A 13-7 Paint Valley lead midway through the third quarter, turned into a 41-7 route of Unioto to keep the Bearcats in a first place tie with Southeastern, with the Panthers rolling to a 57-14 win over Zane Trace.
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Paint Valley's defense was a major factor in the win, causing four turnovers and scoring on a "pick-six" and a fumble recovery.
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The PV-Unioto game was scoreless until the Bearcats took advantage of Cruz McFadden's interception return to Unioto's 32 yard line, scoring on the next play with 11:41 of the second period on a 32 yard run by Brayden Ison's run. The PAT was missed, leaving Paint Valley with a 6-0 lead.
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A big punt return off the Shermans' next possession gave Paint Valley another short-field scoring drive of only 18 yards in five plays, capped-off by a 1 yard run by Ian Cockerell and a Jason Wiiliams PAT kick for a 13-0 lead at 7:40 left in the first half and remained that way at the break.
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Unioto got back into the game with a 61 yard/6 play scoring drive to open the second half, capped-off by a Jamarcus Carroll 8 yard TD run and a Gage Stout PAT kick for a 13-7 score at 9:40 left in the third.
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But, the Bearcats answered to take some of the air out of the Shermans' sails by driving 59 yards in 9 plays for a 21-7 lead when Ison scored on a 7 yard TD run. The "back-breaker" for Unioto came on their next possession when Paint Valley's Andrew Walker had a 53 yard pick-six with 1:58 left in the third for a 28-7 lead.
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Paint Valley would score later in the fourth quarter on Ison TD runs of 1 yard and a 33 yard fumble recovery return for a score.
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Paint Valley combined for 275 total yards with 203 on the ground. They were 4/7 passing for 79 yards. PV had two turnovers.
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Unioto had 158 total yards, but had 172 rushing. A minus 21 yards in sacks lowered that total as they were sacked twice and threw 2/11 for just 7 yards.
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Unioto's Jamarcus Carroll was the games leading rusher with 120 yards on 22 carries with one TD, while Paint Valley's Brayden Ison had 99 yards on 21 carries and a total of three TD's. Cruz McFadden had 3 catches for 78 yards and a TD.
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Unioto falls to (2-2/4-3) and travels to unbeaten Southeastern next week in WKKJ's Herrnstein Hyundai SVC Game of the Week.
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