ALBANY, Ohio — Alexander reeled off 34 unanswered points over the final 27 minutes of play, allowing the hosts to turn a 7-6 second quarter lead over River Valley into a comfortable 41-6 Homecoming victory during a Week 5 non-conference matchup in Athens County.

The visiting Raiders (1-4) trailed 7-0 after one period of play, but Kyle Brown’s two-yard scoring run with five minutes left in the first half allowed RVHS to pull within a single point. The Silver and Black, however, never came closer the rest of the way.

Tyler Smith scored on a 10-yard run with 2:20 remaining until halftime to give the Spartans (2-3) a 14-6 cushion headed into the break. AHS followed by scoring another touchdown in the third canto for a 21-6 edge, then tacked on 20 more points in the finale to wrap up the 35-point decision.

Alexander outgained the Raiders in total yardage by a 476-111 clip, which included a hefty 350 rushing yards on 39 attempts. RVHS managed just 37 rushing yards on 22 carries and also finished the night minus-1 in turnover differential.

Gage Miller started the scoring with 7:15 left in the opening stanza, as Miller scampered 67 yards to paydirt to give Alexander a lead it would never relinquish. After Brown’s score cut the River Valley deficit to 7-6, Smith added his first rushing score of the night to give the hosts a slim a 14-6 lead at the intermission.

Miller added his second TD run of the night late in the third period, scoring on a 51-yard jaunt with 4:13 remaining to give AHS some breathing room at 21-6.

Smith added his second and final TD run of the night with 7:16 left in regulation, rumbling 56 yards to paydirt for a 28-6 cushion. Miller tacked on his third and final TD run of the night with 5:50 left in the game after a 64-yard scoring run gave the hosts 35-6 advantage.

Brody McGrath capped the scoring with 1:42 left in the contest after his four-yard run made it a 41-6 Alexander lead. Chase Meeks was also 5-of-6 on PAT kicks, with the last one being blocked.

Alexander claimed a 17-7 edge in first downs and also had 126 passing yards to go along with their 350 rushing yards. River Valley mustered only 74 passing yards in the setback. Both teams were flagged eight times in the contest, with RVHS getting penalized for 80 yards and Alexander being moved back 70 yards.

Brown led the Raiders rushing attack with 36 yards on 15 carries, while Justin Arrowood had one tote for one yard. Austin Whobrey had six attempts for zero yards and also went 6-of-11 passing for 61 yards. Dayton Hardway was also 2-of-12 passing for 13 yards and also threw an interception.

Chris Clemente led the RVHS wideouts with three catches for 40 yards, while Ethan Dovenbarger had two grabs for 20 yards. Austin Davies had one catch for nine yards, Whobrey hauled in one pass for eight yards and Brown had one catch for minus-3 yards.

Miller paced the Spartans ground game with 182 yards on 14 carries, while Smith added 96 rushing yards on eight tries. Braden Jones went 4-of-5 passing for 59 yards and Miller was 5-of-7 passing for 67 yards. Josh Barnes led the AHS wideouts with three receptions for 56 yards.

River Valley — which has now dropped four straight — opens Ohio Valley Conference play next Friday when it travels to Chesapeake for a Week 6 contest at 7:30 p.m.