Blue Valley Southwest is making history

Nick Smith/PrepsKC

By Jim Bradford PrepsKC Senior Writer
Posted: October 21, 2011 - 11:31 PM



DESOTO — It wasn’t pretty, but at this point in the season it’s all about the win.
 
That’s exactly what Blue Valley Southwest did Friday night at DeSoto. The Timberwolves came into town and pitched a shutout, knocking off DeSoto 15-0 to put itself in the driver’s seat for the first district title in school history.
 
History is a relative term at BV Southwest since this is just its second year of existence, but the win moves them to 2-0 in district play and 3-5 overall.
 
The loss dropped DeSoto to 5-3 overall and 1-1 on the season.
 
“That was an ugly game,” said BV Southwest head coach Bill Lowe. “And you have to credit DeSoto for that. They did a great job defensively.”
 
The Timberwolves took advantage of some DeSoto miscues Friday, forcing six turnovers — four fumbles and two interceptions — but also held the Wildcats on fourth down twice, the last time in the shadow of their own goalpost at their 1-yard line.
 
The win helped the Timberwolves exact a bit of revenge as well. They lost to DeSoto 39-14 last year on their way to a second-place finish in district play.
 
“They whipped us last year, so payback was definitely on our minds tonight,” said BV Southwest quarterback Aaron Ramsey. “This win means a lot of everyone.”
 
Southwest racked up just 254 yards of offense, but were able to take care of business on the defensive side of the ball.
 
“Our kids just made the plays when they had to,” Lowe said. “The defense really stepped up.”
 
The defense was stout on Friday, holding DeSoto to just 99 yards on the ground. They did manage 129 yards through the air, but a lot of that came late when DeSoto was trying in vain to get into the end zone.
 
“That’s our game, run, run, run and then hit a big pass,” Ramsey said. “We came out tonight and executed and if we do that, there aren’t many teams that can stop us. The only people that can stop us are ourselves.”
 
Scoring was definitely at a premium Friday night. After going up 9-0 at the half, BV Southwest added the only points of the second half on their first possession. After DeSoto coughed the ball up on their third play form scrimmage in the second half, the T-Wolves converted when Ramsey snuck in from 1-yard out to put Southwest up 15-0 after another two-point conversion failed.
 
Ramsey finished with just 45 yard passing, but led all rushers with 96 yards.
 
“Both of our lines did a great job,” he said. ‘The offensive line did a great job of opening holes for us.”
 
The Timberwolves took the opening kickoff right down the field before the drive stalled out. After setting itself up with a first-and-goal at the 3-yard line, BV Southwest stated going the wrong way. A holding penalty sent them back to the 14, then a sack by DeSoto’s Austin Reinertson pushed them back to the 17. They settled for a 34-yard field goal to go up 3-0.
 
The Wildcats ensuing drive ended when they came up short on a fourth down at the Wolves’ 27.
 
Southwest then counted with their first touchdown of the game. Dylan O’Dell raced in for the 4 to put the Timberwolves up 9-0 after a two-point conversion was no good.
 
The Wildcats then countered with a nice drive late in the second quarter, but put the ball on the ground on an option toss and BV Southwest jumped on it at their own 18-yard line, ending the drive with 2:06 to play in the first half.
 
DeSoto wraps up its regular season next Friday night at home against St. James Academy, while BV Southwest will host Bishop Ward.