HVMS dominates Junior Rangers
Published 10:36 pm Thursday, September 9, 2021
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde Unaka's Jacob Smith had a hard time breaking free against a tough Warrior defense.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde Warriors Artee Bahn brings down TJ Good on an outside sweep for Unaka.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde Happy Valley's Ben Miller heads for the end zone after a pick 6 against Unaka Thursday evening at home.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde Unaka's Draedyn Freeman takes off on a qb keeper.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde Unaka gets a rare tackle behind the line as Warrior Blake Walker tries to break free.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde Happy Valley's Ron Paul Parker sacks Unaka QB Draedyn Freeman Thursday evening.
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BY ALLEN LAMOUNTAIN
STAR CORRESPONDENT
It was a one-sided affair on Thursday evening on Warrior Hill as the Happy Valley Middle School dominated Unaka by a 52-0 tally. The Junior Warriors scored on every possession except the last one with Ben Miller scoring on a 39-yard pass reception and a 38-yard interception return.
Quarterback Aiden Paul connected on his only pass for 17 yards to Landon Keller and two plays later scored on a six-yard plunge for a 6-0 HVMS lead after the pass for two failed.
“Paul had a good week of practice,” Junior Warriors head coach Kevin Kendall said. “We worked on some things we don’t normally work on. He struggled throwing the ball until this week.
“He had a real good week passing and we had to shuffle some kids around. My tailback had to play fullback but Gabriel McDougal is a team player and does whatever we ask of him.”
After stopping Unaka on downs HVMS went on a one-play 35-yard drive that Keller finished with a 35-yard scamper for a 14-0 Warrior lead after Paul connected with McDougal for the deuce.
Ron Paul Parker opened the second period with a 35-yard run and McDougal capped that score with a two-point run for a 22-0 HVMS advantage.
The rout continued as Miller took a short pass from Artee Bahn and raced 39 yards down the sideline for the score that made it 38-0 after a two-point run from Charlie Collie.
It wasn’t over for the Warriors scoring rampage however as Miller picked off Rangers quarterback Draedyn Freeman and raced 38 yards for the score that made it 46-0 after the deuce run by Landon Keller.
“It’s a testament to those kids from Unaka to compete and come back week after week,” Kendall said. “Coach Buchanan was here but decided to give everything he had to that program.
“If they continue to stick with it, I think they will be pretty good. I have a great group of kids here. We have some size and our young coaches – Eli Ayers and Dakota Cochran – do a good job with these kids.”
The second half featured a continuous running clock but HVMS managed to score one last time on a 57-yard run from Bahn.
Bahn took the low snap and looked to be trapped behind the line, but he burst through into the secondary, made a cut to the middle of the field, and outran the safety to the corner of the end zone.
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HVMS 52-0
Unaka 0 0 0 0 – 0
HVMS 22 24 6 0 – 52
Scoring summary
First Quarter
H – Paul 6 run (pass failed) 4:05
H – Keller 35 run (Paul pass to McDougal) 3:50
H – Parker 32 run (McDougal run) :17.7
Second Quarter
H – Parker 35 run (L. Parker run) 7:48
H – Miller 39 pass from Bahn (Collie run) 3:12
H – Miller 38 interception return (L. Parker run) 2:18
Third Quarter
H – Bahn 57 run (run failed) 1:45
