaron Florence will do that for you,'' said Stirn. "The kid runs so hard. I felt sorry for him last year because he was hurt a lot, but he kept throwing himself in there. So I'm really happy for him.
"I also thought our offensive line (Jon King, Brad Hawkins, Jason Bowles, Eric Laws, and Travis Sprinkle, along with tight ends Tyler Manship and Chance Ragains) opened some huge holes for the backs. They're not going to be a no-name unit for long. They'
re going to take us where we're going and right now it's a pretty good path.
"I'm happy for this team. I didn't think we'd have the outcome we did, but we played hard.''
The Rams struck quickly, of course, for the initial score. On their fourth play from scrimmage, Florence ripped off a 44-yard scoring sprint to make it 6-0 at 8:27 of the first period.
Valley, ranked No.9 in Class A, countered with what seemed to be a momentum-shifting march. Its offensive line started pushing Paoli backward and the Blackhawks moved from their own 25 to the Rams' 10 in 13 plays. That's when disaster struck. On 3rd-and-
1, quarterback Jeremy Hall burrowed ahead on a sneak, but lost the ball, and Sprinkle pounced on it at the 14.
"We found some places to attack early and we had them moving, but that fumble tooka lot out of us,'' said Mills.
If the fumble didn't do Valley in, then two fourth-down penalties on Paoli's ensuing possession - one for clipping on a punt and another for having 12 men on the field - to keep the Rams' drive alive was the cause of death. Paoli took advantage of the gi
fts as Florence flew in from 30 yards out to up the lead to 12-0 at 9:25 of the second stanza.
"Those were dumb, dumb penalties,'' said Mills. "We had some breakdowns early that really hurt us, and we had to play perfect football if we were going to beat them.''
Paoli was virtually perfect from that point. Nichols took a simple dive-left play and turned it into a 76-yard scoring sprint at the 6:11 mark, and Luke Kimmell's kick made it 19-0 at halftime.
Florence put it away midway through the third quarter with a nifty 53-yard TD run in which he started inside only to find the hole closed, bounced it outside, shook off a high tackle on the sideline, and outran the rest of the defense to the end zone.
Valley's next drive was a summation of its night. The Hawks, behind the Alex Smith-like effort of Allstott, had the ball for 14 plays, reaching the Paoli 9 before fizzling. Valley finished with 15 first downs, all on the ground.
"We could move the ball between the 30 and the 30, but we couldn't get it in the end zone,'' said Mills. "Michael ran real hard and we did some good things, but we've got to get a lot better.''
Lewellyn seized his chance to shine by taking a quick-hitter for a 48-yard romp to cap the scoring late in the fourth quarter.
Paoli's I-formation offense finished with 351 yards on the ground, and that was also its total yardage. Meanwhile, the defense yielded only 230 total yards and harassed Hall into 1 for 14 passing for minus-2 yards and picked off two passes.
"Mark Black has done a great job with the defense, and Tom Stuckwisch isn't officially the defensive coordinator anymore, but he's a wise man to have around,'' said Stirn. "The coaches have done it for us. They had this team prepared, and the kids carrie
d it out.''
1998
Indeed, the 40th Orange Bowl will take its place among the all-time best in the series. There were crushing hits and no quit from either side.
Valley began its march to victory following a diving interception (one of the few mistakes made by Paoli junior quarterback Derek VanEmon in a brilliant passing display) by Ronnie Hill at the Blackhawk 38-yard line with 3:27 remaining.
Valley used a pass interference call, and runs by quarterback Jeremy Hall and Hill to reach the Ram 14 with 47 seconds left. Valley coach Kevin Mills used his final timeout, and called upon Hall. The senior signal caller rolled right, Allstott delivered
a devastating block that sealed Paoli's outside linebacker, so Hall tucked it in and ran it home. He added the PAT run to make it 28-20 with 40 seconds remaining.
"It was one of our sprint-draw passes we've run since I've been here and they always seem to work to perfection,'' said Hall. "I got some great blocks, so I just ran it in.''
The Rams didn't give up. VanEmon passed them all the way to the Valley 15 before time ran out. He wound up hitting 15 of 32 passes for 208 yards and two TDs. Senior wideout Dusty Cole caught seven passes for 157 yards.
"Derek VanEmon is going to win a lot of ballgames for Paoli before he's done,'' said Bless. "He's poised in the pocket and getting more comfortable all the time, and you have to give our offensive line credit for giving him the time he needed to throw.
"Nobody quit. I can't fault our kids' effort for one second. But you also have to give Valley a lot of credit for playing very hard.''
It was a defensive struggle in the opening stanza, but Valley got on the board early in the second. Fullback Evan Cave's 31-yard bolt set up Hall's 13-yard scoring strike to tight end Chad Hammond at 10:52, and Hall's PAT run made it 8-0.
The Rams knotted the score late in the half after snaring a fumble at the Valley 31. VanEmon immediately hit Cole for 20 yards and fullback David McDonald ran for 11 to set up VanEmon's 5-yard scoring dart to tailback Michael Harmon at 1:19. VanEmon toss
ed to Luke Kimmel for the tying PAT.
Paoli surged back ahead when VanEmon found Cole with a 21-yard TD pass midway through the third period, and Valley was struggling mightily with bad snaps on punts. The Hawks flubbed three in a row, but ironically the last one wound up turning the tide fo
r the Blackhawks.
Allstott dropped back with under 7:00 left in the third quarter. This time the snap was high, but Allstott recovered it and raced around the left side. He barreled into Paoli's Josh King in a violent collision that left King sprawled out flat on his back
, Allstott dazed, and Valley with a first down by inches.
Three plays later, on 4th-and-4, Allstott went off right tackle, found the hole closed, and bounced it outside. He got the corner and sailed untouched down the right sideline for a 49-yard scoring sprint that squared it, 14-14.
Valley had the momentum, forcing a quick Paoli punt and marching into the red zone. But Damian Walker lost a pitch, and the quick-recuperating King recovered for the Rams.
They marched 79 yards on 11 plays, keyed by VanEmon's 31-yard toss to Cole, before Harmon dived across from three yards out with 4:47 remaining.
Things looked bleak for the Blackhawks, but Hill ran the ensuing kickoff back to the Paoli 44, and Allstott burst free for 33 yards on first down. Two plays later he was in the end zone. Valley had taken just 32 seconds to tie it once more, setting up th
e thrilling final minutes.
"That's one of the best Orange Bowls I've ever been involved with, and I'm awfully proud of my kids,'' said Mills. "Both teams were playing their hearts out. We were trying to chase their receivers around all night, and the VanEmon boy throws a real nice
ball.
"I think a key was we shut down their running game (the Rams got just 66 yards on the ground), and I think Michael Allstott and Jeremy Hall showed what they're made of."
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