​Eagles defense continues to thrive in 52-13 win over Ruskin

by Michael Smith, Grain Valley News
 
Kansas City Northeast transfer Maui Sua is in his first season playing for the Grain Valley football team.
 
And even though he just joined the Eagles, it seems like the senior has been a part of the program for all four years of his high school career.
 
He is a vocal leader on the sidelines, he leads a lot of the celebrations on the field and he’s always one of the first people cheering for his teammates. He’s made a big impact for Grain Valley.
 
In Friday’s game against Ruskin, he showed that he’s not only a vocal leader, he’s a pretty talented player, too. At defensive tackle, he had a sack of Ruskin quarterback Adarius Brown, had two tackles for loss and two fumble recoveries, one of which went for a touchdown as the Eagles’ defense dominated once again in a 52-12 victory on the road.
 
“He’s such an energetic and happy kid,” Grain Valley head coach David Allie said of Sua. “He enjoys life and he enjoys the game. You need that kind of guy. That energy is hard to replace.”
 
After his sack of Brown, he let out a shout and flexed his muscles. Following his fumble recovery on a Brown fumble and a scoop and score from six yards out at the 7:28 mark in the second period, his teammates on and off the field were noticeably fired up.
 
“Yes sir!” Maui shouted. “I just feel happy. My teammates tell me I need to let out that Samoan shout sometimes.”
 
His touchdown came from one of one of five turnovers forced by the Eagles defense. Junior Owen Hames also recovered a fumble on a run from Ruskin senior Logan Taylor and he returned it 26 yards for a score at the 7:44 mark in the first period.
 
“I went up there and tried to make a tackle and noticed the ball was loose,” Hames said. “I ripped it and it was gone from there. I am blessed that I had an opportunity to make the play.”
 
“Coach (Erik) Stone joked about how his pad level was sometimes too high,” Allie said. “So sometimes when he does that, we joke that it’s bad Maui. But when he gets his pad level down, that’s good Maui. And that’s what he did tonight.”
 
So far through four games, Grain Valley (3-1) has held teams to 15.25 points per game. The majority of which were scored against the defending Class 5 state champion Platte County team, which scored 47 points on offense.
 
Against Ruskin, Grain Valley limited its opponent to 129 yards of total offense, most of which came against the junior varsity defense.
 
Ruskin scored its two touchdowns when the road team already had the game well under control. Brown scored on a 39-yard run and Ruskin’s Keiland Boyd scored on a 30-yard fumble return against the backups.
 
Grain Valley’s special teams has also been a big reason for its success so far. Senior tight end Landon Marriott returned the opening kickoff 68 yards for a touchdown and Terrell King scored on a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown. King now has three touchdowns on special teams, with two coming on kickoffs.
 
“We were talking about how well the special teams played on the sideline,” Allie said. “We said that (special team coach Kevin Page) should be coach of the year. That unit is playing lights out.”
 
The varsity offense was able to get whatever it wanted against the home team. Senior quarterback Chase Neer had two touchdowns, one on a 13-yard pass to sophomore running back Dawson Head and a 43-yard run in which he reached the end zone.
 
Junior Sjoeren Aumua scored on an 8-yard run and junior Colton Clyman made a 35-yard field goal.