By Justin Nails
Tribune Sports
PINSON—Ramsay began the game with a huge kickoff return by Cedarius Doss all the way to midfield. The Rams picked up a 2-yard run before fumbling the next play. The fumble was recovered by Dorian Henderson who returned the fumble all the way to the Rams 1-yard line. Jay Sharp took the next snap in for the Indians first touchdown of the night giving Pinson Valley the 7-0 lead.
The Indians forced the Rams into a three-and-out on the next drive, taking over on the Rams 21-yard line. Twice the Indians were called for illegal men down field before Bo Nix hit Geordon Pollard on a 21-yard touchdown pass putting the Indians up 14-0 early in the first quarter.
The Rams missed a 17-yard field goal early on in the second quarter opening the door for the Indians to add to their lead. After a couple of series of punts the Indians found themselves in great field position on the Rams 45-yard line after a 7-yard punt from the Rams. Jay Sharp’s second touchdown run was negated by a block in the back but the offense must have seen a similar defensive coverage on the next play as the Indians went right back to the same play with Sharp scoring, giving the Indians a 21-0 lead.
Ramsay finally found some offensive success as Jaih Andrews hit Todd Battle for a 54-yard touchdown pass to give Ramsay its first points of the game. With just fifty-four seconds to go in the half, Pinson Valley lead 21-6.
On the ensuing kickoff, Sharp returned the kickoff to the Rams 35-yard line, giving the Indians superb field position once again. Nix hit Keyonteze Johnson for 22-yards before a series of penalties moved the Indians in and out of a goal-line situation. With about ten seconds to go in a 4th-and-9 down and distance, Nix hit Gaquincey McKinstry for the touchdown, giving Pinson Valley a 28-6 lead going into halftime.
The third quarter also brought a monsoon of a rain storm as Pinson Valley failed to get anything on their first possession. Ramsay returned the punt to the Indians 21-yard line. With 8:44 to go in the third quarter, Andrews hit Jaquel Fells for a 14-yard touchdown. The 2-point conversion was no good but the Rams had cut into the Indians lead, 28-12. Ramsay then recovered an onside kick on the Indians 40-yard line but failed to convert the recovery into points.
As if the monsoon didn’t add enough drama to the game, a bizarre rule negated a would-be touchdown for the Indians late in the third quarter. Bo Nix punted the ball away and as the returner stepped up to catch the ball, he muffed the punt, send the ball into the Rams end zone which was recovered by Pinson Valley. However, because of the “Muff Rule,” the official stated that because the Pinson Valley player did not control the ball before it rolled into the end zone, the ball is considered dead and results in a touchback giving Ramsay the ball on their own 20.
Ramsay didn’t do much with the “Muff Rule” gift as they failed to move the ball and the ensuing punt only traveled six yards, setting up more than generous field position for the Indians. On the very first play of the drive, Jay Sharp bounced a run outside and scored a touchdown to put the Indians up 34-12.
The Rams and Indians couldn’t get anything going in the fourth quarter as both teams exchanged punts in the ongoing rain storm before Jay Sharp returned a 76-yard punt late in the fourth quarter to put Pinson Valley up 41-12 for good.
Bo Nix finished with just 89 yards passing on 10-of-21 passing with two touchdowns and an interception to go along with a 45 yards-per-punt average on the night. Jay Sharp added 87 yards on the ground on 16 rushing attempts to go with his four overall touchdowns on the night. Keyonteze Johnson lead all receivers with four receptions and 27 yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Indians only gave up 277 yards of total offense, just 57 of those yards were gained on the ground. The Indians were lead by De’Quan Ball who totaled 7.5 tackles, six solo, and three assists, as well as two tackles for loss. Antoine Williams also added 7 tackles, 6 six, 2 assists, and one tackle for loss.
Pinson Valley will visit Shades Valley (0-1) in their first region game of the season.