Vinyard deep-sixes Wolves
Senior scores all but one of Vikings’ 7 touchdowns as Valparaiso extends conference win streak against Michigan City
In a flash, Valparaiso’s Hayden Vinyard broke through the line and sped away for a 72-yard touchdown.
That quickly, the senior running back snapped a tie with visiting Michigan City in a Duneland Athletic Conference game Friday night as the Vikings emerged with a 49-28 victory by posting the final 21 points.
Vinyard had six TDs, including two long ones receiving, as Valparaiso (4-0, 2-0) won its seventh straight game against Michigan City (2-2, 0-2) and remained undefeated in conference play since 2017.
“It’s really exciting just to know it was a really good Michigan City team and we never stopped,” Vinyard said. “No one’s head was ever down throughout the game, no matter what the score was.”
Makiyel Woodard scored a 2-yard TD with 8 minutes, 17 seconds left in the game to draw the Wolves, who are among the teams receiving votes in both the Class 5A coaches poll and Associated Press poll, into a 28-28 tie.
But on the next play from scrimmage, Vinyard got loose for the go-ahead score for the Vikings, who are ranked No. 3 in both polls.
Michigan City fumbled on its next play, with Nathan Craft recovering for Valparaiso at the 21-yard line. Two runs by senior quarterback Logan Lockhart, including a 5-yard TD, gave Valparaiso a two-score lead with 7:37 left.
Vinyard added a 36-yard TD run with 3:42 left to make it 49-28.
“We stayed calm,” Vinyard said.
“Our defense came out there and shut them out on that drive and made big back-to-back stops. They gave the offense momentum, and we came out firing on all cylinders.”
Vinyard finished with 177 rushing yards and four TDs, including two earlier 1-yarders, on 22 carries. He turned a pair of short passes from Lockhart into 53- and 22-yard TDs. Before his 72-yard score, he had 53 yards on 17 carries.
“I basically just had to stay running hard and trust in my O-line,” Vinyard said. “We had very good play-calling by the coaches, mixing it up between pass and run and spreading them out. It really helped our run game, especially later in the game.”
Lockhart ran for 89 yards and
the TD on 17 carries and completed 5 of 10 passes for 116 yards.
Tyler Bush and Giovani Laurent proved to be a potent combination for Michigan City. Bush, a sophomore, started at quarterback and completed 18 of 32 passes for 356 yards and two touchdowns.
Laurent, the erstwhile quarterback who shifted to wide receiver, made 12 catches for 195 yards.
Bush’s TD passes went to Jaden Hart for 22 yards and Trey Simmons for 77. Bush also had a 5-yard TD run to tie the score at 21-21 with 6:32 left in the third quarter.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our group,” Valparaiso coach Bill Marshall said. “You have this ability, and I think it’s because we’ve been in big games before and a lot of them have seen it firsthand.
There’s the ‘never give up’ attitude.
“Never a minute did they bat an eye and (think) ‘I don’t know if we’re going to be able to do this.’ There wasn’t any of that chatter that you normally hear.
“There were some times it was touch and go, but they did a tremendous job.”