West Valley defeats East Valley in game that started at one school and finished at the other

In a game that was played on both schools’ fields, West Valley defeated East Valley 30-13 in Great Northern League action Friday night.

West Valley improved to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in the GNL, while the Knights fell to 2-4 and 0-2.

The game began at East Valley, but was moved because of safety concerns over an overheating transformer that powers the stadium.

East Valley took an early 7-0 lead on an 87-yard touchdown catch by Rodrick Johnson, but the Eagles pulled ahead on a fourth-down, 23-yard pass from Hunter Wright to Tevin Duke.

After an exchange of punts, West Valley took the lead for good on a 6-yard TD run by Johnny Sage.

Off the field, the trouble began 90 minutes before kickoff, when the stadium briefly lost power. “We didn’t know what was going on,” said East Valley principal Jim McAdam, who walked around the field early in the game.

Standing near the transformer, McAdam said he heard a sound “like an airplane had landed – just humming real loud.” McAdam said he contacted the school’s lead custodian, who said that the transformer had been “running hot.”

Fearing a power surge that could potentially blow the stadium lights and send hot glass onto the spectators, McAdam said “that was enough for me to make the call.”

At that point, with 9 minutes, 27 seconds left in the second quarter and West Valley leading 14-7, McAdam halted the game.

About 10 minutes later, it was announced that the game would be played Saturday at noon at East Valley, but some players said they had other commitments and might not be able to play. At that point, it was decided to resume the game at West Valley and the players and fans made for the exits.