Valley Falls 22, Horton 6

In a battle of the only two Northeast Kansas League teams without a victory, Valley Falls held Horton to just 126 total yards of offense and scored twice on fourth down to earn the road victory.  

Despite fumbling their second play of the game, the Dragons forced a pair of three-and-outs defensively and took an 8-0 lead on a 15 yard pass from Marty Gatzemeyer to Jarett Wildeman with 5:20 to play in the first quarter.  The pass capped a 9 play, 70 yard drive and Drew Maltsbarger ran in the two-point-conversion. Horton would come alive on their third possession as Cameron Smith found Derek Richardson on a 39 yard pass play to start the second period.  Two plays later, Smith found the endzone on a one-yard-run, but the conversion failed and Valley Falls held an 8-6 advantage.  The Dragons next drive went 11 plays and was kept alive by a fake punt before Conner Gast broke free on a fourth down and 17 play that resulted in a  35 yard touchdown run.  The conversion pass from Gatzemeyer to Wildeman gave the Dragons a 16-6 halftime lead.  Both teams committed a pair of turnovers in the second half, and Horton had only 27 yards of total offense after the intermission.  The Dragons put the game away with a 14 play drive that went 77 yards and ended with Gatzemeyer running for a six yard touchdown on a fourth down and goal situation with only 2:55 remaining in the contest.  

Gatzemeyer finished with 19 carries for 78 yards and completed 4 passes for another 63 yards.  Conner Gast earned "Player to Bank On" honors from the Citizens State Bank and Trust Company in Hiawatha with 117 yards on 19 carrries and also had a catch.  Valley Falls had 307 total yards on offense and improved to 2-1 on the season, thanks in large part to converting five different times on fourth down, including a pair of scoring plays.  The Dragsons were stout on defense all night, allowing Horton only one run play of more than 7 yards.  Ty Gatzemeyer led the defense charge with 11 tackles and a big sack half sack to earn defensive "Lineman of the Game" honors from the Denison State Banks.  

Horton picked up a first down on only three of their 10 offensive drives before falling to 0-3.  Conner Dean had 56 yards rushing and Smith was 6 of 14 for 84 yards in the air.