Valley cruises past Beauregard for region win

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Nieko Stewart picked up the loose football and kicked his legs into overdrive.

The only thing moving faster was the senior defensive end’s brain.

“There was a lot of stuff going through my head,” Stewart said. “It was my first varsity touchdown — and probably my last one — on Senior Night in the Game of the Week.”

Stewart’s first-quarter, 85-yard fumble recovery on a botched field goal kick-started Valley’s dominant 35-0 shutout against Beauregard and helped send the Rams to a Class 5A-Region 2 title game of sorts next week against Tallassee.

But Valley had much bigger plans afterward, when it celebrated its second shutout and seventh victory of the season.

The Rams huddled at the 50-yard line and chanted “15 weeks” and “Birmingham,” the site of the Super 6 State Championships.

“The kids executed and did another great job,” Valley coach Roger McDonald said. “We just did a great job.”

The mood was a tad different on the Hornets’ side of the field.

With both Charles Henderson (5-3, 4-2 Class 5A-Region 2) and Eufaula (5-3, 4-2) picking up victories Friday night, Beauregard (4-4, 3-3) lost control of its playoff destiny. The Hornets must beat Booker T. Washington next Friday and have the Tigers beat the Trojans, whom Beauregard has the tiebreaker advantage over because it beat them earlier in the season.

“I thought we had a good gameplan and I thought we were ready to play,” Hornets coach Smitty Grider said. “But once that field goal incident happened, we lost our momentum.”

And the Rams, specifically Stewart, ran with it.

On their heels early after Hornets quarterback Ameriol Finley completed a 35-yard pass-and-run to Kris James down to their 1-yard line, the Rams got tough. Valley stuffed James twice before watching the Hornets move backward on a penalty and stand still after a third-down Finley incompletion.

A bad snap on the Hornets’ field-goal attempt forced Beauregard’s holder to get up from his stance and try to make a play.

Stewart made it for him.

A bodyslam tackle forced the ball loose and into the hands of Stewart, who ran with it all the way to the end zone with three Hornets reaching for his heels. The score was 7-0, but the game was all but over.

“There’s no doubt that turned the entire game for the rest of the night,” McDonald said.

The Rams made sure the game remained “turned,” limiting Beauregard to just four first downs and 68 yards in the final three quarters. And even when it looked like Beauregard was ready to snatch back a little momentum, Valley ripped it right from the Hornets’ hands.

The Rams forced four fumbles, recovered them all, and picked off Finley in the fourth quarter to set up their final scoring drive. Three of the Rams’ five touchdowns were either scored by the defense or set up by turnovers.

“We play hard on defense,” Stewart said. “We hit hard, everybody keeps playing until you hit them hard. We’re more physical than everyone else that we’ve played.”

Kenorio Warren was the most physical of the Rams’ group of running backs, racking up 129 yards on 13 carries. The senior capped Valley’s day, when he plunged into the end zone from 15 yards out with 45 seconds remaining.

With the Rams totaling 202 yards on the ground, Valley quarterback Brent Osborn didn’t need to do much, but the senior made the most of the two passes he completed.

Osborn’s 41-yard completion to Salasky Gates in the second quarter set up Richard Hopkins’ 1-yard touchdown run. In the fourth quarter, he hit tight end Asmar Moore with a 16-yard touchdown pass.

Tim’Vontae Walker capped a seven-play drive in the third quarter with a 29-yard touchdown run.

“We’re not an offense that’s going to come out and light it up,” McDonald said. “We want to wear you down and beat you in the second half, and that’s what we did.”

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