Antelope Valley Wins by Shutout

LANCASTER — Gee, thanks.

So West Bakersfield High marched up and down the field as often as not. So the Vikings rolled up a respectable dose of yardage. So they pushed the Antelope Valley defense around several times.

So . . . what?

West couldn’t protect the football, and basically handed Antelope Valley a 14-0 victory in an intersectional game Friday night at Antelope Valley.

West (1-1) didn’t have any trouble cranking up its offense, especially in the first half, but forked the ball over four times, including a game-deciding fumble at the Antelope Valley two-yard line with 2 minutes 41 seconds remaining.

“They just didn’t hold onto the ball,” said Antelope Valley quarterback Trymon Redick, who also plays in the secondary. “ Toooooo many turnovers.”

With less than three minutes left, West drove to the Antelope Valley eight, but two running plays only moved the ball to the two. On third down, reserve running back Cory Oggs fumbled at the two and Redick recovered.

It marked the second consecutive shutout for Antelope Valley (2-0), which defeated Hesperia last week, 8-0. West outgained Antelope Valley, 225-201, but without the ball, it doesn’t mean much.

“It might have been closer without the turnovers,” said Antelope Valley running back Jermaine Lewis, who was held to 58 yards in 18 carries, but scored on a seven-yard run with 4:05 left in the first quarter.

With Antelope Valley holding a two-touchdown lead in the final quarter, West mounted another scoring threat, but it ended when quarterback Kyle Ursery was sacked by a trio of players on fourth and 17 at the Antelopes’ 32 with 10:09 remaining.

With the defense making the fortuitous play, it didn’t matter that Antelope Valley also was blanked in the second half.

Antelope Valley took a 14-0 lead with six seconds remaining in the first half when Ken Nelson scored on a one-yard run, and Redick ran a bootleg for the two-point conversion.

Antelope Valley sophomore Tony Walker had recovered a fumble at the West 41 with 2:05 left. On the ensuing series, he turned a screen pass in a long gain gain that ended inside the one.