Iyen Medlock’s three TDs help Valley down Boulder City, end losing skid

Valley senior Iyen Medlock may be the most underrated football player in Southern Nevada.

But after his three-touchdown performance Friday that lifted the host Vikings to a 34-21 win over Boulder City and snapped their 21-game losing streak, Medlock’s days of anonymity are coming to an end.

Medlock, who is considering a scholarship offer from Brigham Young, scored on two rushing touchdowns and a 74-yard punt return that iced the game early in the fourth quarter. That punt return guaranteed Medlock and the rest of Valley’s seniors their first varsity victory.

Valley’s last win was a 74-15 blowout of Rancho on Nov. 1, 2013.

“I’m so happy I can’t even explain how happy I am — it’s like beyond the word happy,” Medlock said. “Man, it was just like three or four years of not winning, and it is like a load is off my shoulders. I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t. I’m just blessed.”

With other kids transferring to different schools across the valley, the talented senior chose to stick around at Valley High because this was his home school. So, when the final buzzer sounded, he collapsed on the field as several teammates celebrated with him.

“We got our win, and we still got more coming,” Medlock said. “That’s my family and I just wanted to stick with them.”

Valley’s coaching staff is very happy Medlock stuck around.

“He chose not to leave Valley. He’s been here for four years throughout the losing streak, and it just shows the character he has,” Valley assistant coach Keyo Fox said. “He’s a great kid.”

The game was full of momentum changes that tested the resolve of the Vikings (1-3), but the team never quit.

“We are feeling really good,” Valley coach George Baker said. “The boys came out, gave a real good week’s practice this week, and they really executed well tonight. We had a few little mistakes here and there, but you know what, we really persevered and that’s one of those things we’ve been really waiting for with these boys.”

The Vikings fell behind late in the first quarter when Boulder City’s Dillon Viera scored on an 8-yard run.

Valley’s Preston Kelley, who was a disruptive force all night rushing from the outside linebacker position, snatched the momentum from the Eagles in the second quarter with a strip-sack of Boulder City quarterback Taylor Hatchel to set up the Vikings up at Boulder City’s 6-yard line.

Two plays later, David Smith barreled into the end zone to cut Valley’s deficit to 7-6.

“We had an excellent game from Preston Kelley on the defensive side of the ball,” Baker said. “We started sending him off the edge and pressuring the quarterback. He did an excellent job, and we’re really happy with what he did.”

Another turnover by Boulder City (1-3) led to Medlock’s first rushing touchdown, and Smith converted the 2-point play to give the Vikings a 14-7 halftime lead.

However, the Eagles grabbed momentum back when Zach Trone returned the second-half kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown.

After Valley went three-and-out on its first possession of the second half, Hatchel drove his team 52 yards on nine plays. He capped the drive when he crashed into the end zone from 3 yards out to put the Eagles up, 21-14. At that point, the Vikings could have hung their heads, accepted another loss and quit, but they kept fighting.

“We had really never been in that position before,” Baker said. “We had never come out with a lead at halftime, so it was kind of the boys weren’t really sure what to do. So, we were able to persevere from that. We kept our heads in it, and we really got after it. We knew (Boulder City) was scrappy and have always been fighters, and they’re going to come out here and play you all four quarters.”

The Vikings kept their composure and regained momentum when Trayvion Mack-Burton ran 52 yards to the Boulder City 8. On the next play, Medlock sliced through the Eagles defense for an 8-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 21-20.

On Valley’s next possession, quarterback Sonny Gibson hit Mack-Burton on 66-yard scoring strike to give the Vikings a 26-21 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

“That was a big play. It really changed the momentum,” Baker said.

After Valley’s defense forced a three-and-out, Medlock iced the game with his punt-return touchdown.

“We’ve got mistakes we’ve got to fix, but we’re going to do the same things we’ve done for the last year and a half,” Baker said. “We’ve always come back and got back to work right off the bat and that’s what we’re going to do (Saturday). We are not going to do anything different than we did before we’re just going to keep fighting.

“These kids haven’t won in so long, so we’re really going to celebrate, and we’re really going to enjoy it. But at the same time, we’re going to ground them back down and say, ‘Hey, you know now it’s back to work. You saw what the formula is to win, now you gotta take it forward.’ ”