Despite an early deficit and less-than-stellar weather conditions, the Avery Vikings made sure to send the Big Red faithful home happy last Friday night. Fourteen unanswered points and an inspired defensive effort led Avery to a 14-7 win last Friday on Homecoming night over the visiting Owen Warhorses at MacDonald Stadium.In the game’s opening moments things looked up for the Big Red to draw first blood in the contest. Owen fullback Brennan Kirby fumbled on a handoff, and Taylor Potter recovered for Avery to set the Vikings up with prime field position. Owen held Avery to a three-and-out, however, and a Dylan Aldridge punt pinned the Warhorses inside their own 15-yard line.
Saddled with poor field position, the Warhorses used its ground game to chew up chunks of yardage with its second offensive series. A 39-yard Austin Myers run highlighted a drive where Kirby redeemed himself by rambling 23 yards to the end zone to give the Owen the lead. A Gerald Cruz extra point staked the Warhorses to a 7-0 lead at the
The squads exchanged possessions by way of punt through the remainder of the first period that was marked by heavy rains. As the half wore on, Avery gradually began to win the field position battle. Senior punter Dylan Aldridge successfully pinned the Owen offense inside its own 20-yard line with kicks on three separate occasions in the half, the latter of which was a 58-yard effort which pinned the Warhorses on their own 1-yard line.After forcing another punt that set an Avery drive to begin inside Owen territory, the Vikings marched 47 yards on 7 plays. Running back Colton Blackburn ran for 29 of his 101 yards for the half on the drive, which was capped by an Alex Villanueva one-yard quarterback sneak across the goal line. An extra point from Andres Castaneda knotted the game at 7-7 with
On Owen’s ensuing series, the Warhorses drove the field to the Avery 19-yard line. Faced with a difficult decision, Owen head coach Ken Ford decided to go for the first down and opted for a fullback run with Kirby. Avery sniffed out the play immediately and downed Kirby for a loss of yardage to kill the threat and help the game remained tied at halftime.
During ceremonies at intermission
As rain continued to fall intermittently throughout the game, the Vikings turned the momentum of the contest for good with the opening drive of the second half. A 19-play, 89-yard drive consumed
“We felt all week like we could run the football on them,” Vikings head coach Darrell Brewer said after the game. “With the weather conditions, it was going to be hard to throw the football, so we went to work running the football.”
On its ensuing possession the Warhorses looked to answer the Avery touchdown. As the fourth period began, fog began to settle in the valley and into MacDonald Stadium itself, eventually encompassing the facility. As visibility decreased, Owen quarterback Kaleb Fowler appeared to score on a six-yard quarterback sweep. A holding penalty negated the score, however. The call set the stage for a fourth and goal two plays later from the Avery 3-yard line. Fowler called his own number, but the Vikings stopped the Owen signal caller for no gain to turn the football over on downs.
Avery could not move the football away from its own goal line as it went three-and-out. One of the Big Red’s most valuable weapons of the evening, the kicking leg of punter Aldridge, came through again as he booted a punt through the mist and fog for 52 yards, forcing Owen to again drive the field for the tying score.
As visibility shrunk to mere feet on the playing field and virtually zero from the press box, the Warhorses advanced the football inside the Avery 25-yard line. Owen’s last credible opportunity to score was quelled when a Fowler pass in the right flat was intercepted by Avery’s Colton Blackburn.The Avery defense held Owen one last time to a three-and-out in Warhorse territory, and kept possession of the football for the final
“This was a good win. The kids outdid themselves and played extremely hard on both sides of the football,” Avery head coach Darrell Brewer said after the win. “Owen hurt us a little on their sweep plays, but overall I was very pleased with the defense. They stood up and we had two big fourth down stops, which is awesome for a defense.”
Colton Blackburn led an Avery attack that compiled 214 yards on 51 rush attempts. The junior ran 18 times for 148 yards. Avery committed no turnovers in the game
“We came out and executed very well. The line did a heck of a job,”
Avery has already exceeded its win total from a season ago, and will look to extend its win streak to three games on Friday when it hosts
“What we’ve done so far is a credit to our kids,” Coach Brewer said. “We have a great group of kids who come to work every day and play hard. I’m proud to be their coach.”
