CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Walker Valley inched closer to being the team to beat in the race for the Region 4-5A championship as they manhandled Rhea County 42-12 inside “The MAC” Friday night.
Currently, Walker Valley and McMinn County are both 2-0 in Region 4-5A with three region games left on the schedule. If the current trend continues the Mustangs and Cherokees will close out the region and regular season schedule in a battle to decide the champion Oct. 26 in Athens.
Overall, the Mustangs stand at 5-1 on the season after dropping the Golden Eagles to 3-3 (1-1).
The night was also a big one for senior Mustang Braxton Smith who nabbed his seventh interception of the season late in the game tying the school record set by Lane Miller in 2002.
The Victory was also big for head coach Drew Akins who, in his fifth season as the Mustangs head wrangler, set the Walker Valley record for wins with 27.
Walker Valley will go for a third straight region and regular season win Friday at home against The Howard School.
The Mustangs built a 21-0 lead before giving up a pair of scores to Rhea County late in the second quarter on a 46-yard Caleb Carr to Aiden Wilson pass and a 1-yard Carr run.
“We played really well. I really liked out plan offensively. I loved our plan defensively. We hit a little lull,” Akins said of the let down. “The post on third-and-long. You can't give up a post on third-and-long. Right there at the end of the half we just played outside our scheme. When you play outside the scheme you don't find success. That's the way that is. I was a little frustrated with that. We talked about it at halftime and I said, 'Hey, they don't score anymore. Period.'”
Offensively, the Mustangs, with senior quarterback Evan Schwarzl at the the controls, controlled the game and ran roughshod over the Eagles early.
After forcing an Eagles punt on their first possession the Mustangs galloped 80 yards in five plays, topped off by a 7-yard Schwazl run, to take a 7-0 lead.
A Rhea County fumble late in the first quarter, recovered by Smith, led to a 14-0 Walker Valley lead after a Schwarzl to Roman Eulo 13-yard pitch and catch.
The third Mustangs' TD came on a 29 yard Schwarzl to Hudson Makuch connection with just over five minutes left in the first half.
The Eagles cut the lead to 21-6 with their first TD of the night with 2:07 left in the first half. Hudson Makuch opened the score back to 22 points 10 seconds later with a sparkling 88 yard kick return that put the Mustangs out front 28-6.
Rhea scored its final TD of the on the next possession to make it a 28-12 game at halftime.
Schwarzl and the Mustangs missed a chance to take a 35-12 lead as time ran out in the half after an apparent 39-yard yard TD pass to Spencer Makuch was nullified after a holding call.
“I thought our offense played really well. I thought (quarterback) Evan (Schwarzl) played really great tonight,” praised Akins. “I don't know what he had in the second half, but I know at halftime he was close to the 200 (yards passing) mark. The running clock made it difficult to get him big numbers, b ut 300 yards was kind of the hope.”
The late first half letdown had no ill effect on the Mustangs as the curtain rose on the second half.
After winning the toss and deferring, Walker Valley took the opening kick of the third quarter and promptly marched 62 yards in 10 plays to take a 22-point lead. Malachi Martin's 2-yard push across the goal line put Walker Valley on top 34-12.
The Mustangs, after holding the Eagles on a fourth-and-10 late in the third quarter, capped the night's scoring with a brilliant 45 yard run by Tyran Forte. Eli Wilson's PAT made it 42-12.
“We did a great job on the second half of making sure we handled their offense. They came out and played hard. They were down two scores and I knew they would come out and play. I though maybe they would kind of yield, but no, they came out and played really hard,” said Akins. “Our defense did a good job, though, of getting in there and making that (no score) happen. I'm proud of our defense.
“We are 2-0 in the region and that's huge. Everything we've done to this point is just learning how to win ballgames, and win ballgames in the region. That's what's important. For us to be 5-1 overall, but mainly 2-0 in the region, that's what's important. I'm proud of our guys for coming out and really performing in a way to make that happen.”
SUMMARY
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RHEA CO.
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0
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12
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0
|
0
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-- 12
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|
WALKER VALLEY
|
7
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21
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14
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0
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-- 42
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WV — Evan Schwarl 7 run (Eli Wilson kick), (3:37, 1st)
WV — Roman Eulo 13 pass from Schwarzl (Wilson kick) (9:31, 2nd)
WV — Hudson Makuch 29 pass from Schwarzl (Wilson kick) (5:05, 2nd)
RC — Aiden Wilkerson 46 pass from Caleb Carr (kick failed) (2:07, 2nd)
WV — Makuch 88 kick return (Wilson kick) (1:57, 2nd)
RC — Caleb Carr 4 run (conversion failed) (0:27, 2nd)
WV — Malachi Martin 2 run (Wilson kick) (8:42, 3rd)
WV — Tyran Forte 45 run (Wilson kick) (4:03, 3rd)
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STATS
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RC
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WV
|
|
First Downs
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19
|
19
|
|
Rushes-Yards
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29-123
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23-211
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|
Passing Yards
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136
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234
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|
Total yards
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259
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445
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Passing (Comp-Att-Int)
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9-7-1
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17-20-0
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Penalties-Yards
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8-50
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12-110
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Punts-Average
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1-30.0
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0-0
|
|
Fumbles-Lost
|
1-0
|
0-0
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Individual Highlights
Rushing: Mason Ford 12-63, Cam Potts 8-25; Schwarzl 6-62 TD, Forte 2-44 TD Martin 5-36 TD, Noah Jones 6-31 Leundre Hinton 3-30, Javan Hall 1-8 (WV).
Passing: Carr 9-7, 136 (RC); Schwarzl 17-20, 234 2TD (WV).
Receiving: Aiden Wilkerson 4-97 TD (RC); Hudson Makuch 4-108 TD, Brady Stack 5-56, Spencer Makuch 3-27, Roman Eulo 1-13 TD, Jones 1-10, Jeremiah Pugh 1-12, Martin 1-8 (WV)
Records: Rhea Co. 3-3 (1-1 Region 4-5A); Walker Valley 5-1 (2-0 Region 4-5A)
(Email Richard Roberts at richardvol55@yahoo.com)