WEST DES MOINES — The Marshalltown football team made three empty trips into the red zone in the first half and was unable to make up the difference, falling 35-14 to West Des Moines Valley in Friday’s Class 5A game at Valley Stadium.

The Bobcats (1-4) eliminated the ill-timed penalties that plagued them in their first three losses this season, but Valley’s sturdy defense did its best to prevent MHS from getting loose in the first place and another slow start for Marshalltown led to defeat.

The Tigers (3-2) churned out 336 yards of total offense on just 39 plays, an average clip of 8.6 yards per attempt, on their way to extending their win streak in the series to six. Sophomore tailback Darius Mason toted the pigskin 11 times for 108 yards and two touchdowns, delivering a pair of third-quarter touchdowns to help Valley open up a 28-7 advantage.

The Tigers pushed it to 35-7 when quarterback Michael Provenza slipped into the end zone from 18 yards out early in the fourth quarter.

The Bobcats, who were 0-for-3 in the red zone in the first half, went 2-for-2 in the second half thanks to a pair of lengthy, time-consuming touchdown drives. Tate Riang took a direct snap in from 16 yards out to cap an 11-play, 66-yard drive that spanned 5 minutes, 32 seconds, to cut Valley’s lead to 21-7 late in the third quarter.

Quarterback Dalen Huston finished off Marshalltown’s only other scoring drive, finding the end zone on a 9-yard run up the middle with 3:32 left in the game.

MHS finished with 290 yards of total offense, but it took 20 more plays to pile up 46 fewer yards than Valley.

“I think we’ve got some very tough kids and offensively we did some very solid things,” said MHS head coach Adam Goodvin. “We were moving the ball well and we liked how the kids were executing, but at the same time we felt like we left three scores out there. We had three very solid drives and came away with zero points, and we just can’t have that against a very quality team like Valley.

“When we get down there in the red zone, they’re going to bring a lot more pressure, they’re going to walk a lot more guys up on the line of scrimmage, and I think it just comes down to guys making plays. We’ve gotta really dig deep and find something within ourselves to step up our game and really lock in on our scheme and what we’re trying to do and execute.”

MHS senior running back Ace Holmes carried 19 times for 97 yards in the first half, but he was relegated to strictly defense in the second half as Valley’s offense started rolling. The Tigers ran for 154 of their 217 rushing yards in the second half, taking big chunks at a time on their way to triumph.

Provenza was 5-for-7 passing for 93 yards, hitting 6-foot-6, 240-pound tight end Bryce Anderson three times for 65 yards and the game’s opening touchdown. Marshalltown punted away the opening possession after just five plays, and Valley covered 63 yards on five plays to put it in the end zone immediately.

Marshalltown’s first sustained drive reached the Tigers’ 15-yard-line, but that’s where Holmes fumbled after dragging a cast of Valley defenders with him for the last five yards of a 16-yard run. The Tigers gave the ball back when Nick Rebik pounced on Mason’s fumble, but the Bobcats’ ensuing drive ended in disaster.

Huston connected with Riang for a 6-yard pass on third-and-five for a first down, and a roughing the passer penalty put the Bobcats at Valley’s 20-yard line. Holmes handled the next play for four yards before back-to-back quarterback sacks set Marshalltown back to the 28.

Attempting a 44-yard field goal, Johan Gomez’s kick was blocked and the loose ball was scooped up by Valley’s Isaiah Pinks and returned 59 yards for the score.

Instead of being down 7-3, the Bobcats trailed 14-0, and another promising drive ended at Valley’s 14 on downs.

The Tigers went 50 yards in two plays and were within striking distance, but Rogelio Ceren pulled down an interception in the end zone to keep the Bobcats within 14-0 going into halftime.

Four hard-nosed Mason carries into the second half and Valley had tacked on, 21-0.

“They’re fast, they’re big, and I think it just shows along with the toughness the mental state that our kid were in tonight,” Goodvin said. “They were ready to get in there, we had a solid week of practice, they knew it was going to be a big challenge, and again I’m just proud of their effort all night.”

Caleb Kusserow added an interception on Valley’s final pass attempt of the night, picking off backup quarterback Quintin Loeb at the Bobcats’ 10-yard-line.

“We are 1-4 but there is optimism,” Goodvin said. “There are good things out there, but we can’t look back and change anything. All we can do is build off what we’ve been working towards and whave we’ve done and hopefully we can keep some momentum and really build off it and take that next step forward and have a lot of success these last four games.”

Marshalltown’s Homecoming game is on deck as the Bobcats host Des Moines Lincoln at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 30.

Valley 35, Marshalltown 14

At West Des Moines

Score by Quarters

MHS 0 0 7 7 — 14

VAL 7 7 14 7 — 35

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

VAL — Bryce Anderson 25 pass from Michael Provenza (Rico Alvarenga-Servellon kick), 7:22.

Second Quarter

VAL — Isaiah Pinks 59 fumble return (Alvarenga-Servellon kick), 7:14.

Third Quarter

VAL — Darius Mason 5 run (Alvarenga-Servellon kick), 9:55.

MHS — Tate Riang 16 run (Johan Gomez kick), 4:16.

VAL — Mason 2 run (Alvarenga-Servellon kick), :27.

Fourth Quarter

VAL — Provenza 18 run (Alvarenga-Servellon kick), 9:39.

MHS — Dalen Huston 9 run (Gomez kick), 3:32.

TEAM STATISTICS

MHS VAL

First downs 18 16

Rushes-yards 43-179 26-217

Passing yards 111 119

Comp-Att-Int 9-16-0 8-13-2

Total offense 59-290 39-336

Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-1

Penalties-yards 1-5 6-60

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — MHS: Ace Holmes 19-97, Huston 12-38, Riang 10-29, Nick Rebik 1-11, Davis Ragland 1-4; VAL: Mason 11-108, Provenza 6-44, Damon Head 5-37, Omar Ballard 2-33, Quintin Loeb 1-5, Team 1-(minus-10).

PASSING — MHS: Huston 9-16-111-0; VAL: Provenza 5-7-93-1, Loeb 3-6-26-1.

RECEIVING — MHS: Treshaun Brooks 3-53, Cory Smith 2-28, Rebik 3-24, Riang 1-6; VAL: Anderson 4-79, Ayden Price 2-28, AJ Crownover 1-7, Trey Weite 1-5.