By Kyle Parmley
For The Trussville Tribune
BIRMINGHAM – It wasn’t always pretty, but mark another in the win column for the Pinson Valley High School football team.
The Indians capped off Class 6A, Region 6 play on Thursday night with a 39-15 road win over Carver-Birmingham to improve to 9-0 overall and finish 6-0 in region action.
“We won,” said Pinson Valley head coach Patrick Nix. “That’s all that matters at this point. We’ll see a lot more when we watch it on film, we’ll learn a lot more. Played a very good team. Carver’s a good football team and we’re thankful to get out of here with a win.”
The Rams played the Indians tough, and trailed just 23-15 after three quarters of play. But a dominant fourth quarter from Pinson Valley put the game away, as the Indians scored 16 unanswered points and forced a pair of turnovers in the final period to seal the victory.
Barry White started his fourth straight game in relief of injured starter Bo Nix, and played well. He finished an efficient 13-of-16 passing for 157 yards and a pair of touchdowns, both to LiAllen Dailey.
White’s 18-yard scoring strike to Dailey on the third play of the fourth quarter was likely his most impressive throw of the evening. With a defender in stride with Dailey, White placed the ball where only Dailey could haul it in, at the pylon. Dailey snared the pass out of the air and got his feet down in bounds to put Pinson Valley ahead 30-15.
Two of Dailey’s three catches went for scores, as he accumulated 38 yards. Dilan Henderson led the receiving corps with 74 yards on seven catches.
Jackie Matthews got several snaps under center for the Indians, mainly executing the quarterback run game. He racked up 53 yards and a couple touchdowns on seven carries.
“Jackie came in and did a really good job, gave us a spark, did some good things,” Nix said. “Barry did some good things. Both of them did some bad things. That’s one of those things you’ve got to continue to try to do things and cut out some of the bad, but overall, I think both of them played pretty well.”
While Nix was unhappy with the defense allowing 15 points, Pinson Valley managed to force five turnovers on the night. Deshazio Williams recovered a second-quarter fumble and intercepted a pass in the third quarter. Jaylun Gulley, Matthews and Keyonteze Johnson also collected picks in the contest.
Nix said, “We’re not used to giving up points, we’re not used to guys running around on us. But I’m going to tell you, they were very athletic, very good. They did a very good job up front and blocked us about as good as anybody’s blocked us all year. Credit to them. They did a very good job.”
Quarterback Chappelle Wade, who threw for 266 yards on 11-of-26 passing, led Carver’s offense. He hit trusty target Cameron McKinney eight times for 179 yards, one of those grabs going for a 54-yard touchdown in the third quarter that pulled the Rams within a single possession.
Pinson Valley began its first three possessions of the game inside the Carver 30-yard line thanks to three poorly executed punts and scored off the first two. Matthews’ 1-yard plunge opened the game’s scoring, and White hit Dailey for an 18-yard score to put the Indians up 13-0.
Wade found Deatrius Williams behind the defense for a 58-yard score in the second quarter to cut it to 13-7, but Matthews’ 1-yard run answered to give Pinson a 20-7 lead it would maintain through the half.
Anthony Meyers’ 28-yard field goal made it 23-7 late in the third quarter.
The Indians put the game away for good on Khymel Chaverst’s 15-yard run up the middle on fourth-and-1 to put the Indians up 22 points. Chaverst rushed 13 times for 47 yards.
Carver’s punter conceded a safety on the ensuing possession to push the final margin to 39-15.
Pinson Valley wraps up its regular season next Friday with a trip to Pleasant Grove.