Valley of the 4-1 teams. Sandy, Tusky, Malvern have chance at special football seasons
As the cardinal flies, it is five miles from the TV Tavern in Mineral City to Cibo's in Waynesburg.
It is another five miles, as the bee buzzes, from Cibo's to the Firehouse Grille in Malvern.
Patrons of these establishments are connected by geography, culture and the 2023 high school football season.
The Tuscarawas Valley Trojans, Sandy Valley Cardinals and Malvern Hornets - lumped where Stark, Tuscarawas and Carroll counties converge - all have 2023 teams folks are talking about.
All three came through the first half of the season with 4-1 records.
They arrived at the crossroads by facing each other.
On Sept. 8, Malvern handed Tuscarawas Valley its only loss, 27-20.
On Friday, Sandy Valley stuck Malvern with its first defeat - a real stinger - 40-7.
All four are headed to the playoffs, which begin a week after Sandy Valley plays at Tusky Valley on Oct. 20.
Despite Friday's clunker, Malvern is in a bright stretch of football years. After a lull of six straight losing seasons, the community has seen a 28-8 run that began in 2020.
Sandy Valley isn't far removed from nearly beating little-school giant Kirtland in the postseason, and the Cardinals looked like a million Friday at Malvern.
Tusky Valley, on the other hand, has emerged from the pits. The Trojans' record across the previous four seasons was 6-34.
Head coach Greg Dickerhoof, a former Massillon lineman, hung in there. A year after his Trojans fell 40-7 to Fairless, they celebrated the 2023 home opener by routing Fairless 45-14.
A week later, they beat Martins Ferry 39-24. Martins Ferry is 3-1 in its other 2023 games.
"Martins Ferry was a tough environment," Dickerhoof said. "You can look across the Ohio River and see West Virginia. Martins Ferry scored twice on us, real quick, and we missed an early extra point.
"Winning that game answered a question. Can we handle adversity?
"For a program and a team that hasn't had a lot of success, every hurdle overcome proves a little bit of success. It helps you believe.
"We harp on it. Don't wait for the play. Make the play. All over the field we can point to guys who have taken the bull by the horns and made plays.
"Everybody who looks at us will say, OK, Tusky Valley. Show us that you're really able to play.
"It leads to having to answer that next question. We're hopefully turning a corner."
Malvern head coach Matt Chiurco said Tusky Valley is "vastly improved."
Facing Sandy Valley a week after beating Tusky Valley gave Chiurco mixed signals on where his team stands.
Despite the Sandy Valley game, Malvern looms as the favorite to win the Inter-Valley Conference North Division (smaller schools). Sandy Valley and Tusky Valley now head into their schedules against the IVC South (larger schools).
Malvern got to 4-0 by beating teams that, when not playing the Hornets, were a combined 11-1. Malvern earned the No. 3 spot in the initial Associated Press statewide ranking of Division VII teams, trailing only defending state champion Maria Stein Marion Local and Hamler Patrick Henry.
Losing big to Sandy Valley stung the Hornets big time, but as Chiurco sat in his office, slightly shellshocked as the stadium emptied out, someone in the locker room said, "Keep it together. All of our goals are still in front of us."
"That's how we have to look at it," Chiurco said.
Things are looking up for Sandy Valley after a striking performance behind senior quarterback Nick Petro.
Head coach Brian Gamble approached the 2021 season convinced Petro was ready to win as a sophomore. However …
"Nick was out four games after he hurt his left shoulder," Gamble said. "And then last year, when he was a junior, he hurt his right shoulder and was out three games.
"Coming into his senior season, he basically had 10 games under his belt.
"He's been outstanding this year. He's a true dual-threat quarterback. No. 1, he's been healthy. As far as leadership, he's second to none."
Petro's impact against Malvern went beyond his passing stats, 10-of-18 for 227 yards and four touchdowns. Almost every time Malvern's defense came close to making a stop, Petro made a big play.
"He can take over a game very easily," Chiurco said. "They have a lot of skill and a good team around him but I think he's capable of taking Sandy to a whole other level. Everybody's starting to see how good he actually is."
Sandy Valley is a senior-laden team this year after playing only one senior in 2022.
Halfway home in the regular season, the Cardinals have matched last year's win total.
In Game 5 in 2022, Sandy Valley fell 34-28 at home to East Canton. Game 5 this year was the 40-7 romp at Malvern.Malvern and Sandy Valley go their separate ways now.
The Hornets head into their IVC North schedule, with games against Strasburg, Buckeye Trail, Newcomerstown, Tuscarawas Central Catholic and East Canton. Sandy Valley launches into the IVC South grind, with games against Indian Valley, Ridgewood, Claymont, Garaway and Tusky Valley.
Against the IVC South's big three last year, Sandy Valley fell 61-21 at Indian Valley, 47-30 to Ridgewood and 33-7 to Garaway.
This year's Cardinals began to prove things are different now when they went toe to toe with Canton South before falling 35-27. Petro threw for 264 yards and a touchdown and ran for 237 yards and two TDs.
Division IV state-ranked South is 5-0 after beating CVCA 56-28 Friday.
"We knew Canton South would be an important test," said Petro, whose team is in Division V. "That game showed we can compete with anybody.
"We want to win an IVC championship. We want to make a deep run in the playoffs."
Gamble likes what he sees.
"Every step of the way so far, our guys are checking the boxes," he said.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: High school football rivals Sandy Valley, Tusky off to fast starts
