It seemed like the Vikings, though, were ready for an upset as they held a two-point lead early in the second quarter.

But the Green Hornets overcame the sluggish start by outscoring the Vikings 35-14 from there, getting a big game from quarterback Quinn Zinobile, who passed for 240 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 94 yards and two more TDs in a 42-23 victory on senior night.

“Senior night sometimes breaks up your routine a little bit,” JV coach Bill Musser said, “and we knew that we were going to be out of our routine. We gave up a couple of big plays. Once we started to settle down and play football, we were in good shape.”

“I’m proud of the kids. They played tough,” Glendale coach Richard Braniff said. “There were some tough breaks during this game, and they fought through it.”

The Hornets scored on their first play on a flea flicker, with Zinobile throwing a 46-yard TD pass to Kyle Derugen.

Later, Zinobile was going to punt, but the ball was snapped over his head and rolled out of the end zone for a Glendale safety.

Glendale’s Baine Seilhamer recovered a JV fumble at the Hornet 24 late in the first quarter, and four plays later, Brent Kuhn scored on a 3-yard run.

It was the start of a 36-minute second quarter that dragged on and on.

The Hornets responded with an 11-play drive that was prolonged by Zinobile converting a fake punt with a 6-yard run for a first down. Ryan Betres finished off the drive with a 4-yard TD run on an option play.

The Hornets recovered a Glendale fumble at the Viking 34 on the ensuing possession. Two plays later, Zinobile hit Derugen on a crossing pattern for a 30-yard scoring strike with 3:45 left in the half.

Glendale quarterback Jacob Jasper, who completed 11 of his 26 passes for 161 yards and was intercepted twice, threw the first of his two touchdown passes — this one to Shane McMurray for 58 yards with 2:35 left. The Vikings were within five, 21-16.

“Jake did well,” Braniff said. “We were able to protect him a little bit more this week. He’s a warrior. He’s trying to put the team on his shoulders. He scares me every time he takes off down the field.”

Jasper also ran for 65 yards on 11 carries.

Zinobile, though, led the Hornets 60 yards on the next series, completed four out of five passes, including a 24-yard TD pass to Jaxson Rand with 55 seconds remaining. JV led, 29-16, at the half.

“He definitely has bought into sitting and reading,” Musser said. “His scrambling is down a little bit. He’s trusting his receivers and his receivers are trusting him. His line is trusting him. He’s taking advantage of what defenses are giving us.”

Zinobile returned the squib kick on the second half kickoff to the Glendale 47. On the ninth play of the drive, Zinobile spun his way into the end zone on a 10-yard run.

“I’m not sure if I want to see the spin move all of the time,” Musser said with a laugh. “Every once in awhile it’s okay to get down.”

Zinobile added a 23-yard scramble into the end zone in the third quarter.

Jasper finished off the scoring with 9:58 left in the game when he threw a 9-yard TD pass to McMurray.

“I thought we did pretty well,” Musser said of the second half. “We had a lot of kids on the football field in the second half, a lot of the young kids.

“We told them this week we have to play a full game. I don’t believe we did that tonight. However, we also said we were going to have a full team. I think that’s going to pay dividends down the road.”

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Glendale 2 14 0 7 — 23

Juniata Valley 7 22 13 0 — 42

First Quarter

JV–Derugen 46 pass from Zinobile (Hill kick), 10:40

G–Safety, snap out of end zone on punt, 7:15

Second Quarter

G–Kuhn 3 run (Potutschnig kick), 10:51

JV–Betres 4 run (kick failed), 6:06

JV–Derugen 30 pass from Zinobile (Johnson pass from Rupert), 3:45

G–McMurray 58 pass from Jasper (Potutschnig kick), 2:35

JV–Jax. Rand 24 pass from Zinobile (Johnson pass from Rupert), :55

Third Quarter

JV–Zinobile 10 run (Hill kick), 8:45

JV–Zinobile 23 run (run failed), 2:49

Fourth Quarter

G–McMurray 9 pass from Jasper (Potutschnig kick), 9:58

TEAM STATISTICS G JV

First downs 14 18

Total yards 295 375

Rushes-yards 30-123 36-123

Yards passing 172 255

Passing (comp.-att.-int) 12-27-2 17-28-0

Punts-avg. 4-28.5 3-36.3

Fumbles-lost 3-2 3-1

Penalties-yards 2-15 5-55

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Glendale–Jasper 11-65, Kuhn 10-39, Dudurich 5-21, McMurray 3-4, TEAM 1-(-6). Juniata Valley–Zinobile 14-94, Rupert 3-21, Betres 3-6, Brower 1-5, Jay. Rand 3-5, Jax. Rand 11-3, TEAM 1-(-11).

PASSING: Glendale–Jasper 11-26-2-161, Dudurich 1-1-0-11. Juniata Valley–Zinobile 16-26-0-240, Rupert 1-2-0-15.

RECEIVING: Glendale–McMurray 4-92, Seilhamer 3-42, Kuhn 3-20, Jasper 1-11, Potutschnig 1-7. Juniata Valley–Derugen 4-112, Musser 9-106, Jax. Rand 3-37, Brower 1-0.