By Henry Williamson, for the Tribune
PINSON, Ala. – The Pinson Valley Indians remained competitive from the start and kept the game within reach at the half before the visiting St. Clair County Saints gained separation in Friday night’s 43-26 loss in a 5A Region 6 matchup at Willie Adams Stadium.
Pinson’s Tavaries Miles on the run.
Credit: Henry Williamson
“Our kids fight”, Pinson head coach Logan Colafranceso said. “They got guts. We had opportunities, and then we stopped them and forced a punt. I take full responsibility for not coaching in that moment what happened and then we touch it and they get it right there. That was a huge momentum swing in the game. I love our kids. They come back next week and they got a really good Clay-Chalkville football team, but we’ll learn from this and get the film corrected. Our kids are resilient, and they’ll be ready to go Monday.”
The Indians offense was in sync to open the game. After a deep ball thrown by Raymond Howard was called pass interference, Pinson used that to their advantage and struck first as Howard aired a pass right into the hands of Juju Foreman for a touchdown. The two-point conversion was a yard short of the goal line, making the score 6-0 with 8:38 to go in the first.
St. Clair County attacked and set the tempo from that point forward. Landyn Smith led the Saints with a pair of keeper runs before lobbing it up to Kendall Harris on a fade route for a quick response and 7-6 lead with 5:12 in the first.
Possession went back to the Saints and started off with Joshua Douthard receiving the screen pass and accelerating to the Pinson 34. A few seconds later, Douthard split through a hole and couldn’t be taken down to get in the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown reception to grow it to 14-6 with 1:35 in the first.
On the next drive, Smith heaved it downfield, hooking up with Douthard again ahead of the pack for a 80-yard touchdown pass to stretch the lead to 21-6 with 6:53 remaining in the half. The Indians trimmed the deficit to 21-12 with a 5-yard carry by Matthew McKinney with 3:30 on the clock.
Pinson’s defense stood strong and left the Saints empty handed to keep the score at 21-12 at halftime.
The second half didn’t go as expected for the Indians. The defense came up with a stop, but then the punt was fumbled and recovered by St. Clair County at the Pinson 23. The Saints capitalized and added another passing touchdown from Harris for 9-yards as Douthard topped it off on a two-point conversion to extend the lead to 29-12.
Pinson struggled to find any offense as the Saints kept rolling. With 1:03 in the third, Douthard collected his third touchdown of the game with plenty of space in the end zone for the catch. The Indians trailed 36-12 entering the fourth.
An interception return by the Saints marked them at the Pinson 40. Moments later, Jaden Taylor created some space and trotted into the end zone for an 11-yard run as the margin widened to 43-12 with 10:15 left in the game.
Despite being behind, the Indians continued to fight and pushed until the end. Foreman hung on to a pass from Howard for the completion to the 37. Howard generated yardage himself on the ground, eventually powering in from 3-yards. Mckinney’s run on two-point conversion was successful to narrow it to 43-20.
As the Saints were near the goal line looking to score again, Aiden Fitts stepped in front and picked off a pass, bringing it all the way to the 38. Tavaries Miles got in reps at quarterback and landed a 18-yard pass to a diving Eli Miniweather before time expired, capping the game at 43-26.
“Just continue to not look at the scoreboard and be coachable”, Colafrancesco said. “We can live with making mistakes, but try not to make the same mistake twice. Play your technique and trust your instincts. Fix those things and continue to learn and grow every week.”
Pinson falls to 0-6 overall (0-3 in 5A Region 6) and will face Clay-Chalkville on the road next Friday, October 9th as the first win of 2026 still awaits.
