Brandon Webster looks for room for Valley versus Jimtown Friday night.

ELKHART – The players on the Tippecanoe Valley football team gave coach Darin Holsopple all they had Friday night.

Unfortunately, in the end, the scoreboard did not reflect their effort.

Perennial power Jimtown rolled past the Vikings 53-0 Friday night in a Class 2-A Sectional 26 opener at Knepp Field.

Kenny Kerrn rushed for 98 yards and three touchdowns as the Jimmies simply overwhelmed the Vikings.

Jimtown rushed for 455 yards in the dominating win.

Jimtown, now 7-3, advances to play at Garrett next Friday night. Garrett topped West Noble 43-14 Friday night.

Valley, which lost its final four games, concludes its first season under Holsopple at 3-7.

The lopsided loss ended a roller coaster ride of emotions the last three weeks for Holsopple, who was hired in June, and his team. The Vikings lost former coach, mentor and friend Scott Bibler, along with three other outstanding members of the Warsaw community, in a tragic plane crash on Oct. 2.

“The drain on all of us the last few weeks has been incredible,” said Holsopple. “Coach Bibler meant so much to these guys, to these assistant coaches who worked with him and everyone in the Valley community.  It’s been hard.

“I’m extremely proud of our guys. All I asked was that they come out tonight and fight and they did that. The scoreboard may not show it, but we competed. Tonight was hard. Jimtown is a very good football team. But our guys gave me effort and laid it all on the line tonight.

“I’m so proud of this senior class. They have been through so much. I’m the third coach that they have had. I’m so grateful to them. The seniors chose to buy in, they chose to work hard and they chose to fight. I will always remember them.”

The Jimmies, who were coming off a 43-14 loss to New Prairie last week, were simply too physical for Valley to handle on this night. Jimtown improved to 5-0 all-time versus the Vikings, including a 53-18 sectional win in 2013.

A pair of Valley defenders stop a Jimtown tailback Friday night.

The Vikings recovered an onside kick to open the game, but then misfired on a 50-yard field goal try.

Jimtown wasted no time in taking control as the hosts went 80 yards in just 1:54 to go up 7-0 on an 11-yard touchdown run by junior tailback Kerrn. The Jimmies made it 14-0 after the opening period on an 11-yard scoring run by Mx Magyar.

Valley had a pair of turnovers in the second period as Jimtown stretched its lead to 28-0 at halftime. Kerrn scored on a 35-yard run  and then added an eight-yard scoring jaunt in the second stanza. The Vikings were inside the Jimmie 10 when time ran out at halftime.

The Jimmies added two more tallies in the third period and a pair in the final frame for the 53-0 final. Valley had two more turnovers in the second half. Dakota Pratt scored on a 67-yard run and CJ Jones on a 56-yard scamper to highlight the final half for Jimtown.

The Vikings had to scramble to adjust as Alec Craig could not play quarterback. The junior, who did play receiver Friday night, injured his ankle last week. Rigo Butler played quarterback and the Vikings also lined up Garrett Bell to take snaps in shotgun formation throughout the game.

“We tried to do some different things offensively with the injuries we had,” said Holsopple. “We had some nice sparks, we just couldn’t punch it in when we had a couple of opportunities.

“In the end, we made mistakes and just had trouble matching the physicality of Jimtown.”

The Jimmies had five players rushed for 60 or more yards in the win. Quarterback Sam Pawlak was also 6-6 passing for 74 yards and had five rushes for 60 yards.

Wes Melanson picks up yards for Valley.

Garrett Bell was 3-6 passing for 34 yards and had 14 carries for 57 yards to lead Valley. Brandon Webster had eight rushes for 26 yards and three receptions for 21 yards.

Holsopple, who was hired in the summer when Bibler resigned to take a job outside the school corporation, plans to get the program turned around.

“I’m so excited to train with these guys,” said Holsopple. “They have made great gains already in the last 3-4 months. The thing that we have to do is get in the weight room and get stronger. But I can’t wait to see what we have next year.”