Staff photo / Brian Yauger Valley Christian quarterback Joey Battista and lineman Philip Chandler-Cox celebrate after a 96-yard touchdown pass to VeShun Gurley that was called back. The Eagles scored two plays later.

CAMPBELL — Valley Christian tailback Cam Davenport mentioned that his team hasn’t started 2-1 in a while. When the dust finally settled after the battle between Valley Christian and McDonald, the Eagles held the advantage and won 53-34 over the Blue Devils to start 2-1 on the year.

“That was a great game,” Valley Christian coach Andy Hake said. “Our kids played their butts off. I’m so proud of our guys because we could have gone away a couple of times. We do things to ourselves and it’s nobody else’s fault but our own.

“In the end we made some big plays when we had to, the kids kept hanging in there. I’m so proud of them. I’m so proud of our team. I’m so proud of our school. We’re doing things the right way.”

The Valley Christian offense had an outstanding performance, with quarterback Joey Battista throwing for 229 yards and two touchdowns.

That doesn’t include a 96-yard touchdown pass he threw on a second-and-31 to VeShun Gurley that was called back. But in just two plays, Valley Christian continued its air raid, driving down the field to score off a 45-yard pass to Gurley again.

There were actually two scores by Valley Christian that were called back. Hake mentioned that mistakes like that could have sunk them against a team like McDonald.

“It was our own fault, we need to fix ourselves,” he said. “McDonald’s going play to the end. McDonald’s one of the most traditional programs in the area. I have nothing but respect for them, but we’ve got to stop deep-sixing in ourselves, because that hurts.”

It turned into an air versus ground battle, with Battista sending deep balls for the Eagles, and McDonald, which was led by tailback Nathan Gilligan, running for 171 yards and two scores, and quarterback Logan Hawk who had 140 yards and three scores.

Staff photo / Brian Yauger
McDonald quarterback Logan Hawk fends off the Valley Christian defense as he rambles his way down the field.

The air won out as the Eagles began to pull away in the second half, scoring 33 points after the break.

“We knew coming in we couldn’t give up the explosive plays and we gave up many of them,” Blue Devils coach Dan Williams said. “They had three, four or five explosive plays and coming in, we knew we couldn’t do that. They have great athletes and in space they’re dangerous.”

The Eagles open up their league schedule on the road Friday against United. Valley Christian won’t see its home field again until October.

“I’m ready for whatever comes to us,” Davenport said. “We’re going to play hard and play as a team.”

McDonald (0-3) looks to get its first win this year against archrival Mineral Ridge.

“We’ve got to move forward,” Williams said. “We’ve got to practice hard. We got to practice every day and get better every day and every Friday we’re going to improve as well. We’re taking it day by day.

“If you can’t get ready to play your rival across the border and you can’t get ready and get up and want to come on and practice hard to win next Friday night, then you’re not a Blue Devil. I think we’ll be ready. We’ll come ready for next week’s game.”