‘It meant a lot’
- Updated: November 8, 2024
Pleasant Valley falls to Sulligent, but the Raiders’ first home playoff game in 40 years marked a special occasion, sparked bigger goals for next year.
Area scoreboard
THURSDAY, Nov. 7
Class 4A
St. Michael 63, Handley 40, FINAL
Class 3A
Fyffe 66, Ohatchee 30, FINAL
FRIDAY, Nov. 8
CLASS 6A
Oxford 42, Buckhorn 0, FINAL
Mountain Brook 45, Southside 7, FINAL
CLASS 5A
Central-Clay 49, Greenville 0, FINAL
Scottsboro 49, Jacksonville 13, FINAL
CLASS 4A
Cherokee County 48, Westminster Christian 13, FINAL
Madison Academy 28, Hokes Bluff 7, FINAL
Anniston 40, Randolph 12, FINAL
Alexandria 38, North Jackson 35, FINAL
CLASS 3A
Piedmont 46, Collinsville 28, FINAL
Sylvania 27, Weaver 9, FINAL
Trinity 65, Randolph County 42,, FINAL
CLASS 2A
Sulligent 56, Pleasant Valley 22, FINAL
CLASS 1A
Wadley 68, Valley Head 14, FINAL
Spring Garden 54, Victory Christian 21, FINAL
Appalachian 34, Donoho 10, FINAL
Sulligent-Pleasant Valley
By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today
PLEASANT VALLEY — History for Pleasant Valley looked like football at home, on a mild November night.
The Raiders’ first home playoff game in 40 years gave the school a chance to recognize its back-to-back state championship volleyball team on the field, before the game.
Members of the 1984 team, the only other Pleasant Valley team to play a playoff game at home, took their bows between the first and second quarters.
As Metallica’s “For Whom The Bell Tolls” blared over the public address, the Raiders, dressed in red jerseys atop red game pants, filed down through the middle of a full home grandstand, to the field.
They broke through the cheerleaders’ banner and took their home field in a win-or-stay-home game.
Not much went their way after that. Visiting Sulligent scored the game’s first 24 points and rolled to the second round, 56-22, but this night was more about the occasion than the outcome for a long-struggling program fighting its way to relevance.
“It meant a lot, and that’s what I told the players,” Pleasant Valley coach Jonathan Nix said. “Tonight didn’t go our way. We got hit in the mouth, and things didn’t go the right way, but don’t take anything from the season.”
Pleasant Valley finished 8-3, tying the 1984 team for the school’s best-ever record. This for a program that has six winning seasons and three 5-5 seasons out of 43 seasons overall.
Pleasant Valley finished as the No. 2 playoff seed out of Class 2A, Region 7. Each region gets four playoff qualifiers, and the top two earn the right to open the playoffs at home.
What’s more is the sense that the Raiders’ breakthrough is part of an upward trajectory.
“I’ve been here since eighth grade,” said sophomore running back/safety Braxton Salster. “I’ve seen teams develop over time.
“We set unrealistic goals. My first year here, we were in the mentality of let’s just go to the playoffs, and we missed by one game. My ninth-grade year, we set the goal of let’s host a playoff game and missed it by one game. This year, it was host a playoff game, and we did it.”
The Raiders will lose five seniors, including wide receiver/defensive back Hunter Sparks and tight end/linebacker Noah Johnson, but return Salster and Jaden Sparks, who stepped in at quarterback this season when Salster broke his lower right arm.
“Every year, each team has gotten better,” Salster said. “One step ahead, one step ahead, every year setting goals and then meeting those goals.’
One benefit was the volleyball team not having to wait until next season to be recognized on the field. Pleasant Valley won its second consecutive state title Nov. 1, during the football team’s open date. A home playoff game this week made it possible for the volleyball players and coaches to take their bows while the calendar still said November.
As for the football team, its goals keep accelerating. Salster and Jaden Sparks talked about 10-0 and a No. 1 playoff qualifying spot out of Region 7.
“We’re setting that mindset now that, next year, we’re going to host a four seed here,” Jaden Sparks said. “We’re going to be right back here. That’s the mindset.”
Photo gallery by Joe Medley
Game updates
FIRST QUARTER
–Sulligent QB Johnwil Spruiel keeps 36 yards for a TD, and RB Andrew Lowe carries for the conversion at 9:32. SULLIGENT 8, PV 0
–Wyatt Sandlin returns a blocked punt 10 yards for a TD, and Spruiel keeps for the conversion at 7:06. SULLIGENT 16, PV 0
–Lowe breaks a 50-yard TD run, and Spruiel keeps for the conversion at 1:16. SULLIGENT 24, PV 0
–Cooper Dougal returns the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a TD, and Jaden Sparks throws to Noah Johnson for the conversion at 1:05. SULLIGENT 24, PV 8
SECOND QUARTER
–Lowe in with a 1-yard TD run, and Spruiel throws to William Dobbins for the conversion at 8:46. SULLIGENT 32, PV 8
–Dougal with the 14-yard halfback pass to Braxton Salter for the TD at 8:13. Douglas catches Sparks’ tipped conversion pass. SULLIGENT 32, PV 16
–Lowe with a 15-yard TD run, and PV stops Sulligent’s conversion pass at 4:32. SULLIGENT 38, PV 16
–Charles Long with a 3-yard TD run. Conversion failed at at 1:05. SULLIGENT 44, PV 16
THIRD QUARTER
–Spruiel keeps, rambles 51 yards for a TD. Conversion fails at 8:25. SULLIGENT 50, PV 16
–Spruiel with a 75–yard punt return for a TD. Conversion pass failed at 6:46. SULLIGENT 56, PV 16
FOURTH QUARTER
–Sparks passes 18 yards to Hayden Hardy for a TD, and conversion fails at 11:44. SULLIGENT 56, PV 22
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