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Star Correspondent

On Friday night on Warrior Hill, junior quarterback Gabe McDougald was Happy Valley’s do-it-all Swiss Army knife. McDougald had 11 tackles, two tackles for loss, a blocked punt, and a recovery of that block.

That was on the defensive side of the ball. On offense, he rushed for 91 yards on 15 tries and scored two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score as HV snapped a four-game losing skid to the Bulldogs with a 19-12 win.

All this made him our Star Player of the Week.

“You know, we decided to come together as a team,” McDougald said. “In the first half, we were kind of hesitant, and we were playing out of our heads a little bit. At halftime, we took a deep breath, relaxed, and we came out as a team.”

McDougald, who lives with his grandmother, Alida Payne, and has a sister, Gracie, who is in the fourth grade. Warriors head coach Jason Jarrett said of McDougald stepping in for injured Aiden Paul,

“Gabe has been asked to do some things that he typically isn’t used to offensively. He has taken it in stride, and he is a competitor. We know we are going to get his best every day.”

In HV’s opening game, McDougald was good for 42 yards rushing and had seven tackles defensively.

“Playing small-school ball, you have to play both sides of the ball,” McDougald said. “I have been doing that since I have been here. Whatever the team needs me to do, I’m ready.”

Academically, McDougald is looking at studying for a business degree when he graduates from Happy Valley.

“Gabe is a joy to coach,” Jarrett said. “He has really turned into a leader for us on both sides of the ball. We are really excited about what he has been able to do. He stepped up offensively, like I said, and having him at quarterback has been a good thing. He was a do-it-all kind of player for us in a big win.”