Happy Valley shuts down Highlanders
Published 9:00 am Tuesday, August 27, 2024
Star Correspondent/Larry N. Souders The Warriors' Ron Paul Parker (1) starts the season with a bang, returning the opening kickoff 76 yards for a touchdown. Cloudland’s Grayson Cole (0) caught and dragged Parker down from behind but was too late to prevent the score.
Star Correspondent/Larry N. Souders The Warriors start their season with a bang as Lane Parker (1) returns the opening kickoff 71 yards for a touchdown.
Star Correspondent/Larry N. Souders The Warriors' A.J. Rangel (32) drives through the extra point after Lane Parker's (1) 71-yard touchdown on the season's opening kickoff against the Highlanders of Cloudland on Friday night.
Star Correspondent/Larry N. Souders The Highlanders' Walker Gouge (1) drives his way to a first down on an 18-yard carry late in the second quarter.
Star Correspondent/Larry N. Souders The Warriors' Mason Norman (43) disrupts a quick out pass by the 'Landers' Bryce Birchfield (2) early in the first quarter.
Star Correspondent/Larry N. Souders The Warriors' Tyler Berry (44) is dragged down from behind by Cloudland’s Bryce Birchfield (2) and Braydon Hughes (7) inside the 5-yard line, setting up a first-and-goal for Happy Valley midway through the first quarter.
Star Correspondent/Larry N. Souders Warriors quarterback Aiden Paul (10) bounces the play outside of Cloudland's defense and goes for 54 yards and a first down early in the second quarter. Paul was injured on the play but returned just before the half.
Star Correspondent/Larry N. Souders The Highlanders' Grayson Cole (0) is caught and tackled behind the line of scrimmage as the Happy Valley defense blows up a toss sweep by Cloudland late in the first half.
Star Correspondent/Larry N. Souders The Highlanders' Walker Gouge (1) and Happy Valley’s Landon Keller (9) battle for a 50-50 ball late in the second quarter. Gouge broke up the pass, and it fell incomplete.
Star Correspondent/Larry N. Souders The Highlanders, along with many other area teams, are broadcasting their games on Facebook, YouTube, and other social media platforms this year for fans who can’t make it to the game in person. Here, a drone is seen flying around the field in the second quarter.
Star Correspondent/Larry N. Souders A bad snap results in a fumble on the line of scrimmage, and the Warriors' Nic Primeau (71) emerges from the pile with the ball, securing a turnover for Happy Valley.
Star Correspondent/Larry N. Souders The Highlanders' Grayson Cole (0) breaks through the line and into the Happy Valley secondary but falls short of the first-down marker midway through the first quarter.
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STAR CORRESPONDENT
A strong running game and stout run defense propelled Happy Valley past Cloudland on Friday night at Orr Field. The scoring came early, and then the defenses for both teams took over.
Senior Ron Paul Parker took the opening kickoff 76 yards to paydirt, and with the point-after kick from A.J. Rangel, the Warriors (1-0) took a 7-0 lead.
“This may be a coaching cliché, but I thought we played a complementary game,” Warriors head coach Jason Jarrett said. “We got off with a bang on a special teams score, and we put in a lot of work on special teams in spring practice. We put a lot of stock into that, and getting off to a fast start I think gave us some confidence.”
The Warriors stopped the ‘Landers on their first drive—with Cloudland shooting themselves in the foot with a pair of motion penalties—and took over at the 42-yard line after a punt. Happy Valley drove the 42 yards in eight plays, with sophomore quarterback Aiden Paul scoring on a 3-yard run for a 13-0 lead after the two-point run play failed.
On the next ‘Landers possession, quarterback Bryce Birchfield mishandled the center snap, and Happy Valley’s Nic Primeau recovered at the Cloudland 35-yard line. From there, Paul scored on a 1-yard plunge, capping a six-play drive for a 19-0 lead as Cloudland once again held the line on the two-point run attempt.
“The defense took over, and our coaches kept saying, ‘Get us to the half with a goose egg,’” Jarrett said. “Offensively, we were able to control the tempo, run the clock, get first downs when we needed. It wasn’t always perfect, but they don’t paint pictures on the scoreboard.”
Fullback Tyler Berry rushed 19 times for 121 yards and helped keep Happy Valley in front of the sticks. Paul had seven carries for 87 yards and had a scary moment in the second period as he was flying down the sideline on a 54-yard run when he was cut down from behind by Jacob Stinnett, sending him crashing to the turf on his helmet.
Paul stayed down for a few minutes before going off on his own power, replaced by Gabe MacDougal before returning in the third quarter. Cloudland opened the third period at the Happy Valley 34-yard line but gained just seven yards, and the Warriors defense stopped them on fourth down.
The Warriors drove to the Cloudland 47-yard line, but a holding penalty set them back in their own end of the field at the 43, from where Paul lost eight yards when the center snap flew past him and the ‘Landers recovered.
Cloudland’s next drive was the best of the night, but once again, a bad penalty set them back, and it ended at the Happy Valley 47-yard line on downs. For Cloudland, Grayson Cole had 55 rushing yards on 11 carries, while Landon Barnette rushed 10 times for 47 yards.
Birchfield completed 2 of 11 passes for 54 yards with an interception and was sacked twice.
Cloudland travels to Mosheim for a clash with the Buffs on Thursday evening. Last season, these two teams played a tremendous game, with West Greene scoring a late touchdown when quarterback Dawson Daniels reeled off a 65-yard scoring run with 3:33 left in the fourth quarter, leading to a 28-22 victory. The ‘Landers will be looking to reverse that outcome when they travel to Mosheim on Thursday evening.
“We have to turn it up a notch,” ‘Landers head coach Zac Benfield said. “West Greene has good players. They are big, strong, lanky, and have good skill players. We have to play more disciplined than last week. Last week, before we had a first down, we were behind 19-0, and you can’t have that.”
Grayson Cole will lead the run game. He had 55 yards against Happy Valley, but the Cloudland offense was penalty-prone. Benfield said, “We played horrible. The offense has to be better. We had three penalties on one drive and a fumble on another. We have to be better.”
Happy Valley 19, Cloudland 0
Happy Valley 19 0 0 0 – 19
Cloudland 0 0 0 0 – 0
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
HV – R. Parker 76 kickoff return (Rangel kick), 11:39
HV – Paul 3 run (run failed), 6:27
HV – Paul 1 run (run failed), 2:58
