Burrell turns to ground game to hold off rival Valley
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Friday, September 11, 2020 | 10:39 PM
Burrell’s Caden DiCaprio attempts to break the tackle of Valley’s Justin Hooper and Jabaree Drew during the first half at Valley High School Friday. Sept 11, 2020.
Valley’s Thomas Albert deflects a pass intended for Burrell’s Ian Durci during the first half Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, at Valley High School.
Valley’s Domanick Simmons intercepts a pass intended for Burrell’s Ian Durci during the first half Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, at Valley High School.
Valley’s Justin Hooper (left) and Burrell’s Alex Arledge, team captains, watch as referee John Skovran flips a coin before the start of Friday night’s game at Valley High School. Fans were not permitted into the stadium Friday, Sept 11, 2020.
Masked referees stand in front of empty bleachers during the national anthem at Valley High School before the Vikings hosted Burrell on Friday, Sept. 11, 2020.
Fans watch Valley take on Burrell from the tree line outside the stadium Friday, Sept 11, 2020.
Valley’s Thomas Albert, pulls in a pass in the end zone during the first half against Burell Friday. Sept 11, 2020
Burrell’s “air raid” offense lives by the motto “Play Fast.”
But the Bucs reverted to super-slow mode in the second half to emerge with a 22-13 victory over neighboring Valley Friday night at New Kensington’s Memorial Stadium.
Burrell ate up 14 minutes, 10 seconds of the final 16:12 of the game to defeat its rival in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2011-12.
The Bucs scored on a 1-yard burst by Alex Arledge with 10:41 left in the game. After a 3-and-out by Valley, Burrell put the ball into the deep freeze for the final 8:39 with a strong ground game.
Junior Caden DiCaprio ran the ball 30 times for 166 yards, including 11 carries in the fourth quarter in the Allegheny 7 Conference opener for both teams.
“That was grown man stuff right there,” said Burrell coach Shawn Liotta of his team’s reliance on the running game. “We want to be wide open, but we’re trying to win the football game. This was a rivalry game, a slugfest, and we were just trying to take control of the game.”
Arledge, one of the WPIAL’s leading passers last season with 2,462 yards, accumulated 125 yards through the air Friday, though he tried just one fourth period pass.
Valley maintains a 25-16 lead in the all-time series between the two Route 56 Bypass rivals.
Valley took the opening kickoff and drove 57 yards in six plays, with Justin Hooper scoring on an 8-yard run.
Burrell drove to the Valley 2 before losing the ball on downs. The Bucs stopped Valley and were rewarded when the Vikings punter had the ball snapped over his head for a safety.
Valley’s Dominic Simmons picked off an Arledge pass on the next series inside the Vikings 20.
Burrell got its first touchdown of the new season when sophomore linebacker Nijere Floyd intercepted a Cayden Quinn pass to put the Bucs in business at the Valley 13.
DiCaprio scored on a 14-yard carry, running through the right slot to take a 9-7 lead.
Burrell finally had the chance to open things up on the second play of the third quarter when Arledge found A.J. Corrado wide open along the right sideline for a 59-yard scoring play to take a 16-7 lead.
Hooper recovered a loose ball for Valley on a punt when the kick hit off the leg of a Burrell player at the Bucs 23. Adisun Jackson went 7 yards on a reverse to bring the Vikings to within 16-13,
But Burrell answered with a 10-play drive and later put the game on ice.
Said Liotta: “I told the kids we imposed our will on them at the end of the game. Everybody thinks were just about passing, but that’s never been the case. We have to run the ball as well.”
Valley coach Muzzy Colosimo was happy with many aspects of his team’s game, despite the loss.
“We stopped them a couple of times,” the veteran coach said. “We hit the whole game and offensively we did a lot of good things. We only had one turnover. Our kids are working hard at practice every day.”
Quinn collected 90 passing yards, with Elijah Murray grabbing five passes for 69 yards.
Valley plays North Catholic Friday at the Mars Athletic Complex at 7:30 p.m.
Burrell’s scheduled home game with East Allegheny on Friday was moved to EA’s Churchman Stadium because Burrell’s artificial turf won’t be ready.
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