PV wins third straight
- Updated: September 28, 2019
Raiders shut out Gaston, go to 4-1 for the first time since 2007; Hokes Bluff gets back on track with win over Glencoe
Saturday games
Hokes Bluff 35, Glencoe 6
Pleasant Valley 44, Gaston 0
By East Alabama Sports Today
GASTON – Pleasant Valley coach Jonathan Nix tried to make an unusual situation as normal as possible and, in the end, it produced the desired result.
High school football in the South is supposed to be played on Friday nights, but Mother Nature intervened this week, postponing the Raiders’ non-region game with Gaston to Saturday, a day traditionally reserved for kicking back and watching your favorite college football team play.
The Raiders rose above the change in plans to win their third straight game. Colton East rushed for three touchdowns and the PV defense shut out Gaston for the second year in a row 28-0.
“This is my first time as a coach playing on a Saturday that I can remember; I don’t think I’ve played on a Saturday,” Nix said. “The delay was challenging last night, but there’s nothing you can do about it. As a team, we learned about situations that are out of your control and how to handle that.
“We try to look at everything as an opportunity. Today when the kids showed up on time and everybody was here we asked them how many of you have ever played on a Saturday because a lot don’t play youth football. There were probably 10 kids who never played on a Saturday, period. But we told them go back to your youth days or think about something good that happened on a Saturday in the heat of the day.
“I was proud of them for coming out and taking care of business and not going down. In things like this I’m looking to see if our standards are being held.”
To make things are close to the Friday routine as possible, the Raiders still had their pre-game meal four hours before kickoff, but instead of hamburger steak at 8 in the morning they had a biscuit, banana and milk.
Then they went out and took care of business.
East scored the Raiders’ first two touchdowns on runs of 3 and 20 yards in the first quarter and had a 72-yard burst in the third. Brody Phillips, Jake Upton and Hunter Sallee also scored. Colby Nelson highlighted the defensive effort with a 45-yard interception return for touchdown in the second quarter.
The Raiders are 4-1 for the first time since 2007. They are on track for their fifth playoff berth in school history and first since 2010. With that record and the only loss coming to No. 2 Piedmont, they could be in line for their first appearance in the statewide poll since 1984, the only year they were ranked in school history.
“Our kids deserve stuff like that, too,” Nix said. “Some of these kids have been here through the roughest times. I think it’s so cool for some of these seniors who have been through the bad times and are still believing we’re going to do something special and stuck through it when we only had one direction to go and that was up.
“You can work hard and try your best and do everything you’re supposed to and sometimes you come up short. But by working hard it’s the only way to have a chance. It’s so pleasing as a coach when you see hard-working kids and good things come their way.”
Pleasant Valley 19 12 13 0 — 44
Gaston 0 0 0 0 — 0
Scoring plays
PV – Colton East 3 run (Dalton Page kick), 8:54 1Q
PV – Colton East 20 run (PAT failed)
PV – Brody Phillips 1 run (PAT failed), 1:31 1Q
PV – Jake Upton 1 run (PAT failed)
PV – Colby Nelson 45 interception return (Dalton Page kick)
PV – Colton East 72 run (PAT failed), 5:31 3Q
PV – Hunter Sallee 30 run (Colby Nelson kick), 1:22 3Q
Hokes Bluff 35, Glencoe 6
GLENCOE – Darrian Meads rushed for four touchdowns helping Hokes Bluff (3-2) get back on the winning track after two straight losses that knocked it out of the statewide poll for the first time in 29 weeks with its fourth straight win over Glencoe.
The game was suspended Friday night after 58 seconds and two plays.
Meads rushed for 44 yards on seven carries and scored on runs of 2, 3 and 5 yards in the final six minutes of the first quarter and 25 yards in the first two minutes of the second. Dylan Boatner scored the Eagles’ first touchdown on a 45-yard fumble return.
Glencoe (0-5) scored its first points of the season in the final two minutes of the game when Jacob Perry corralled a tipped pass and took it 46 yards for a touchdown.
| HB (35) | Glen (6) | |
| 7 | 1st Downs | 10 |
| 24-93 | Rushing | 46-38 |
| 1-3-0 | C-A-I | 1-5-0 |
| 18 | Passing | 46 |
| 1-1 | Fum-lost | 3-2 |
| 2-36.5 | Punts | 7-26.0 |
| 2-20 | Penalties | 0-0 |
Hokes Bluff 28 7 0 0 — 35
Glencoe 0 0 0 6 — 6
Scoring plays
HB – Dylan Boatner 45 fumble return (Jaden Burns kick), 10:04 1Q
HB – Darrian Meads 2 run (Jadan Burns kick), 5:55 1Q
HB – Darrian Meads 3 run (Jadan Burns kick), 3:06 1Q
HB – Darrian Meads 5 run (Jadan Burns kick), 0:33 1Q
HB – Darrian Meads 25 run (Jadan Burns kick), 10:07 2Q
G – Jacob Perry 46 pass from Daniel Maye (kick failed), 1:17 4Q
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