Valley blanks Eufaula in region game

EUFAULA — It was a flashback to the 1990s in Tiger Stadium on Friday night.

Valley, which won seven of eight matchups with Eufaula during the 1990s, used seven Tiger turnovers to score a 16-0 win and snap a six-game losing streak to Eufaula.

With the win, the Rams improved to a 4-0 in Class 5A-Region 2 play and strengthened their grip on the region lead.

“We gave great effort tonight, but you can’t have that many turnovers and beat a good team like Valley,” Eufaula head coach Dan Klages said. “There’s no way we should have lost that game based on effort, heart, character and guts. Our guys gave everything you could ask for, but turnovers and mistakes cost us.”

The mistakes started early for the Tigers.

After holding Valley’s offense to just 6 yards on its first two drives, Eufaula senior quarterback Zack Brown was picked off by Valley sophomore defensive back Erique Florence at the Valley 40-yard line. Florence returned the ball to the Eufaula 29.

The interception came after a pair of Eufaula false start penalties and just before the Tigers were whistled for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which gave a sputtering Valley offense first-and-10 from the Eufaula 14-yard line.

After an 8-yard gain on first down by junior running back Tim’Vontae Walker, the Tiger defense stiffened and pushed Valley back a yard on the next two plays forcing the Rams to attempt a field goal. Junior kicker Jared Danford booted the 22-yard attempt through the uprights to give the Rams a 3-0 lead with 3:37 remaining in the opening quarter.

Things got worse for the Tigers on the ensuing kickoff.

Danford kicked the ball down to the Tigers’ 10-yard line where Eufaula sophomore Ramone Lewis bobbled the ball. A pair of Valley defenders slammed into Lewis, separating him from the football. The Rams pounced on the loose ball at the Eufaula 5-yard line.

Two plays later, Valley senior quarterback Brent Osborn was in the end zone. Osborn’s 4-yard touchdown run gave the Rams a 9-0 lead with 2:40 to play in the first quarter.

Danford’s point-after attempt was no good.

“Our defense played their tails off,” Klages said. “We played (Valley) tougher than anyone else has all year, but offensively we put our defense in tough situations.”

After a scoreless second and third quarter, Valley junior defensive back Hunter Hodnett put the exclamation point on the win when he intercepted a pass from Eufaula senior quarterback Bill Hamrick and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown with 1:30 left to play.

Hamrick was under center in place of Brown, who was knocked out of the game with 1:28 remaining in the second quarter.
Brown, Hamrick and sophomore quarterback Demonte Jett combined to throw five interceptions.

Florence, Hodnett, junior defensive back Savasko Woody, senior defensive back Salasky Gates and senior defensive back Shaka Woody each recorded an interception for Valley.

Eufaula’s only serious scoring threat came just before the end of the first half.

After taking over on their own 10-yard line, the Tigers marched to the Valley 21-yard line due in large part to a 26-yard run by senior running back Shaquille Ledbetter and 17-yard and 13-yard completions from Brown to senior tight end Javen Harris and senior wide receiver Lazabian Jackson, respectively.

The drive stalled, however, after Brown went down clutching his knee on a second-and-10 play.

Jett rushed for 3 yards on third-and-16, and the Tigers elected to attempt a 41-yard field goal with 12.1 seconds left in the half.

Eufaula junior kicker Will McKee’s effort had plenty of distance, but missed wide left.

Eufaula managed to cross midfield just once in the second half.

After yielding 124 yards of total offense to Eufaula in the first half, the Rams held the Tigers to just 44 yards of total offense in the second half.

In contrast, the Rams managed to gain just 48 yards of total offense in the first half, while gaining 78 yards in the second half.

Walker led the Valley offense with 59 yards on 19 carries.

Eufaula sophomore Daniel Forte led the Tigers with 61 yards on nine carries. Ledbetter added 54 yards on 11 carries.

Eufaula (3-3, 2-2) will be back in action Friday when it travels to Ozark to take on Carroll.

Valley (5-1) will host Booker T. Washington on Friday night.