The Valley Central football team hadn’t played since its Week 0 loss to the Warwick Wildcats.

The Vikings’ second game was canceled when the Pine Bush Bushmen were quarantined due to COVID-19 and then the Vikings were quarantined, costing them the opportunity to plan a non-league game against the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders.

After missing two games and 10 days of practice, the Vikings came into Franklin D. Roosevelt High School on the President’s Homecoming day and manhandled the home team in a 38-0 win on Saturday afternoon.

“This whole week of practice we were just focused, and it was phenomenal,” quarterback Bryce DeRonda said.

“We just came out with a different type of tenacity today and we were just hitting people.”

Elijah Bellinger carried most of the load on the offense, especially early, as he carried the ball seven times on the Vikings’ first drive, two of which went for 25 yards. One of them didn’t go for a first down as the Vikings were penalized into a first and 29.

He finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Vikings a 6-0 lead.

Bellinger also scored on the first play of the second quarter a 9-yard run and with 1:08 to go in the quarter on a 25-yard run. Quarterback Bryce DeRonda connected with Tyler Pucci to give the Vikings a 20-0 lead.

“The line was super physical,” Bellinger said. “I love those guys. Those boys work hard with Coach (Don) Clark, and they are very disciplined.”

The defense was just as disciplined as the they shut down the President’s offense, which was without its tight end Anthony Veach.

The Vikings then pivoted to shutting down running back Presley Kafeero and quarterback Owen Brink.

The Presidents only reached Vikings’ territory twice, and the defense forced a fourth-down incompletion to turn the ball over and recovered a fumble.

“Defensively, we knew we wanted to stop the run and they would be forced to pass,” Valley Central coach Andrew LaVallie said. “Once we stopped the run, we were able to start keying on their pass.”

Two plays after Bellinger’s third touchdown, Jabari Jones keyed on a screen pass from FDR quarterback Owen Brink and before most of the stadium knew what was happening, Jones was halfway to the end zone with a pick-six.

“I heard my coach say something about a screen,” Jones said. “I saw my guy coming out to try to push my inside, so I did a pass-rush move and I saw the ball coming. My first reaction was to put my hands up and start running.”

He ran all the way to the end zone, giving the Vikings’ a 28-0 halftime lead and all the momentum.
“That raised us,” Jones said. “We decided we weren’t going to stop there. In our minds the scoreboard was 0-0 and we were going to keep that intensity coming back out.”

DeRonda gave the Vikings a 36-0 lead with 5:23 to go in the third quarter when he scored on a 13-yard run and then handed off to Bellinger for a two-point conversion.

The defense finished the scoring with a safety.

“Not only is it a league game, but winning is a confidence booster,” DeRonda said. “It was something our team needed from those 10 days off.”