Madison topples River Valley
CALEDONIA — Tyrell Ajian proved why Division I colleges want him next fall.
Aijan scored three times in leading the visiting Rams past River Valley 21-6 here Friday night. He only ran for 37 yards but that didn’t tell the story. He caught two TD passes and returned an interception for another in spoiling RV’s home opener.
The skies cleared for Parents Night, but the River Valley offense started out murky.
The Rams (1-1) jumped on the hosts early with a 15-0 lead after one quarter, thanks to penalties and a 42-yard interception return by the highly touted Ajian.
“This is what the kids have been working for; they’re great kids with great attitudes,” said Rams head coach Jamie Masi. “We saw growth from Week 1 to Week 2.”
RV’s offense, potent last week against Upper Sandusky, had trouble getting started as quarterback Jax Harville hit on just 5 of 13 passes in the first half for 31 yards. Dropped and overthrown passes hurt the Vikes’ chance to score on several occasions.
Weather didn’t delay the game, but a 10-minute conference between officials did. They couldn’t seem to decide where to place the ball after a punt taken by Madison resulted in a personal foul call on River Valley.
When the dust settled the visitors had the ball at the RV 25. Three players later they scored.
“We did have some opportunities early on. We didn’t have great field position,” said RV head coach Doug Green.
“Defense kept us in it and we got some turnovers. We just weren’t able to fire on all cylinders on offense.”
Ajian, a Division I prospect, took direct snaps for Madison, alternating with Tresten Vail. Vail hit Ajian with an 8-yard scoring toss with 4:08 to go in the first quarter.
A minute and a half later, Ajian stepped in front of a Harville pass and returned it 42 yards for the second Madison score and a 15-0 Rams lead. Meanwhile, Vail, a junior, completed 5 of 8 passes for 107 yards.
The Rams fumbled three times in the half, losing two of them with Evan Brandyberry and Sam Troutman falling on the loose pigskins.
A Harville pass to Bailey Cole was tipped but caught for a touchdown with 11:04 to play. The pass for two failed and it was 15-6.
But Aijan struck again getting open down the right sideline for a 41-yard score early in the fourth period.
“We played an extremely good River Valley football team. I was just proud of our effort and obviously the win,” Masi said.
For the game Harville was 18-of-35 for 151 yards. Cole caught seven passes for 64 yards and Carson Parsell three for 29.
The Vikings had 16 first downs to Madison’s 8.
“Little things were off a little bit. Your opponent has something to do with that. They covered with their amount of speed,” Green said. “We found some things we’ve got to get fixed by next week.”
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