By John O’Connor

ESPY — Shenandoah Valley has a new head coach and took a new approach going into its season opener against Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech Saturday at Wed Gera Memorial Field.

The Blue Devils now have to figure out how to get through the rest of their games on a limited roster.

Shenandoah Valley was only able to dress 24 players against the much deeper Rams and the disparity in players proved to be a factor in the home team’s 48-17 victory on a hot afternoon.

The Blue Devils acquitted themselves pretty well in the first half after overcoming a 14-0 first quarter deficit to take a 17-14 lead late in the second quarter.

Sam Mentusky put Shenandoah Valley on top with a 40-yard field goal with 1:34 remaining in the half after his team scored two second-quarter touchdowns on runs of 51 yards by Jonnuel Reyes and 7 yards by Jeremy Thomas.

But the Blue Devils defense had no answer for the Rams rushing attack that included a 368-yard performance by Braxton Brown. They rushed for 476 yards overall.

It was Brown’s 59-yard scoring run with 58 seconds remaining in the second quarter that gave Col-Mon Vo-Tech the lead for good at 20-17.

The Rams scored the first two touchdowns of the game in the first quarter on a 5-yard scoring run by Mason Haught and a 13-yard run by quarterback Myles Kosar.

“Braxton ran much better after the first two series,” Col-Mon Vo-Tech head coach Mark Varner said. “He then had to go on defense and did a great job there.”

The Rams spent the remainder of the game wearing down the Blue Devils who saw players falling to the ground with throughout the third and fourth quarters.

“Kids were getting banged up with cramps,” Shenandoah Valley head coach Dave Bench said. “We lost three starters at the beginning of the second half. It was hard finding the second- and third-stringers. A lot of younger kids were in there. They get their war wounds today and hopefully we can build on that.”

The Rams put the game away with two third-quarter touchdowns, which included a 25-yard scoring pass from Koser to Landon Hipps and a 3-yard scoring run by Haught.

They capped the scoring with two fourth-quarter scores on a 7-yard run by Haught and a 1-yard run by backup quarterback Charlie Sego.

“It comes down to attrition,” Varner said. “We had one guy really cramp up and maybe three, but they had a bunch that had to go out. We don’t cramp up. This is the second year in a row we did not have guys cramp up in the first game.”

Game Summary

Col-Mon Vo-Tech 48, Shenandoah Valley 17

SV (0-1) — 0 17 0 0 — 17

CMVT (1-0) — 14 6 16 12 — 48

CMVT — Haught 5 run (pass failed)

CMVT — Koser 13 run (Haught run)

SV — Reyes 31 run (Mentusky kick)

SV — Thomas 7 run (Mentusky kick)

SV – FG Mentusky 40

CMVT — Brown 59 run (pass failed)

CMVT — Hipps 25 pass from Koser (Brown run)

CMVT — Haught 3 run (Brown run)

CMVT — Haught 7 run (pass failed)

CMVT — Sego 1 run (pass failed)

Team Statistics

                        SV     CMVT

First downs —-   12…24

Rushes-Yards —- 25-145…. 57-476

Passing —– 4-15-2. .4-9-1

Passing Yards —-44…. 36

Total Yards —-190…. 512

Fumbles-Lost —- 0-0…. 1-0

Penalties —- 6-45…7-55

Individual Stats

       RUSHING: Shenandoah Valley — Thomas 7-45, Seiger 3-4, Nunez 5-7, Reyes 6-61, Karossa 2-13, Czerny  2-15. Col-Mon Vo-Tech — Brown 28-368, Haught 12-69, Koser 4-(-3), Seiger 7-24, Treon 4-20, Hernandez 1-(-2)

      PASSING: Shenandoah Valley — Karosas 4-15-2, 44. Col-Mon Vo-Tech — Koser 4-9-1, 36

RECEIVING: Shenandoah Valley — Nunez 2-15, Burrous 2-29. Col-Mon Vo-Tech — Hipps 1-25, Treon 1-10, Haught 1-3, Brown 1-(-3).

INTERCEPTIONS: Shenandoah Valley — Phinazee. Col-Mon Vo-Tech — Koser 2