Prior to the contest, Avery High School honored each of its seniors in fall sports, thanking them for their four years of service and dedication to Avery athletics.
The first major break of the contest went Avery’s way when the Viking defense forced the first of many fumbles during the night. Quarterback Troy Self was separated from the football and Avery’s Colton Blackburn recovered at the Mitchell 43-yard line. Avery capitalized on the gaffe as the offense found the end zone after a six-play drive was culminated by a four-yard touchdown run by running back Taylor Potter. Dustin Clark’s extra point kick put the Vikings out front 7-0 with 5:16 left in the first period.
Mitchell’s next series ended in similar fashion as the first. Running back Shawn Jackson broke loose for a run near midfield, only to be stripped of the football by Avery defensive back Tyler Calvert. Calvert recovered his own forced fumble to give the Big Red possession at the Mitchell 48-yard line.
The Viking running attack again took advantage of the turnover, as the tandem of Blackburn and Potter repeatedly penetrated the Mitchell defensive front for chunks of yardage. Blackburn completed the drive as he raced 25 yards to purple paydirt. The extra point staked Avery to a 14-0 lead as the first period expired.
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| Avery players wore a purple "M" decal last Friday night to honor Mitchell High School and community that has suffered a great deal of adversity this school year. |
The Mountaineers marched on into Avery territory and eventually into the red zone, but the Avery defense held on a 4th-and-1 play from the Viking 5-yard line, tackling quarterback Justin Hughes for a loss to turn the football over on downs. The 16-play, 70-yard drive left the visitors from Ledger empty-handed despite an impressive offensive series.
On its ensuing possession, Avery used its wing formation to drive from its own 10-yard line to the Mitchell 1. On 1st-and-goal from the 1-yard line, Avery moved out of the wing and into the spread formation in order to give tailback Potter a more open field to score on a potential running play. However, the attempt never occurred, as the snap sailed over the head of Viking quarterback Alex Villanueva and the pigskin was recovered by Mitchell’s Hughes.
“That is kind of the way we play. It’s not unlike us to jump out of the wing into the spread. We feel like by doing that we first space out the defense, and secondly we wanted to give Taylor the chance to score the touchdown, since he had scored on the last play but wasn’t credited for it,” Viking head coach Darrell Brewer said of the turnover. “There’s no question in my mind then and even after viewing film that Taylor scored the first time, and we wanted to give him the chance to get in there. We had run from shotgun earlier, so it wasn’t like we hadn’t used it any prior to that play.”
The remaining moments of the first half expired and Avery held a 14-0 edge at intermission.
For most of the third quarter, defense reigned as the snow began to steadily fall on the turf at the stadium. The teams exchanged punts for the majority of the quarter. The Mountaineers finally pieced together a solid scoring drive late in the period, driving 62 yards over eight plays. Hughes and Jackson accounted for all the yards rushing, with Hughes reaching the end zone on a six-yard jaunt. The Isaac Edwards extra point kick slashed the Avery lead in half at 14-7 with 20 seconds to play in the third quarter.
As the final quarter began, momentum was squarely in the corner of the visiting Mountaineers. Avery was held to a three-and-out following the Mitchell score and punted the ball back to the Mountaineer offense.
Mitchell methodically drove the field attempting to score the touchdown to tie or perhaps win the game. The Mountaineer offense chewed over nine minutes off the game clock in the final period, driving from its own 31-yard line to the Avery 4-yard line.
On 3rd-and-1 from the Avery 4, a false start penalty backed up the Mountaineers five yards. The penalty recharged the Viking defense as it held Hughes to a three-yard run to set up a critical fourth down play to decide the ballgame.
Mitchell attempted a pass in the right flat, but the throw in the wind and snow was short of the mark falling incomplete. Avery gained possession, ran out the remaining 38 seconds, and clinched its eighth win of the year.
“The defense came up big when we needed it most. The kids, both teams, they just played so hard,” Brewer said after the win. “Mitchell made some plays and played a heck of a ballgame, but we were able to make that last play and were fortunate to come away with the win.”
Blackburn led the Vikings with 124 yards rushing on 14 carries and a score, with 61 yards from Potter on 13 carries. Jackson led the Mountaineers with 74 yards on 13 carries, with 67 yards rushing by Styles and 62 yards rushing and a touchdown from Hughes.
Avery quarterback Alex Villanueva completed just 2-of-4 passes in the snow and wind for 32 yards. More importantly, the quarterback took a hard hit on the third-from-last play of the game, leaving the contest after apparently re-injuring his surgically-repaired collarbone. Villanueva’s status is officially listed as day-to-day, and his availability for Friday night’s playoff game will be a game-time decision.
The Vikings qualified for the 1-AA state football playoffs, and will host Bessemer City High School in the opening round this Friday, November 12. Avery lost in the first round of last year’s playoffs 33-9 to the Yellow Jackets, but familiarity should prove helpful to the veteran Vikings as they face a Bessemer club with only one win this season.
“I think any time you play an opponent it helps to know what they do. Pretty much our whole team played against these guys last year. If nothing else, it will give us some familiarity about them and our kids might not be as nervous about playing someone they hadn’t seen before,” Brewer said of Avery’s first round opponent. “They play a lot like they did against us last year, but they graduated a lot of players from last year’s team and they kind of like where we were a year ago.”
Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. at MacDonald Stadium. A full recap of this week’s playoff game can be read in next week’s edition of The Avery Journal-Times.
