The Happy Valley Middle School football team still has one game left on their regular season schedule, but they had plenty to celebrate about on Thursday night, as they defeated Chuckey-Doak Middle School 18-14 to cap off an undefeated conference season and claim the Little Watauga Conference Championship.
“They played their tails off,” Happy Valley coach Brandon Mottern said. “I’m so proud of these guys and the way that they fought tonight. We had our backs against the wall after halftime, but we fought back.
“I give god the praise and honor for it because he blessed me with the job that gave me the opportunity to coach and mentor these kids.”
The two teams went into halftime notched at six, but it was Happy Valley that was able to separate the game a little bit when Will Tittle found James Harmon for a 15-yard touchdown to make the score 12-6. The Warriors were able to strike again with 3:30 remaining in the contest when Luke Roberts found the end zone from 10 yards out.
Roberts finished the night with 97 yards on 15 carries and also provided the Warriors with their first touchdown of the night. This one came through the air, as the Warriors went to their bag of tricks to try an halfback pass, which paid off when Roberts found Noah Stevens streaking down the sidelines for a 30-yard touchdown,
“He is a man among boys out here in middle school football,” Mottern said. “We felt confident with our front that we could run right at the heart of their defense, and we knew that Luke would be able to carry the load, so we feed him the rock.”
Chuckey-Doak made things interesting when running back Seth Shelton scored a rushing touchdown from inside the 15-yard line with 2:16 remaining. He also converted the two-point conversion to make the score 18-14. But the Warriors were able to run the clock out and secure the win.
The Black Knights first score of the contest came with 5:09 left in the second quarter when Chris Cutshaw broke open for a 43-yard touchdown with 5:09 remaining in the second quarter.
Their final contest comes against Unaka, before they will start their playoff on Thursday against Rogersville City.