LAKEVILLE - After a good week of practice in preparation for Tippecanoe Valley, LaVille football coach Matt Thacker was encouraged. After battling the Vikings in this Indiana Northern State Conference contest, LaVille fell 40-3 at Lancer Field. "To be honest, practice was good," Thacker said when asked about how he felt preparations went for his team. "We film practice and send out the film with notes on almost every play, but there were times we didn't need to say much, because things looked pretty good and I had a good feeling going into the game, but that did not transpire. Mistakes will happen, but we have to move past them and not dwell on them. However, there were several times where we were in 2nd or 3rd and short and there was a penalty or missed assignment and made it 3rd or 4th and long. It's frustrating, but we have to continue to learn and get better." While it takes time to learn the flexbone, the LaVille offense has moved the ball only to turn the ball over. "Running the flexbone is a process and at times, especially early on, not a fun process," said the Lancer boss. "There are times where you can see the potential coming together and then there is a missed assignment or a bad mesh or lack of patience. All you can do is learn from it and yes that is not fun to see your mistakes on the field, but it is the only way to get better." Tippecanoe Valley scored on two rushing plays before an interception near midfield pushed TV ahead 18-0 at halftime. The Vikings scored 22 second-half points, including tackling LaVille in the end zone for a safety. Caleb Skiles was a bright spot for LHS, booting a 36-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. Another bright spot was that the Lancer Blue Crew defense forced three punts, held the Vikings on downs and Dylan Miller hauled down an interception. "Defense played really well and that is a big bright spot," explained Thacker. "People have had a difficult time slowing Valley down and we were able to get stops in order to hopefully put points on the board. They fought to keep us in the game and that is all you can ask for." We checked in with Coach Thacker on the Skiles field goal and special teams contributions. "Yes, that was another bright spot and there were several young guys up front that helped make that happen," said Thacker. "I believe it would have been good from 45-48 yards away as well. He definitely proved that we can utilize him to get us on the board." The LHS football schedule has been challenging with state-ranked North Judson, state-ranked Evansville Mater Dei, along with state-ranked Bremen in consecutive weeks. Tippecanoe Valley is a tough club, and this is Knox week. The Redskins have changed some things up offensively and seem to have things moving in a different direction. "Patience in everything we do, but patience is the last thing any of us want," closed Thacker. "We have to stay the course and have the big picture in mind." LHS hits the road for a September 25 INSC battle against rival Knox. The game is scheduled to kick at 7:30 PM from Community Field. Tippecanoe Valley 40 LaVille 3 At Lancer Field | Lakeville, IN. Score By Quarters TV 6 12 8 12 - 40 LV 0 0 0 3 - 3 Scoring Summary T - Omondi 35 run (run failed) T - Paxton 1 run (run failed) T - Miller 46 INT return (kick failed) T - Safety; LaVille tackled in end zone L - Skiles 36 FG T - Miller 52 run (run) T - Randall 11 run (kick failed)