(This story has been updated)
CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Ooltewah played Walker Valley for the sixth time Friday and the results were pretty much the same as the previous five games.
Fifth-ranked and unbeaten Ooltewah (8-0, 4-0) woke from a first-quarter slumber and went on to trounce Walker Valley, 45-12, in a District 5-AAA football game at “The Corral.”
Owls quarterback Kelvin Leon had another strong performance and receivers Edward Hayes and Anthony Turner joined him in the spotlight.
Leon threw for 338 yards – 216 in the first half – and four touchdowns to riddle the Mustangs’ defense.
The senior signal caller, who completed 29-of-36 attempts, has now thrown for 1,860 yards and 21 scores this season, his first as a starter.
“I think the game evolved into a passing game after we started off slow,” Leon said. “We’ve done that two straight weeks and we’ve got to fix that. It’s a 48-minute game, not just a second half.”
Ooltewah got nothing from their first three possessions, turning the ball over on a bad snap and watching Leon almost picked off twice.
The big senior caught fire after that and finished the first half completing 19-of-22 passes for 216 yards and three scores. In one stretch that carried over into the third quarter he completed 21 consecutive passes.
“Kelvin is making very good decisions overall,” Owls coach Mac Bryan said. “(Walker Valley) was playing the quick passing game and that gave him some down-field opportunities. In his two years, He’s learned the system well, he absorbed it, studies hard and is a very instinctive player.
“And he’s got a lot of help out there. We’ve got some dynamic receivers he is throwing to and they’re all doing a good job.”
Hayes, the team’s leading receiver, caught touchdown passes of 17 and 7 yards and finished with eight receptions for 113 yards. Friday’s effort pushed Hayes’ season totals to 48 catches, 707 yards and 13 touchdowns.
“I couldn’t do that without the help of my quarterback and other teammates,” Hayes said. “We knew we would have to change some things for this game, but we also knew we’d get some completions. It went pretty well for us.”
Turner was also a thorn in Walker Valley’s side, grabbing eight balls for 178 yards. He got into the end zone once, grabbing a 20-yard strike with 14.8 seconds left in the first half that stole the Mustangs’ momentum after they scored twice in about 2 minutes to cut Ooltewah’s lead to 14-12.
Turner’s catch, which capped a 31-yard, four-play drive that took 35 seconds, extended Ooltewah’s lead to 21-12. He now has caught 28 passes for 665 yards and eight scores.
“That was definitely a momentum buster,” Walker Valley coach Glen Ryan said. “We left the middle open way too much and they picked on us right down the gut to get that score.”
After finding an offensive groove, the Owls built a 14-0 lead, but Walker Valley (4-3, 1-2), put up two quick touchdowns on Avery Jones’ 16-yard run and a 1-yard burst by Corey Castello.
The Owls’ defense had given up seven points – a touchdown and extra point against East Hamilton on Sept. 19 – in three previous league games.
Those scores steamed defensive coordinator Doug Greene’s troops.
Walker Valley may as well have been hog-tied in the second half. The Mustangs got one first down, 3 yards passing, minus-5 rushing and a total of minus-2 in total offense.
And zero points.
“We had to make some adjustments at halftime,” said Owls linebacker Jeremiah Jackson, who had eight tackles and a sack. “We stepped up and got a shutout in the second half.”
Linebacker Nick Putnam really showed up. He also had eight tackles and recorded three sacks for minus-19 yards in the Owls’ second-half domination of the Mustangs.
How dominant?
The Mustangs couldn’t get past their own 27 in the first five drives after intermission. On the final possession of the game Walker Valley finally got past midfield.
“We challenged our guys at halftime, but what I said must not have been very good because we definitely didn’t challenge Ooltewah’s offense in the second half,” Ryan said. “We came out flat, couldn’t get anything going and our defense just wore down.”
Ooltewah won the second half, 24-0.
Senior place-kicker Laszlo Toser capped the scoring with a 27-yard field goal. Toser came into the game having won the Kohl’s Kicking Camp national Kicker of the Week after kicking a school-record 52-yarder in last week’s 38-0 rout of Bradley Central.
Offense has been the name of Ooltewah’s game in the series with Walker Valley.
The Owls’ have now outscored the Mustangs, 302-95. In 2011, Ooltewah scored 62 points for its high-water mark. The lowest output was 41 points in a six-point victory in 2010. The average margin of victory is 50.3-15.8.
“I feel like right now we’re playing pretty good football,” Bryan said. “We’ve got to stay healthy and take advantage of our bye week coming up. There are always some things to clean up. Hopefully we can be ready for Cleveland (on Oct. 24).”
However, with his team on a roll Bryan admitted he would “rather just keep playing” but his players can use the time off.
Jackson agreed, saying, “I can rest my back.”
Scoring Summary
Ooltewah 7 14 14 10 – 45
Walker Valley 0 12 0 0 – 12
First Quarter
OOL – Corey Heard 18 pass from Kelvin Leon (Laszlo Toser kick), 1:22
Second Quarter
OOL –Edward Hayes 17 pass from Leon (Toser kick), 9:09
WV – Avery Jones 16 run (kick failed), 3:56
WV – Corey Castello 1 run (pass failed), 50.1
OOL – Anthony Turner 20 pass from Leon (Toser kick), 14.8
Third Quarter
OOL – Frunsez Kendricks 2 run (Toser kick), 8:30
OOL – Hayes 7 pass from Leon (Toser kick), 5:15
Fourth Quarter
OOL – Kendricks 1 run (Toser kick), 11:55
OOL – FG Toser 27, 9:11
YARDSTICK
OOL WV
First Downs 20 5
Rushes-Yards 30-157 28-23
Passing Yards 340 120
Com.-Atts.-Int 30-37-0 8-17-0
Total Yards 58-426 45-143
Fumbles-Lost 3-2 1-0
Punts.-Avg. 3-23.3 9-33.2
Penalties-Yds. 4-33 6-30
Individual Statistics
Rushing – Ooltewah: Cameron Turner 8-62, Frunsez Kendricks 10-46, Brandon Byrd 9-42, Daizon Taylor 3-7; Walker Valley: Alex King 10-33, Avery Jones 6-25, Brandon Panis 1-5, Trevor Rathbun 1-0, Donnell Armour 1-minus 1, Josh Jones, 1-minus 4, Kolten Gibson 8-minus 35.
Passing – Ooltewah: Leon 29-36-0 338, London Elrod 1-3-2 0; Walker Valley: Gibson 8-17 0 120.
Receiving— Ooltewah: Anthony Turner 7-154, Edward Hayes 8-113, Oliver Peyton 2-20, Rashun Freeman 4-13, Byrd 3-5, Taylor 1-2; Walker Valley: Alex King 2-95, Cooper Melton 2-11, Josh Jones 3-9, Bryce Nunnelly 1-5.
District 5-AAA Standings
School District Overall
Ooltewah 4-0 8-0
Cleveland 3-1 4-4
McMinn County 2-1 2-5
Walker Valley 1-2 4-3
Soddy-Daisy 1-2 4-3
East Hamilton 1-3 1-6
Bradley Central 0-3 2-5
Friday’s Games
Ooltewah 45, Walker Valley 12
McMinn County 25, East Hamilton 15
Cleveland 23, Bradley Central 18
Soddy-Daisy open
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him at Twitter @larryfleming44)