Determination and the opponent in any given week can do wonders for the psyche of a football team. A case in point is Williams Valley.

Friday the Vikings made the long trip to Panther Valley Stadium still smarting from what is in their minds was letting one get away in a first-place Schuylkill/Colonial Blue Division game with archrival Schuylkill Haven. They were determined, however, to put their first loss of the season behind them and assert how they are among the elite teams in the District 11 Class AA field.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, they lack the personnel even when at full strength to be a bump in the road for the Vikings on their march to the playoffs.

Meanwhile, junior quarterback Brady Shomper had one of those games in leading the Vikes to a 47-0 victory.

Shomper completed 9-of-10 passes for 227 yards and four touchdowns and rushed eight times for 71 yards, including a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. Evan Achenbach led the Vikes (6-1, 5-1 Blue) with three receptions for 80 yards, including touchdown receptions of 45 and 27 yards.

“We all know how close we came to winning that game, but now all we can do is keep working to get better and hopefully meet Haven again in the playoffs,” Shomper said. “When we came in Monday we got to work and want to show what a good football team we are.

“Tonight we made a statement, but there are some tough games ahead. That starts this week with Marian.”

With wide receivers Brennan Kunkel and Ben Baneravage sharing time at quarterback in place of the injured Brody Breiner, the Panthers (1-6, 1-5 Blue) were limited offensively. They opened the game with an 11-play drive, however, before giving the ball up on downs at the 27.

It took the Vikes just four plays to 73 yards, scoring on a 41-yard pass from Shomper to Blazer Lords. On the third play of the second quarter Fletcher Thompson scored on a 74-yard run to highlight his 170-yard rushing performance on 11 carries.

After Shomper scored on a 6-yard run to make the score 40-0 the Panthers went on a 12-play drive, getting a first-and-goal at the 6 before giving up the ball on downs at the 2. Shomper then directed a nine-play, 98-yard drive, scoring from the 2.

Although for the most part the Vikes weren’t tested, they never lacked determination.

Williams Valley 47,

Panther Valley 0

Williams Valley 7 26 7 7 — 47

Panther Valley 0 0 0 0 — 0

WV — Lords 41 pass from Shomper (Smeltz kick)

WV — Thompson 74 run (kick failed)

WV — Krzyzanowski 54 pass from Shomper (Smeltz kick)

WV — Achenbach 45 pass from Shomper (kick failed)

WV — Achenbach 27 pass from Shomper (Smeltz kick)

WV — Shomper 6 run (Smeltz kick)

WV — Shomper 2 run (Smeltz kick)