Trey Coury runs 53 times for 266 yards as Burrell tops Valley in rivalry game

By: Michael Love
Friday, October 4, 2024 | 10:38 PM

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For the second week in a row, Trey Coury did some heavy lifting.

The Burrell sophomore tailback again logged more than 50 carries: 53 to be exact.

Those runs went for 266 yards and both Bucs scores in a 15-6 victory over Valley in the annual “Battle of the Bypass” rivalry game Friday at Valley Memorial Stadium.

“I am feeling pretty good right now,” said Coury, who has rushed 104 times for 505 yards and four touchdowns the past two weeks.

“It feels great to beat Valley again. We’ve conditioned a lot, and we feel we are in great shape, guys on both sides of the ball, everybody, to do what we want to do.”

The game was the 600th in the history of Burrell football, and the Bucs defeated Valley for the sixth straight time. Before the start of Burrell’s recent run of success in the series, Valley had won six straight.

“Running the ball is what we do, and everyone, from Trey, the line, the tight ends, the fullbacks, they take pride in it,” Burrell coach Shawn Liotta said.

“Trey is running like a grown man out there. We give him the ball as much as we do, he could probably go out there and play another game. He’s built for this. The impressive thing about it is (the defense) knows it’s coming, and even though they know it’s coming, they can’t stop it.”

Burrell and Valley met for the 45th straight season, the longest such streak between teams in the Alle-Kiski Valley and one of the longest streaks in the WPIAL.

The Bucs, winners of two in a row after an 0-5 start, will attempt to keep it going next week at Highlands.

“We want to keep working hard and carry this momentum into Highlands next week,” Coury said.

Valley, which fell to 0-7, will remain home next week and face East Allegheny (0-7).

Valley delivered some fireworks on the opening kickoff as Payton Eason took the ball at about his 30 and raced down the home side of the field to the end zone.

Thirteen seconds into the game, the Vikings were on the board.

A personal foul on Valley after the TD pushed the extra point back 15 yards, and kicker Trent Hicinbothem’s point-after kick bounced off the crossbar and fell short.

After that, Valley was unable to get back into the end zone.

The Vikings ran just 14 plays in the first half on two possessions. They punted on the first, and the second resulted in a turnover on downs at the Burrell 35.

Valley turned the ball over on downs on two of its three second-half possessions. A fumble recovered by Burrell on the third possession thwarted a Vikings scoring chance as they attempted to rally from a nine-point deficit.

“There were so many opportunities lost tonight,” Valley coach Mark Adams said.

“We shot ourselves in the foot offensively with too many penalties. We were moving down the field, and a penalty would kill our momentum. We had four defensive stops against them, and when you get those stops, you have to score. Your offense has to be your defense.

“We’re not taking anything away from Burrell and Coury. He’s a helluva runner. I talked about that earlier in the week. They weren’t going to get out of their game plan unless we forced them. We did stop him at times but just not enough. With all that happened, we were still in the game in the second half and had opportunities. We just let it slip away.”

The Bucs took the ensuing kickoff after the Eason touchdown and used 13 plays to drive from its 32 to the Valley 9. However, the drive stalled there.

Brayden Vickers’ 26-yard field-goal attempt sailed wide right, and Valley maintained its six-point lead.

But the Bucs would find the end zone after forcing the Vikings three-and-out.

Burrell was saddled with a fourth-and-14 at the Valley 45. The Bucs set up to punt, but the snap went to Coury on a fake, and he raced 37 yards to the 8.

He then parlayed runs of 5 and 3 yards into a Burrell touchdown. Vickers added the point-after, and the Bucs took a 7-6 lead with 5:33 left until halftime.

It didn’t take long for Burrell to add to its lead early in the third quarter.

Starting at their 49, Coury was given the ball four times, and the final carry of the drive went for 42 yards to the end zone.

Coury ran in the 2-point conversion, and the Bucs built what eventually became the final score.

Burrell ran the ball 56 times, but unlike last week, the Bucs passed the ball twice.

Stevie Hasson completed both of his throw for 22 yards. One went to Talin Newcomer for 16 yards and the other to Coury for 6.

“The biggest thing with our kids tonight was the adversity they fought,” said Liotta, who dedicated the win to his brother, assistant coach Jeremy Liotta, who wasn’t able to be with the team Friday.

“That kickoff return for the touchdown, we gave them all the momentum. But the kids worked hard and were able to seize back the momentum. That is a hard thing to do in high school football. Then we had multiple starters go out throughout the game. We had kids step in. We played a bunch of freshmen, and sophomores jumped in and made plays. I am really proud of our kids in a game like this to come out and get the job done. Now, we have six in a row against (Valley), and it feels pretty good.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Burrell, Valley