Falcons fly high
- Updated: August 21, 2021
Donoho gets a piece of payback it has been looking for since last season; shuts out PV for historic victory
By Dean Harrell
For East Alabama Sports Today
The Donoho football team had been looking forward to its season-opener with Pleasant Valley for a long time. The Falcons talked in the preseason about owing the Raiders one and Friday night they collected.
The Falcons started their season with a hard fought 25-0 shutout at Lentz Field. They had high hopes for this game, attempting to rebound from a devastating 30-29 loss to the Raiders last season in which they had a big lead in the third quarter.
“Any time you get beat by one point, you’re always going to feel like giving them some payback,” Donoho coach Mark Sanders said.
The victory also marked the first time the Falcons had beaten a Calhoun County public school since 2006 (Pleasant Valley 52-3). They are now 15-28 against their county public opponents all-time (Ohatchee, Pleasant Valley, White Plains).
Sanders was proud of his players and ecstatic about achieving this “heck of a milestone.” Senior wide receiver and safety Grant Steed was proud of the young guns on the team. “They stepped up when we needed them to,” he said.
The Falcons were led on offense by senior quarterback Ridge Hopkins, who went 9 of 14 passing for 188 yards and 4 touchdowns; he was intercepted twice.
Hopkins connected with junior wide receiver Logan Melton for two of his touchdown passes. The first staked the Falcons to an early 6-0 lead. Melton also caught a 49-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to give the Falcons a massive offensive boost.
“I caught the ball and knew I had to put some points on the board,” Melton said.
The Falcons defense was just as spectacular. They intercepted Pleasant Valley quarterback Braydon Maye twice and recorded a total of 10 tackles for loss.
Sophomore linebacker Richard Goad led the defense with nine tackles. Alongside Goad, senior defensive tackle Judson Billings had 4.5 tackles for loss among his eight tackles and an interception.
The shutout was Donoho’s first since scoring back-to-back blankings in the first two games of the 2019 season (at Horseshoe Bend and at Ragland). It was the Falcons’ first shutout of a Calhoun County public program since 2000 (White Plains).
“The underclassmen stepped up like we wanted them to tonight,” Steed said. “Having a sophomore lead us in tackles is huge.”
Senior defensive tackle and center Tyler Allen went down with a knee injury early in the game that gave the Falcons extra incentive. The words “Do it for Tyler!” were uttered several times on the sidelines and in the huddles.
Allen was helped off the field and returned on crutches in the second half. Several players commented after the game how important he is to this team and when he went down, they knew they had to do it for him.
“He brings a lot of energy to the team,” Hopkins said. “He is a true leader of the team and a true part of the family we built as a team.”
“That’s our guy,” Billings said. “We love him and losing a guy that experienced hurts overall. Losing him is losing more than a player.”
Pleasant Valley running backs Zeke Curvin and Zeke Johnson combined for 173 rushing yards against the Falcons. Though the Raiders didn’t have much success in the air, they were able to rush for a total of 227 yards. The Raiders defense also came down with two interceptions and returned one 81 yards into the Donoho red zone.
Donoho 25, Pleasant Valley 0
| Pleasant Valley (0-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 – | 0 |
| Donoho (1-0) | 6 | 13 | 0 | 6 – | 25 |
D – Logan Melton 8 pass from Ridge Hopkins (kick failed), 10:24 1Q
D – Eric Tolson 18 pass from Ridge Hopkins (Grant Steed kick), 9:24 2Q
D – Logan Melton 49 pass from Ridge Hopkins (kick failed), 6:40 2Q
D – Grant Steed 11 pass from Ridge Hopkins (kick failed), 4:23 4Q
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