By Kyle Parmley
PINSON – It was not pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but Pinson Valley pitched a shutout.
The Indians (5-2, 2-2) knocked off Huffman 8-0 on Friday night at Willie Adams Stadium in a clash of Class 6A, Region 6 foes.
“A victory is a victory. It was ugly,” Pinson Valley head coach Matt Glover said. “It was almost like we were at a morgue out here. There was no energy.”
Both teams started slowly, as they trudged through a scoreless first quarter. With the scoreboard still blank midway through the second quarter, Pinson Valley struck for consecutive big plays.
Starting at its own 9-yard line, quarterback Jackie Matthews threw into double coverage. While that is usually frowned upon, Matthews tossed the ball up to where only his tall receiver Liallen Dailey could catch it. Dailey reached out his right arm to bring the ball in for a sensational grab and a 45-yard gain.
On the very next play, Khymel Chaverst – the starting running back with Torrey Hendrix out injured – drove through a would-be tackler and scampered down the sideline for 42 more yards. Chaverst would finish the night with 85 yards on 21 carries.
Three plays later, Matthews punched it into the end zone on a quarterback keeper for the only offensive score in the game.
The game belonged to both defenses. Huffman gained 213 total yards, while the Indians gained just 194 yards in the win. The Indians picked up just eight first downs, compared to Huffman’s 12.
There were more yards via punting in the game than from the offenses. The teams punted a combined 12 times, for 439 yards. Both offenses combined for just 407 yards.
Rhasheed Wilson was the star of the night for the Indian defense, despite battling a thigh injury all night. The transfer from Center Point had an incredible second half, with two interceptions and a tackle for loss, resulting in a safety.
Wilson’s first pick set the Indians up at the 30-yard line, and they got inside the 10 on the first play with a pass to Dailey. However, Chaverst was marked short of the goal line on a fourth down run near the goal line. He appeared to clearly land in the end zone, but neither line judge seemed sure, and ruled him down at the one-yard line.
Enter Wilson once again.
On the ensuing play after the turnover on downs, Wilson blew into the backfield as Huffman running back Demetrius Davis took the handoff. Wilson stood him up a yard deep in the end zone, and drove him all the way out of the back of the end zone for a safety, to make the score 8-0.
“When the play started, my coach told me to come up a little because I can’t run as well with my thigh,” Wilson said. “When I came up, I just used my strength to push him out of bounds. It feels awesome (to make a play like that).”
Perhaps the biggest stand for the Indian defense came at the conclusion of the third quarter and the start of the final period. Huffman took nine plays to drive down to the Indians’ two-yard line. But once they got there, they could get no further. The Vikings ran the ball up the middle four plays in a row, and could not get in the end zone.
“That was huge,” Glover said. “The defense played well. They’re starting to play a lot better.”
Davis was the best offensive player for the Vikings, as he gained 54 tough yards on 19 carries.
“Their defense swarms to the ball,” Davis said, who carried the ball on third and fourth downs from the Wildcat formation. “But we could have made some more plays happen.”
Wilson was not the only player to make contributions for Pinson Valley’s defensive unit on the night. Joshua Jemison and C.J. Rudolph nearly came up with big interceptions in the first half, and Ezekiel Lawrence recovered a fumble.
Jackie Matthews was forced to leave the game early in the fourth quarter, leaving Errius Collins as the quarterback. Collins has become Pinson Valley’s go-to receiver on the season after starting last year as the team’s QB1.
“At halftime he was out of it,” Glover said of Matthews. “He didn’t have any energy. He didn’t feel good, so I don’t know if he’s getting sick. It was more of a safety issue with putting him in there.
“Errius came in and did a good job. We knew we were going to have to run the ball with him because they were keying on the running back. I was pleased.”
The Indians are off next week, and Glover says it could not come at a better and gives his team a chance to get some players healthy. Woods, Hendrix, and Rudolph have all missed games in recent weeks due to injuries.
Pinson Valley has a three-game stretch to wrap up the regular season, starting October 16 at Center Point.