By Jon Benton
For The Trussville Tribune
IRONDALE — The Pinson Valley Indians won 28-25 at Frank A. Nix Memorial Stadium against the Shades Valley Mounties, despite a late turnover.
Up 28-25, Pinson Valley (4-2) forced a punt with two minutes left in the fourth quarter. Instead of sealing the game with a first down or two, the Indians fumbled the ball on third –and-10, losing 28 yards on a helter-skelter play.
On fourth down and 38, Saul Rios, the Indians’ punter, whiffed on the punt attempt, leaving Shades Valley with possession of the ball at Pinson Valley’s 14-yard-line with 17 seconds left.
On the first play of the drive, though, Shades Valley quarterback Desmond Trotter fumbled the snap and was forced to down the ball. The clock continued to run, and the Mounties were unable to get another snap off, ending their chances of winning the game.
“It was ugly, and I about messed up the clock management, but we got out of here with the win,” coach Matt Glover said. “That’s why I don’t have hair,” Glover said.
To set up the game-winning touchdown, Pinson Valley forced a fumble at Shades Valley’s 30-yard-line, and a few plays layer, running back Khymel Chaverst found his way into the end zone on a 6-yard touchdown rush with less than three minutes to go in the game.
The Indians had to play through considerable adversity throughout the game. Trying to regain the lead throughout the fourth quarter, the Indians twice attempted fourth-down conversions, and failed both.
The first attempt was from Shades Valley’s 39-yard-line. On fourth-and-1, the Indians attempted to rush Chaverst up the middle, but the running back was stuffed for no gain.
The second attempt came on fourth-and-6 inside of the red zone. At the Mounties’ 12-yard-line, Pinson Valley attempted an end-around rush with star receiver Liallen Dailey, but once again, he was stuffed for no gain.
Pinson Valley’s defense came out of the gates shell-shocked, giving up two touchdowns in the first 7:28 of the game. The first, a 34-yard touchdown to Trenton Johnson from Trotter, came with only 3:44 having come off the clock. A 17-yard rush by Trotter, and an ensuing 2-point conversion pass to Marvin Slaughter made the game 15-0.
The Indians answered with a quick 66-yard drive that ended on a 12-yard quarterback run by Jackie Matthews. The touchdown was set up by a 19-yard pass from Matthews to Dailey.
The next Shades Valley drive was a key one. The Mounties drove to the Pinson Valley red zone on a 52-yard rush by Reynard Ellis. Shades Valley was stuffed on first down, and Ty Woods, who made the touchdown-saving tackle on Ellis’s run, defended two passes to force a field goal.
Pinson Valley made the game a one-score affair on a long drive that ended with a 3-yard touchdown from Matthews to Torrey Hendrix on fourth–and–goal. Pinson Valley maintained the 18-14 score with a goal-line stand on the Mounties’ ensuing drive, in which Shades Valley was stuffed on three straight run plays, starting on second and goal at the PVHS 3-yard-line.
Coming out of halftime, Demarco Harris intercepted the ball at SVHS’s 32-yard-line and returned it to the house. The pick-six came as Trotter was being dragged to the ground by Damarkis Adams. Trotter forced the ball out instead of throwing it away, and the result was Pinson Valley gaining the lead.
However, Shades Valley (2-3), managed to get the lead back on a 10-yard rush by Trotter. It was his second rushing touchdown of the game. Trotter finished 10 for 17, with 86 yards passing and a touchdown, as well as an interception. He also completed the game with 17 carries for 94 yards.
Matthews passed the ball efficiently, completing 15 passes out of 19 attempts. He compiled 172 yards and a touchdown.
The Indians’ Chaverst carried the ball 18 times for 86 yards and a touchdown. “I feel like I helped my team,” said the powerful running back. “I did what they wanted me to do.”
Not to be outdone, Shades Valley’s Ellis carried the ball 18 times for an eye-popping 215 yards, to lead the Mounties in all-purpose yardage.
Samuel McCarthy led the Indians in receptions, catching six balls for 50 yards. Daily hauled in three receptions for 76 yards on the day. Hendrix, the sole receiver of a passing touchdown on Pinson Valley’s team, caught three passes for 15 yards.
The game started out undisciplined. There were six false start penalties in the first quarter, as well as two sideline warnings, one for each team. Other than those, it was a clean first half, with no turnovers or significant penalties to speak of.
The second half had three turnovers, two for Shades Valley and one for Pinson Valley. Pinson Valley ended with nine penalties for 50 yards, while Shades Valley ended with five penalties for 35 yards.
Also, for the first 18:10 of the game, both Matthews and Trotter went 13 for 13 passing, for a 100 percent completion rate. Only one pass was missed in the entire first half.
Pinson Valley has a bye next week, and afterwards, the Indians get back into region play with Center Point. “They’re a much–improved football team,” Glover said.
Shades Valley plays Parker next week.