Five first half turnovers, all inside their own 35, put Central Valley in a hole but the Bears only trailed Kamiakin 14-0 at the half.

The Bears took the second half kickoff and on their second play fumbled the ball away again inside the 35.

It could have been worse than the 21-0 finale if the CV defense didn't come up big. Read the unedited game story below.

Central Valley’s defense was late to the State 4A football play-in game.

The offense never made it.

The end result was a 21-0 win for Kamiakin before a sparse crowd of 1,005 at Albi Stadium late Saturday afternoon, earning the Braves a return trip on Friday to face Ferris in the first round of the playoffs.

“We just had too many major mistakes early that took us out of it,” CV coach Rick Giamipetri understated.

If the game had been on an indoor field, maybe Central Valley would have had a chance.

The Bears had five first-half turnovers – and one to start the second half – all within 32 yards of their own end zone. On the flip side, the Bears snared four interceptions in the first half but all deep in their own territory.

“When you play against a team like CV and give them four picks, you’re in trouble,” first-year Kamiakin coach Scott Biglin said. “But our defense came to play.”

Central Valley had just three first downs and 36 yards of offense in the first half. The Bears never took an offensive snap in Kamiakin territory until the Braves shanked a punt into the wind with 1:28 left in the third period but that threat ended with they couldn’t convert a fourth-and-one at the 10.

“Our plan was to just bring pressure off the edge, take away the rollout,” Kamiakin defensive coordinator Tim Maher said. “We tried to do it two ways, either widen our lanes or bring a linebacker or DB. When we were rotating in the secondary things went real well.”

The start did not give an indication of what was to come with the Braves going 73 yards lickity-split after the opening kickoff. Corey Hutchinson hit three of four passes, the first two covering 31 and 35 yards before his swing pass to fullback Matt Minnich covered the final four yards.

The CV defense settled down after that but the offense wasn’t up to the challenge.

The Bears had six first half possessions. The first ended with a fumble on their 26, the second with an interception at the 30. Then in the opening minutes off the second quarter a Kamiakin punt was touched and lost at the 28.

In the last minute of the half Shad Fletcher returned an overthrown pass by CV sophomore quarterback Gaven Deyarmin 40 yards for a touchdown for a 14-0 lead.

CV’s next snap was a fumble on the 31 but fortunately Deyarmin intercepted Hutchinson back.

“We couldn’t have given them any more chances,” Giampietri said. “Our defense played really solid to have it be 14, and it was actually a pick that got it to 14, too. Our guys just battled, I thought they battled very well. We got some turnovers back, we just couldn’t get going on offense, obviously.

“They’re a pressure defense. You just have to block solid against a pressure defense. We had a couple of situations where we could have broke out the back door and one guy gets us. But we gave them too many chances, waaaay too many opportunities.”

Cameron Allen intercepted Hutchison in the end zone after the first turnover. Mark Heintz got one at the 15 on the play after the muffed punt and Ryan Nungester had another in the end zone to snuff a long second quarter drive.

“They started bringing guys and when you bring guys as fast as they were it’s hard for Cory to step back. He was a little flatfooted,” Biglin said. “Cory didn’t have the best game but his picks were in their side of the zone. So in one respect that was like pinning them back with a punt and letting your defense play. But those are things we’ve got to eliminate or we’re not going to go too much further in the playoffs.”

The Braves missed a short field goal after the Bears opened the second half by fumbling on 34 but on their next possession when 64 yards in five plays, the last 28 on a pass to Tim White, for the final score.

Hutchison finished with 12 completions in 28 attempts for 189 yards with White catching seven passes for 116 yards. The Braves had 104 yards rushing, a testament to the CV defense because Dom Davis had 123 yards on 30 carries.

“We knew if we were going to win this game it was going to be with quick passes or screens,” Biglin said. “Ultimately we got our running game going.”

CV only had 90 yards on the ground and 45 on 8 of 22 passing with another late turnover on an interception by junior quarterback Brayden Crump.

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