After three scoreless quarters between the Braves and Warriors, Chris Jenkins threw two fourth quarter touchdown passes to Darin Taylor and Jon Scherbel as Star Valley closed out their regular season with a feel-good 14-0 win over visiting Worland.

With temperatures hovering in the low 20’s, the two teams battled for field position all night.  Neither defense allowed much and neither team made it into the red zone in the first half.

Jon Scherbel, despite an ugly box score as the back up field goal kicker, had a whale of a game from the punting position and on defense as his 45-yard fourth down fake moved the Braves down in position for their first touchdown.  Scherbel also collected his sixth interception of the season as the Warriors were forced to the air.  To top it off, he also scored his fifth touchdown of the season on a 7-yard strike to put the proverbial nail in the coffin.

The Braves rushed for a season-high 168 yards, most of which came in the fourth quarter as Kevin Brough also returned to the offensive lineup after missing four games with surgery on his thumb.  Brough broke a 37-yard run to set up Star Valley’s second touchdown off a fantastic block from Kyle Rosenbaum.

The two touchdown passes from Jenkins pushes his season total to 11 as he went 12/30 for 140 yards and 2 touchdowns and no interceptions.  Jenkins also rushed 17 times for 52 yards.

As for the Warriors, Tayler Reuer ran 15 times for 64 yards while Cody Smith rushed 12 times for 28 yards.  Bill Douzenis also collected 24 yards on 13 carries.  Douzenis was 2/11 for just 3 yards and an interception through the air.

The win moves the Braves into the conversation with a slew of other 2-6 squads, who will all be waiting to see how their non-conference and even out-of-state opponents finish their respective seasons to see who the Power Ratings select for the post-season. Teams who hurt themselves with losses Friday evening included Wheatland, Rawlins and Jackson.

In other news, the Lady Braves fell in straight games to Green River to open the 4A West Regionals, and then fell in four games to Evanston in an elimination match this evening.  The loss ends the Lady Braves’ season and breaks a seven-year streak of advancing to the state tournament.

For a full accounting of the game, please read the October 30, 2008 edition of the Star Valley Independent.