For the first time in five years, the Avery Vikings sought to win its first two games to start a football season when the West Wilkes Blackhawks flew into MacDonald Stadium Friday night. A 28-point first quarter explosion by Avery quickly removed doubt from the outcome of the evening’s matchup, as the Big Red cruised to a 48-8 rout.The strongest and most complete offensive series for the Blackhawks occurred immediately after receiving the opening kickoff. West drove 70 yards downfield in six plays to reach the Avery 10-yard line. However, the first of a number of miscues sealed the Blackhawks’ fate when running back Cody Greene was stripped of the football by Avery lineman Kenny Hicks. Teammate Lucas Lecka scooped up the pigskin to turn the West threat aside.
Once on the field, the Avery offense carved up the West Wilkes defense with the precision of a master surgeon. Wielding the scalpel on the first offensive series was Viking junior quarterback Alex Villanueva, who connected with running back Colton Blackburn on a 26 yard pass play, then hit teammate Andy Gonzalez for pass connections of 31 yards. A penalty negated another pass completion, but Blackburn did the honors of finishing the drive in the end zone with a 17 yard touchdown jaunt. The Dustin Clark PAT staked the Vikings to a 7-0 lead.
After the Viking defense forced a three-and-out, Avery took advantage of field position beginning inside Blackhawk territory to quickly strike and score. Villanueva hit tight end Remington Austin for a 30-yard pass to the West 10-yard line, and Blackburn scored for the second time in as many series with a ten yard carry on the next play from scrimmage. The PAT gave the Big Red a 14-0 bulge with 4:07 to play in the first quarter.
West’s fortunes turned from bad to worse when a first-down pass from quarterback Seth Absher was ricocheted out of the hands of his intended target by Avery defensive back Andy Gonzalez. The football was caught in mid-air by linebacker Tyler Buchanan.Just three plays after the turnover, the Vikings were back in the familiar confines of the end zone as a perfectly executed screen pass to Taylor Potter and great blocking up front helped convoy the senior running back to the goal line virtually untouched. The extra point put Avery ahead 21-0.
Another three-and-out on West’s ensuing offensive possession gave Avery another chance to score before the close of the first period. Avery was again quick to take full advantage of the possession. In just four plays the Vikings were celebrating another touchdown, this one on a 28 yard touchdown pass from Villanueva to wide receiver Kody Hughes. The Clark extra point ended a stanza where the Vikings lit up the scoreboard and led 28-0 going to the second quarter.
The Blackhawks continued to be their own worst enemy on its next series, as quarterback Absher rushed for a five yard gain only to fumble away the football. Avery’s Spencer Blackburn scooped up the football and darted 21 yards to the West 13-yard line to set up yet another Avery touchdown. On the first play after the turnover, Potter scampered the distance for a 13-yard touchdown. The conversion attempt failed, but the Big Red had a commanding 34-0 lead with 11:07 to play in the first half.
West failed to cross midfield for the remainder of the half with its next two offensive series, and both drives ended abruptly with interceptions, one from Hunter Shields and the other by Tyler Long. In the final second of the first half, Avery padded its lead with a 29-yard field goal from Dustin Clark to lead 37-0 at intermission.
As the third period began, one of the few mishaps occurred for the Avery offensive juggernaut when a Villanueva pass was picked off by West Wilkes’ Will Shepherd and returned inside the Avery 20-yard line. West capitalized on the turnover and scored following five consecutive Tyler Woods running plays, the final one a four-yard plunge to put the Blackhawks on the scoreboard. A two-point conversion run by Seth Absher was successful for a 37-8 Avery margin
.Midway through the period, Avery earned a safety when a Clark punt pinned West back to its own 1-yard line. Avery stifled the first run play following the kick as Taylor Potter tackled Tyler Woods in the end zone for two points and a 39-8 lead.
The Vikings defense continued to shine for the remainder of the contest, holding West on downs on one series and producing another fumble by the Blackhawks, which was forced and recovered by Kenny Hicks to kill another drive.
Avery added a pair of scores to provide the final margin of victory. Villanueva connected with Austin for a four-yard touchdown with 10:33 remaining in the game to give the Big Red a 45-8 lead, and Dustin Clark connected on his second of three field goal attempts on the evening, a 32 yard kick with 24 seconds left to play to boost the Vikings to a perfect 2-0 record to start the season.
Alex Villanueva paced the Avery offense as he was 12 for 23 passing for 239 yards and three touchdowns. Colton Blackburn rushed four times for 58 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Kody Hughes had four receptions for 58 yards and a touchdown, with two receptions and 63 yards from Andy Gonzalez.
The win culminated a winning weekend of high school football, as the Avery junior varsity squad earned a 10-0 shutout victory over the JV Blackhawks Thursday evening in Miller’s Creek. A fumble return for a touchdown, as well as a field goal from kicker Heraclio Flores was all the scoring Avery needed as the defense ran roughshod for the 40 minutes of play.
Both the Avery varsity and junior varsity squads will square off with the Watauga Pioneers in border battles this week.
