Turnovers cost the Valley Rams in their 17-13 loss to Elmore County at Ram Stadium on Friday night.
The loss now means the Rams are eliminated from playoff contention, however Elmore County remains in the hunt.
Valley struggled the entire night offensively, as the Rams just couldn’t seem to get in the end zone.
Several key turnovers cost Valley, and a botched snap in their own end zone gave the Panthers a free touchdown. Jackson Mann recovered the blocked punt for Elmore County, putting the Panthers up 10-7 in the third quarter.
The Rams were trying to establish an offense without their starting quarterback, Cam Dooley, who injured his shoulder last week.
Valley head coach Adam Hunter was disappointed with his team’s loss.
“Chase [Childs] did a good job,” Hunter said. “We threw him into the fire. He hasn’t played quarterback all year. He managed the game well. We just did not execute when we had to. We made too many mistakes and that hurt us.”
As for the Panthers’ quarterback, Payton Stephenson did what he had to do. Stephenson completed 9-11 passing for 98 yards and a touchdown that pushed Elmore County to its final scoring total of 17.
He also added 35 yards on his feet.
One of the issues plaguing the Valley quarterback was snap exchanges, and Hunter knows that having Childs under center, who is not as tall as Dooley, made Friday tough for his offense.
“We had some bad snaps,” Hunter said. “We have to clean that mess up, and we have to do better than that.”
Valley’s issues all season have been small errors, and those small errors paved the way for a Elmore County victory.
“You have to change the way you practice,” Hunter said. “When you don’t practice the right way, that happens.”
Next up for Elmore County (5-3, 2-3) is a home game against Holtville.
