Cavs Open Season with 29-19 Win at Teays Valley

Article presented by Scioto Valley Dumpsters

*Scott Bartholomew talks to his Cavaliers following a 29-19 victory at Teays Valley to open the 2022 season. Dan Ramey/Litter Media*

It wasn’t a perfect night by any means, but the Scott Bartholomew era of Chillicothe Football began with a 29-19 victory at Teays Valley.

Bartholomew had been away from head coaching for several years, spending that time as an assistant to his son Wade at Bloom-Carroll. While the 2022 campaign’s start was filled with the usual first game miscues and penalties, he took it all in stride.

“I’m not sure they (Teays Valley) weren’t the better football team early on, but we made the plays that we needed to make to put points on the board” said Bartholomew. And when the Vikings scored, Chillicothe answered with a score of their own. “We did some of the things that you have to do, even when things weren’t going well, and I thought that was so important for our kids.”

After forcing a Chillicothe punt, a muffed kick return was fumbled away, setting the Cavaliers up for the first score of the night. Mason Doughty connected with Tre King on a 28-yard pass and followed it up with a 10-yard strike to Tayvion Galloway for a TD at 9:42 in the first quarter. Mason Siberell’s point after was good for a 7-0 lead. The Vikings answered nearly 8 minutes later when Matthew Farmer hit Harrison Payne on a 49-yard strike and Cale Clifton tied the game at seven with the PAT.

*Tayvion Galloway catches a 10-yard pass to give Chillicothe the early 7-0 lead. Dan Ramey/Litter Media*

Chillicothe’s Max Lee found a hole and raced 64-yards 16 seconds before the opening quarter came to a close for the 14-7 lead. To start the second quarter, Doughty hit Galloway again, this time for a 53-yard touchdown and Teays Valley was facing a 21-7 deficit heading into the intermission.

Teays Valley’s Harrison Payne gets behind the Cavs defense to put the Vikings on the board. Dan Ramey/Litter Media

Teays Valley had the upper hand in offense, tallying 480 yards offense to Chillicothe’s 289. The Viking’s Gavin Karshner (147 yards on 19 carries and a TD) and Richard Odum (131 yards on 15 carries). However, turnovers proved costly for Teays Valley. The Vikings lost two fumbles and had two passes snagged.

Chillicothe’s Max Lee finishes a 64 run for a touchdown to put the Cavaliers ahead 14-7. Dan Ramey/Litter Media

Out of the break, TV ground out an 85-yard drive capped by a 2-yard run by Karshner and the Vikings closed the gap to 21-14. While Mark Weber was pleased with the running game, he knows creativity makes a team more effective. “We’ve gotta find ways to be creative and appeal to some of our speed guys and we’ll continue to do that. It’s just gonna take time and it’s gonna take effort.”

Multiple players suffered from leg cramping throughout the game, including Chillicothe’s Doughty. Back up Caden Eblin came on in relief and delivered a pass to the corner of the end zone finding Tre King. The A two-point conversion by Lee put Chillicothe ahead 29-13.

Karshner would finish the scoring with an 11-yard run two-minutes later for the 29-19 final.

“Obviously there’s things out there we need to get better at” Bartholomew said of his Cavaliers. One is maintaining ball control to give his defense time to rest. “There were some issues. Defensively, I think some of it was just the fact of fatigue as much as anything because we couldn’t get first downs. We’ll work on all that and we’ll get better at it.”

Chillicothe will host London August 26^th in the first meeting between the scores. Meanwhile, The Vikings hit the road to Logan.