No. 3-ranked Eagles win top-five clash with No. 5 Pleasant Valley
Story By Jason Bowen
A hint of nervousness descended upon Pisgah fans after Pleasant Valley cut the Eagles’ lead to a one-score game midway through the third quarter.
But that’s when Landon Watkins did what he was told, and those Pisgah fans went from nervous to celebrating in a matter of seconds.
The senior returned the ensuing Raiders’ kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown, returning momentum to the No. 3-ranked Pisgah’s side during an eventual 44-20 Class 2A Region 7 win over visiting the No. 5 Pleasant Valley Friday night at Pisgah’s Sam Kenimer Stadium.
“(Pisgah head) Coach (Adam) Gilbert told me to run hard and trust the hash mark. I ran hard, trusted the hash, and God made it happen,” Watkins said. “I think it sealed the game — got us the momentum back.”
The win was Pisgah’s ninth straight win in region play and an important victory in its quest to repeat as region champion. The Eagles and archrival North Sand Mountain remain the only two unbeaten teams after two weeks of Class 2A Region 7 play.
“Huge region win with possible (playoff) home-field implications for sure,” Gilbert said. “We’ve been in some battles. Spring game against a (Tennessee) state champ, fall jamboree vs. a Top-5 4A team Good Hope, Fyffe, Pleasant Valley. Our schedule has been brutal, and that’s what we wanted. It got us ready for this. Thought we had a good week of prep. Coach (Joey) Kirby and Coach (Davey) Arnold did a great job this week with the (defensively) plan and the kids executed it well. Offensively, we adjusted. Coach (Doug) Haynes is getting in the groove (play-calling wise). Proud of our guys.”
The game began on an ominous note for Pisgah (2-1, 2-0) when Pleasant Valley’s Cooper Dougal returned an interception 54 yards for a touchdown to give the Raiders a 7-0 lead just 1:26 into the game.
But Pisgah sophomore quarterback Cutter Mays shook off the interception, throwing touchdown passes of 26 and 10 yards to Cape Duncan and hitting Caleb Jenkins on a two-point conversion to put the Eagles in front 14-7 after one quarter.
Pleasant Valley cut the Eagles lead to 14-13 early in the second quarter on Braxton Salster’s 1-yard touchdown run — Ross Smith blocked the Raiders’ extra point to keep Pisgah in front — but the Eagles countered with Mays finding Jenkins for a 2-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-goal play and Jackson Smalley scoring the two-point conversion to give Pisgah a 22-14 lead.
Pleasant Valley’s next possession ended on downs when Smith broke up a Salster pass near the goal line, and Pisgah marched 79 yards in 1:39 to take a 28-13 halftime lead when Jett Jeffery caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Mays on the final play of the half.
“I thought the two-minute drive before the half was huge,” Gilbert said. “We don’t really practice the two-minute drill because we play at that pace all the time. The kids did a great job there.”
Pleasant Valley (3-1, 0-1) opened the second half with a 12-play scoring drive capped by Salster’s 16-yard touchdown run to pull within 28-20, but Watkins returned the ensuing kickoff to regain the momentum for the Eagles.
“Coach (Freddie) Tidmore has taken our special teams and ran with them, and we said there could be a special team play that breaks this game open,” Gilbert said, “and it definitely broke it open.”
Pisgah’s defense forced the Raiders to turn it over on downs on their next possession, and ultimately the Eagles iced the win when Mays threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Jenkins on a fourth-and-8 play with 1:58 followed by Jude Shankles interception on the first play of Pleasant Valley’s ensuing possession.
Mays was 12-of-19 passing for 187 yards and five touchdowns while Jenkins caught four passes for 52 yards, Watkins had four catches for 72 yards, Duncan had three catches for 42 yards and Jeffery had two catches for 21 yards.
Pisgah was able to grind out the game on the ground over the final quarter-and-a-half. Jeffery finished with 82 rushing yards on 19 carries and Mason Gass added 62 yards on 11 carries.
“The players of the game was our offensive and defensive line,” Gilbert said. “We challenged them and I felt like we controlled the line of scrimmage all night.”
