Riverview settles down, pulls away for shutout victory over Valley

By: Josh Rizzo
Saturday, August 30, 2025 | 5:04 PM

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Kaden Levy thinks the Riverview football team’s offense can execute a myriad of plays well. It took the Raiders nearly 24 minutes to figure out which strategy worked the best against Valley.

Riverview expanded its playbook Saturday at Riverside Park and found enough punch to pull away for a 35-0 win and hand the Vikings their 17th consecutive loss.

Levy scored on runs of 1 and 6 yards in the third quarter to help the Raiders snap out of a first-half funk.

“We’ve been trying new things with new plays and having a lot of new people get the ball, too,” said Levy, who also scored on a 35-yard interception return late in the fourth quarter. “It’s been great. Even with the new plays, we are getting touchdowns.”

Miles Duncan led Riverview with 84 yards on eight carries. Connor Kmetz passed for 128 yards, including a 56-yard touchdown to Prince Govan with 46 seconds left before halftime that opened the scoring.

Raiders offensive lineman Miles Sigal said they have adjusted well.

“We have new plays going in. It was a little confusing,” said Sigal, who recovered a fumble in the third quarter to set up a touchdown. “We know as a team we can adjust quickly. When one person makes a mistake, we rise together and we aren’t down for long.”

Riverview (2-0) made plenty of small mistakes. The Raiders finished with 150 penalty yards.

Riverview’s first two possessions ended with a turnover on downs after a penalty in the red zone backed them up. Raiders coach Trevor George was glad Riverview ran the ball better and eliminated its turnover problem.

The Raiders turned the ball over six times against Beth-Center in Week Zero. Riverview didn’t give the ball away against Valley.

“Every week you build on what you need to fix from the previous week,” George said. “We have to limit the penalties and that’s what hurt us today. We’re slowly getting there offensively.”

Valley’s strong effort in the first half came despite injury issues. The Vikings played without starting linebackers Josh Dunlap and Brendan Jackson.

Valley safety Josh Wilkerson went out with an injury during the game.

Vikings quarterback Brendon Knuckles couldn’t get the offense moving. He led the team with 53 rushing yards on 11 carries. The Vikings finished with 104 yards in total offense.

“We have a first-year quarterback,” Valley coach Mark Adams said. “It’s been tough the last couple weeks. He’s had to learn on the fly. That makes it tough. When (Wilkerson) went out of the game it’s tough.”

Valley (0-2) has yet to score this season. Riverview recorded its first shutout since it beat Springdale, 41-0, on Sept. 21, 2024. The Vikings’ best scoring opportunity came right before halftime when a 41-yard field-goal attempt by Jude Hicinbothem fell a yard short.

Sigal said they were eager to put pressure on Knuckles.

“We knew that this was his first year playing tackle football, and we wanted to get on that quick,” Sigal said. “We wanted to make sure he didn’t get comfortable back there. We wanted to get in their heads.”

Michael Woodrow added a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter. Levy said the Raiders were able to move the ball better once they got their emotions under control.

“They were always fouling us,” Levy said. “We wanted to do stuff back, but we had to realize it wasn’t getting us anywhere. We realized after halftime we had to let it go.”

Tags: Riverview, Valley