Warriors to host Eagleton Academy in conference clash
Published 8:39 am Thursday, September 14, 2023
- Happy Valley Warriors head coach Jason Jarrett
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STAR CORRESPONDENT
Happy Valley comes off a shutout loss to conference and cross town rival Hampton and must turn around and play another conference foe on Friday night when the Eagleton Academy Royals visit Warrior Hill.
The Warriors (0-3, 0-1 conference) had just 85 yards of total offense against the Bulldogs in a game where HV shot itself in the foot on nearly every possession. On six drives the Warriors were forced to punt each and every time including a snap that sailed over the punter’s head for a safety.
“We were behind the sticks all the time,” Warriors head coach Jason Jarrett said. “We played them tough on the first possession getting a turnover on downs and Joseph Sowards made a big play defensively. We had a breakdown on their first score and then the penalties start to hit us. Nine penalties, we were like a Jekyll and Hyde out there.”
The Royals (1-3 overall, 1-0 conference) come off a big 21-18 conference win over West Greene and have a quarterback in junior Nathan Clemmer who has thrown for three touchdowns this season and has one rushing touchdown.
Clemmer has completed 58.9 percent of his passes and his leading receiver is junior Navaar MacDonald- Risner who averages 42 yards per game receiving. Running back Lane Cope is a sophomore who has a 46-yard-per-game rushing average with a touchdown. The Royals average 12.25 points per game and defensively surrender 27.5 points per contest.
HV has struggled mightily offensively with a season-high 12 points coming in the season opener against Cloudland and the Warriors average just 6.0 points per game and have given up an average of 29.0 points per game.
“There is still a lot of football left to play,” Jarrett said. “But we have to be able to put together some drives and a victory always changes your mindset and gives you a confidence lift.”
HV’s opening drive began with Sowards gaining three yards and quarterback Aiden Paul’s 10-yard first down run called back on a holding penalty and the Warriors saw this scenario repeat itself for the entirety of the game.
“We made Hampton work for everything they got defensively,” Jarrett said. “But when you can’t move the ball because you keep making mistakes, I mean on that holding call, it was so dog gone close. We can’t let ourselves get that mindset of ‘here we go again.’ It’s been a tough start to the season, but we have had a ton of missed opportunities.”
Game time is 7:30 pm.
