The Cinderella season of the Mitchell Mountaineers continued last Friday, Nov. 26, before a packed crowd at a cold MacDonald Stadium as five Avery turnovers and an efficient Mitchell ground game translated into a 47-22 Viking loss in the third round of the NCHSAA 1-AA state football playoffs.
“We missed too many tackles and turned the football over too many times to beat a good Mitchell football team,” Avery head coach Darrell Brewer said after the game. “Mitchell’s a dang good football team and were on their game. I don’t know if they’ve played a better game all season. You can’t beat a bad football team with five turnovers, much less a great team like Mitchell. They simply made plays and we didn’t.”
Things started well for the Big Red as it forced Mitchell to punt on the game’s first series. The Justin Hughes kick was downed inside the Avery 5-yard line to pin the Vikings in the shadow of its own goal post. On the second Avery offensive play, Viking senior running back Taylor Potter gained a first down, but Mitchell’s Logan McKinney forced a fumble from Potter and recovered the football to set the Mountaineers with excellent field position. Following a procedure penalty against Mitchell, quarterback Hughes broke several tackles and rambled 19 yards to the end zone for the first points of the game. Isaac Edwards’ point after touchdown (PAT) staked the visitors to a 7-0 lead with 8:38 to play in the opening period.
On Avery’s ensuing possession, the Vikings benefited from a 25-yard carry from Potter to advance the football close to midfield. The Mitchell defense bowed up, however, and forced Avery to punt. The long snap sailed over the head of punter Dustin Clark, however, who managed to retrieve the football and complete a pass to receiver Hunter Shields for a loss of yardage to turn the ball over on downs in Avery territory.
The opportunistic Mountaineers expended only two plays to find purple paydirt. Shawn Jackson did the honors, as the senior running back broke several tackles en route to a 27-yard score. Edwards added the PAT for a 14-0 Mountaineer lead with 3:45 to play in the opening stanza.
“We missed too many tackles and turned the football over too many times to beat a good Mitchell football team,” Avery head coach Darrell Brewer said after the game. “Mitchell’s a dang good football team and were on their game. I don’t know if they’ve played a better game all season. You can’t beat a bad football team with five turnovers, much less a great team like Mitchell. They simply made plays and we didn’t.”
Things started well for the Big Red as it forced Mitchell to punt on the game’s first series. The Justin Hughes kick was downed inside the Avery 5-yard line to pin the Vikings in the shadow of its own goal post. On the second Avery offensive play, Viking senior running back Taylor Potter gained a first down, but Mitchell’s Logan McKinney forced a fumble from Potter and recovered the football to set the Mountaineers with excellent field position. Following a procedure penalty against Mitchell, quarterback Hughes broke several tackles and rambled 19 yards to the end zone for the first points of the game. Isaac Edwards’ point after touchdown (PAT) staked the visitors to a 7-0 lead with 8:38 to play in the opening period.
On Avery’s ensuing possession, the Vikings benefited from a 25-yard carry from Potter to advance the football close to midfield. The Mitchell defense bowed up, however, and forced Avery to punt. The long snap sailed over the head of punter Dustin Clark, however, who managed to retrieve the football and complete a pass to receiver Hunter Shields for a loss of yardage to turn the ball over on downs in Avery territory.
The opportunistic Mountaineers expended only two plays to find purple paydirt. Shawn Jackson did the honors, as the senior running back broke several tackles en route to a 27-yard score. Edwards added the PAT for a 14-0 Mountaineer lead with 3:45 to play in the opening stanza.
At its bleakest moment of the season to date, the Viking misfortunes made a 180-degree turn. Kick returner Hunter Shields caught Mitchell’s ensuing kickoff at his own one-yard line, maneuvered his way through teammate blocks and would-be tacklers and raced down the sideline for a school-record 99-yard kickoff return. Dustin Clark’s PAT trimmed the Mitchell lead to 21-7 with 43 seconds left in the first period.
Having seemingly lost a bit of momentum, the Mitchell offense proceeded to impose its will and control the clock during the second quarter of play. After Avery’s touchdown, the Mountaineers embarked on a 14-play, 71-yard touchdown drive to score for the fourth time in four possessions. The key play of the drive was a 22-yard pass completion on 3rd-and-10 from Hughes to receiver Troy Self. Hughes capped the successful drive with a one-yard plunge three plays later, and the PAT again gave the Mountaineers a 21-point lead at 28-7 with 5:36 left in the half.
Avery’s only successful offensive series of the entire first half followed the fourth Mountaineer score. The Vikings opened up the playbook with its spread formation, running a no-huddle, hurry-up offense to perfection. Avery marched 53 yards in six plays and elapsed only 1:18 off the game clock. Viking quarterback Alex Villanueva ran free for a 10-yard touchdown run, and Clark’s PAT pulled the Big Red to within 28-14, a score which remained unchanged for the remainder of the half.
Avery received the opening kickoff of the second half and set itself in excellent field position as Colton Blackburn caught a squib kick and returned the football for 39 yards to the Mitchell 30-yard line. The Viking offense moved 25 yards in eight plays, including a key 18-yard pass completion on fourth down to wide receiver Andy Gonzalez.
With first down inside the Mitchell 10-yard line, Avery needed a touchdown to draw to within a touchdown, but the Mountaineer defense left the Vikings empty-handed as linebacker Ben Smith intercepted a Villanueva fourth-down pass in the end zone.
Brewer saw the Mountaineer stop as a key moment in the contest. “I thought that was big. If we come out and put that ball in the end zone after halftime, we’re down by just a touchdown,” Brewer said
