Warriors blow past Jr. ‘Landers in middle school contest, 32-6
Published 9:46 am Friday, October 2, 2020
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde Happy Valley QB Drew Blevins looks for an opening on a quarterback keeper.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde Rumblin, bumbling, stumbling. Cloudland's big #28 running back Landon Hughes was tough for the Warriors to bring down all day.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde - Warrior's quarterback, Drew Blevins, looks to throw deep on a late second-quarter drive that would end in a score before halftime.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde - Cloudland running back, Kingston Cole, breaks a tackle and hits paydirt for the Highlanders Thursday night at Happy Valley.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde Happy Valley capitalized on a fumble after a bad handoff exchange by Cloudland.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde - 24 on 24! Cloudland's Kingston Cole brings down Happy Valley's Freddy Jackson after a nice reception on a deep ball down the right sideline.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde Cloudland quarterback Hayden Arnett gambles on a sweep to the right on a short-yardage play.
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BY NIC MILLER
STAR CORRESPONDENT
HAPPY VALLEY – Thursday night marked the second week of middle school gridiron action as two local teams squared off under the lights.
The Happy Valley Jr. Warriors kicked off the second week on Warrior Hill, hosting one of their county rivals, the Cloudland Jr. Highlanders.
The Warriors started the contest with possession, and on the first play from scrimmage quarterback, Drew Blevins found his receiver Freddy Jackson to take Happy Valley from midfield to the red zone.
And only a few plays later, the home team would seal the drive when Blevins lobbed it to Reece Saur from inside the ten to give Happy Valley a quick 6-0 lead.
On their inaugural drive, the Highlanders Landon Hughes would carry the ball multiple times, eventually trucking his way to the midfield stripe.
But the Warrior defense would hold, causing a turnover and giving Happy Valley a chance to go up two scores in the first.
Jamie Esterline would take the toss on the first play of the drive and take it thirty yards to the edge of the red zone where Blevins would call his own number, giving the Warriors a 12-0 advantage near the end of the first quarter.
The Highlanders would take over just before the end of the first quarter, and with their ground game were able to take up over half of the second quarter until a fumble inside the twenty gave possession back to the Warriors.
After a quick Warrior three-and-out, the ‘Lander offense took over as Kingston Cole would come around the edge from a yard out to lessen the deficit, 12-6.
And just as the clock expired for the end of the half, a hurry-up offense by the Warriors would end with Blevins rushing it in from one yard out, followed by AJ Campbell on the conversion to give Happy Valley a 20-6 lead at the break.
The ‘Landers would start with the ball in the third, but a turnover on downs gave the Warriors a chance to put the nail in the coffin and increase their lead to that of three possessions.
And that would be just what Happy Valley would do as a thirteen-yard rushing touchdown by Esterline would give the Warriors a 26-6 lead in the third.
The next Warrior score came in the fourth when Blevins yet again ran the ball across the goal line from five yards out, followed by Aiden Paul to increase the advantage for Happy Valley to 32-6.
The final minutes of the game brought one more score, with Cole racing in from forty-three yards out followed by a two-point conversion to decrease the Highlander deficit to 32-14.
And that would be all she wrote as the Warriors would go home happy with a 32-14 win over their opponents from Cloudland.
