Enjoy more of the exciting action from the Italy Gladiator varsity and JV football scrimmages against Valley Mills on their home field with Italy taking the wins in both contests! Italy’s JV team defeated the Eagles 1-0 while Italy’s varsity Gladiators won their head-on collision with the Eagles 6 touchdowns to none.

The Gladiators forced three turnovers defensively and fumbled once on offense. Trevon Robertson and Levi McBride each had interceptions while Zain Byers recovered a fumble thanks to a John Byers strip.

In fact, Italy’s defensive front seven was extremely active with John Byers and Kevin Roldan defending the middle and Bailey Walton and Zain Byers at the ends. Linebackers Shadrach Newman, TaMarcus Sheppard, Coby Bland, Hunter Merimon and Kyle Fortenberry did a solid job backing them up. Mayberry also made plays from the defensive tackle position with 1 1/2 sacks to his credit and senior Ray Salas pitched in at end with a strong tackle early.

Offensively, Sheppard, at quarterback, rushed for 4 touchdowns and passed for 2 more with both scoring completions caught by Robertson. Newman was flawless in his execution as a ground gainer for the offense and was equally effective in the passing game. Along with Newman, Bland and Merimon proved to be punishing runners as well. And if that wasn’t good enough, Valley Mills struggled to control Italy’s passing game with a total of 5 different receivers making catches for Italy including Cody Boyd, Ryan Connor and McBride along with Robertson and Newman.

Italy’s offensive line with Cody Medrano, Mayberry, Fortenberry, Roldan and Zain Byers won the battle up front against an equally sturdy defensive front for the Eagles. Overall, not a bad start for first-year head coach Charles Tindol and his staff.

Go Italy!