Ark Valley News - HORNET FOOTBALL: Valley Center regional champions

Coach Caleb Smith receives the regional championship plaque from VCHS Principal Jamie Lewis after beating Maize 27-13 in the second round of the 5A playoffs.

HORNET FOOTBALL: Valley Center regional champions
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: November 10, 2016

The Valley Center High School football team has some hardware now.

The 9-1 Hornets led the entire way in a close game and beat the 7-3 Maize Eagles 27-13. The win gave Valley Center a 5A regional championship and a plaque that got passed around. More importantly, it put the Hornets in the third round of the 5A state playoffs.

Valley Center will travel to play 9-1 Great Bend Nov. 11. Great Bend beat Andover 19-7.

Two other 9-1 teams advance to the third round. Heights, which beat Emporia, and Goddard, a 20-12 winner over Bishop Carroll, will play each other Nov. 11.

"The kids played well," said Valley Center coach Caleb Smith. "They rose up to the occasion. I couldn't be prouder of them."

Valley will play an 11th game for the first time since 1995.

"It feels really good," Smith said. "It feels really good for the kids and the coaches who have worked really hard. It's a great feeling."

Against Maize, which the Hornets have beaten the each of the past three seasons, Valley's defense kept the game close as the Hornets managed to get two field goals in the first quarter.

The Hornets went up 12-0 in the second quarter on a Josh Roeser four-yard touchdown run. Roeser, a senior, was starting for the second week in a row for the injured Wyatt Lange.

Leading 12-7 in the third, Roeser completed a critical six-play drive with a two-yard touchdown run.

After Maize scored to get to within six, Roeser led the Hornets on a back-breaking, 16-play 68-yard drive that ended in the fourth quarter with a two-yard touchdown run by Caleb Rains.

Dalton Cross intercepted two Brayden Payne passes in the fourth to seal the victory.

Roeser finished with 128 yards rushing and 89 yards passing, completing six of 11. Rains had 66 yards.

Maize running back Dalyn Johnson ran for 139 yards. Payne competed 12 passes for 137.