Photo Credit: Ron Burkett/ The Trussville Tribune
By Justin Nails
Tribune Sports
PINSON— Pinson Valley travels east to face region 6’s last unbeaten team.
The Indians face another big challenge on Friday night as they travel to Oxford to face the Yellow Jackets in a game in which the winner will be in the favorite going forward in Region 6. The Yellow Jackets have given up six total points in four games this year while the Indians are averaging 33 points per game. Your classic offense vs. defense scenario could be brewing for Friday night but who will prevail?
Oxford enters Friday’s game as the only undefeated team left in Region 6 as they held Munford, Pell City, and Charles Henderson scoreless in those Yellow Jacket wins. While the frat of only allowing six total points in four games is no doubt impressive, the four teams Oxford has played has a combined three wins total. For the first time this year, the Yellow Jackets will be tested, both early and often.
The Yellow Jackets will look to quarterback Trey Higgins to get the offense going as Higgins had over 200 yards passing and two touchdowns last week. The Yellow Jackets will need a balanced attack and Smith Lindsey should at least present them with the opportunity. Lindsey rushed for over 100 yards and two touchdowns last week as well. The key against this Pinson Valley team is slowing the tempo down and keeping Bo Nix and Jay Sharp off the field.
The Indians seem to have hit their stride as they struggled early on in the year to get the passing game going. Last week against Clay-Chalkville, Nix was 30-of-38 passing with 409 yards passing, and three touchdowns. Wide receiver Keyonteze Johnson was on the receiving end of most of Nix’s completions as Johnson caught 17 passes for 247 yards. The Indians have multiple threats at the receiver position to balance out a very good rushing attack led by Jay Sharp.
The Indians defense is still trying to find a rhythm up front as they gave up over 250 rushing yards to Clay-Chalkville last week but it continues to be enough for now. The problem will not go away this week as the Yellow Jackets’ Clay Webb will be problematic all by himself. The 2019 lineman is ranked by 247Sports as the number one player in Alabama for the 2019 class. I expect Lindsey and the rest of the offense to lean heavily on this line and try to dictate the game in the trenches.
Both Pinson Valley and Oxford have a tremendous opportunity to take hold of Region 6 with a win on Friday night. With a win over Clay-Chalkville already in hand, the Indians can put a huge wall between themselves and the rest of the region on Friday night. I expect Oxford to do everything they can to prevent that from happening, especially on their home turf. The series has been dominated by Oxford as they are 5-1 all time against Pinson Valley with their last win coming in 2009. But that is the past and this is now. Can Oxford continue its dominance or will Pinson Valley seize control of the region with a win on Friday night? What better way to find out than pitting one of the states best quarterbacks against a very stingy defense.
Kickoff begins at 7:00 p.m.