By Carey Reeder
For The Tribune
TUSCALOOSA — Pinson Valley finished its perfect season Friday night in Tuscaloosa beating Wetumpka High School 31-10 in the AHSAA 6A state championship.
As the snow passed and the bright lights of Bryant-Denny Stadium descended upon the two 6A schools, it was Wetumpka who would strike first on their opening possession, as Robert Stewart put in a 24-yard field goal to open the scoring.
Not to be outdone, Quarterback Bo Nix would engineer a 10 play, 67-yard drive on the Indians’ first possession capped off by Khymel Chaverst on a 1-yard touchdown run.
It was two different attacks in the first half, as Pinson Valley gained most of its yardage through the air, and Wetumpka gained most of its yardage on the ground outgaining the Indians 127-32 rushing in the first half.
Wetumpka pinned the Indians’ offense deep inside their own 10-yard line in the second quarter. As Nix rolled out right on third down and five, he forced a pass into coverage and it was picked off by Wetumpka. Right back to the ground Wetumpka would go and capitalize on the great field position. Kavosiey Smoke would punch it in from four yards out, bringing the score to 10-7 Wetumpka.
Uncharacteristically, Nix would throw his second interception of the first half on the next Indians possession to close the half at 10-7 with Wetumpka on top.
As shown all year, Pinson Valley has been much more effective coming out of halftime when in a close game, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
“This is what they do all year” coach Patrick Nix commented in the post-game press conference. “This is nothing new to us.”
The Indians defense would once again respond by coming out of halftime and stopping the Wetumpka running game completely.
Cornerback Ga’quincy McKinstry forced a fumble that was recovered by Jaylun Gulley setting up Aiden Campbell to hit a 33-yard field goal mid-way through the third quarter to tie the game at 10 apiece.
“We go in at halftime and make adjustments and most of the time it’s us we beat ourselves but we correct those mistakes” linebacker Eric Rogers commented postgame.
On the ensuing kickoff, Campbell kicked an onside kick and recovered to get Nix and the Indian offense back out onto the field.
“It’s something we have practiced a lot and he has gotten really good at it” Coach Nix said about Campbell’s onside kick. “It was the right time to call it.”
With great field position and a quarterback itching to make up for his first half mistakes, Nix marched the Indians down the field to the Wetumpka 1-yard line. On fourth and goal, it was Nix’s number that was called on a keeper over left tackle into the end zone to give Pinson Valley the lead back 17-10 late in the third quarter.
“We ran that play maybe three times throughout the game, I was wrong on the read but I was fortunate to get in the end zone” Bo Nix said about the crucial fourth down conversion.
As the offense righted the ship after halftime, the defense would do the same, pitching a third quarter shut out against the Wetumpka offense and allowing minus-4 yards of offense in the quarter.
After a great punt by Wetumpka again pinning the Indians deep at their own 4-yard line, Nix hit Demarion Holloman on a 34-yard pass on third down to keep the drive alive. Three plays later Nix found his favorite target, LiAllen Dailey, for a 23-yard touchdown pass to stretch the lead to 24-10 with 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Defense was the calling card for Pinson Valley all year, and in the second half it did not disappoint. On the ensuing Wetumpka possession, McKinstry would find the ball again this time intercepting Wetumpka near midfield. The defense would only allow Wetumpka 12 yards of total offense in the second half.
With a short field and a two-score lead, the Indian offense was poised and ready to ice the game, and ice it they did on a six-play drive ending on a Nix 13-yard scramble touchdown, his second rushing score of the night along with 223 yards and one touchdown through the air, pushing the score to 31-10.
After a late defensive stop on fourth down and three kneel downs, Pinson Valley was able to capture their first state championship in school history.
“The first day in the auditorium Coach Nix told us we would go 15-0 and win state, and everyone believed him and bought into it,” cornerback Jackie Matthews said postgame about the historic season.
“We had each other’s backs all season, and after we beat Austin I think we all felt like we had a shot and we did it” Bo Nix said about the belief in the team.
After a perfect 10-0 regular season, avenging a loss last year to Austin in the third round of state the playoffs, and capping off a perfect season with an emphatic win in their state championship game, Pinson Valley is the best 6A team in the state.
With all the talent on every aspect of the game, this team deserves to go down as not only the best 6A team in the state of Alabama, but one of the best high school football teams in the nation.
Pinson Valley 6A State Champions
Posted by The Trussville Tribune on Friday, December 8, 2017
Pinson Valley press conference
Posted by The Trussville Tribune on Friday, December 8, 2017