Valley quarterback Jarrett Zibert dazzles in win over Western

Valley football players affectionately refer to quarterback Jarrett Zibert as “Vanilla Vick” — an ode to former NFL quarterback Michael Vick, who, like Zibert, is left-handed and famously made plays with his legs.

Fitting nickname for the 5-foot-10-inch junior. Especially after his performance against Western on Thursday night.

Zibert completed 9 of 16 passes for 355 yards and five touchdowns and added a 36-yard scoring run in a 46-3 road victory. He earned game MVP honors from the Thursday Night Lights television crew and celebrated afterward with teammates to the tune of “Vanilla Vick” chants.

They love their quarterback, and their coach does, too.

“He’s a player, man. That kid competes,” Vikings coach Quincy Burts said.

Running back Bryce Jones accounted for 151 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and Isaiah Ramirez caught two touchdown passes. Zibert also ran for 62 yards, led the Vikings (3-4) to 26 second-half points and triggered running time early in the fourth quarter with a 45-yard touchdown pass to Keenan McNair.

He was dynamic in and out of the pocket.

“I like to be athletic. It gets things going,” Zibert said. “That was my first time (playing on television). It was great.”

The Warriors haven’t scored a touchdown since Sept. 7, but were competitive for most of the first half behind quarterback Hahsaun Blackburn. He led Western to a field goal early in the second quarter and nearly engineered a touchdown drive until throwing the first of two interceptions near the goal line before halftime.

Blackburn finished with a team-high 88 rushing yards, but was 12 of 23 for 73 passing yards.

Burts was pleased with the way his team rallied defensively in the second half.

“It’s a great opportunity just to be on TV and to play, to be under these lights, it’s a great atmosphere,” he said. “We established the line of scrimmage on the defensive front, made positive tackles and (fought) off blocks the right way.”

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.