Andy Gonzalez hauls in a TD pass with seven seconds left in last Friday night's
win over Mitchell. (Skip Sickler photo)
In 2009, Avery football has experienced a myriad of peaks and valleys. From the low points of losing to
Friday night at Memorial Stadium in Ledger was no better example of the tenacity and resilience of the young and hungry Vikings. Avery led for much of Friday’s contest, only see a Mountaineer rally leave the Big Red down three points in the final two minutes.
Avery regrouped, orchestrated a game-winning two minute drive culminating in a 22-yard touchdown strike from Alex Villanueva to Andy Gonzalez to take a thrilling 42-38 victory.
The Mountaineers were forced to punt with their opening possession of the game, and Avery’s spread offense clicked in its first series. A 25-yard pass from Villanueva to receiver Taylor Potter highlighted a drive that running back Colton Blackburn ended with a 49-yard gallop through the Mitchell defense to the end zone. The PAT gave the visitors an early 7-0 edge.
Disaster hit Mitchell on its ensuing series. On its first play, Mountaineer running back Shawn Jackson fumbled the football, which bounced toward the hands of defensive back Tyler Long at the MHS 32 yard line. Long scooped up the pigskin and raced to pay dirt. The Castanedas point after try gave the Vikings 14 points in nine seconds and a two touchdown bulge midway through the opening quarter.
Mitchell still was unable to get out of its own way on its next possession, as quarterback Logan Jensen was stripped of the football by Taylor Potter on a carry. Viking teammate Dylan Aldridge came out of the pile with the football to turn the ball over again to the Avery offense. Mitchell intercepted an Avery pass inside the red zone to turn the Vikings away and prevent a near-insurmountable 21-0 deficit.
Mitchell took advantage of the turnover with a 10 play, 81-yard scoring drive, ending when Jensen found wide receiver Billy Bomar in the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown pass. A two-point conversion attempt failed after Mitchell opted for two following an Avery encroachment penalty on the extra point kick. The Vikings lead dwindled to eight points at 14-6 with
The Mountaineer defense forced an Avery three-and-out following the touchdown, and Jensen and Co. went back to work. Starting a drive in Viking territory, the Mountaineers drove the football inside the Avery red zone, but the defense forced Mitchell to settle for a 30-yard field goal from kicker Matt Sutton, cutting the Avery advantage to 14-9.
Needing to regain momentum, the Avery offense went to its ground game and found success moving the football. Fullback Kenny Hicks benefited from holes opened by the Viking offensive line, pounding the Mitchell defense five times for 44 yards as part of a 7-play, 62 yard drive. Villanueva ran the final yard on a sneak across the goal line, helping the Vikes push its lead back to double digits at 21-9.
Mitchell could not manage a scoring drive on its ensuing series and punted the ball back to Avery. After getting positive results running the football on its previous series, the Vikings continued to go with what worked. Hicks gained 23 yards on a running play to the Mitchell 43-yard line. On the next play,
Mitchell quickly answered Avery’s score with one of its own, an eight-yard jaunt by Jensen to cut the Avery lead back to 28-16 with 18 seconds left.
Avery turned the ball over in the waning seconds of the half when the Vikings chose to pass the football rather than run out the clock. Mitchell’s Dylan Forbes intercepted the Avery throw and was tackled at the Viking 20 with only one second left in the half.
On its final snap of the half, Mitchell went to the locker room on a high note as Jensen connected with teammate Thomas Buchanan on a 20-yard touchdown pass, narrowing the Avery lead to 28-23 at halftime.
As the second half began, the Vikings made a concerted effort to keep possession of the football and keep the suddenly-hot Mitchell offense off the field. Starting its first and only series of the third quarter at the Mountaineer 42-yard line, Avery methodically marched 12 plays, consuming over seven minutes off the game clock.
The Vikings were successful on two separate fourth down conversions to keep the drive alive, and Hicks capped the impressive drive with a 2-yard plunge across the goal line. The PAT boosted Avery to a 35-23 margin.
Not to be undone, the Mountaineers proved they also had the ability to run a ball-possession offense. Mitchell answered the Avery score with an 80-yard drive that took 13 plays to complete. A Jensen 20-yard run highlighted the drive, with
With time slipping away, Mitchell head coach Russell Barnett opted to try an onside kick in hopes of getting his offense the football back. The kick was successful as Mitchell recovered the ball in Avery territory. Mitchell moved the football to the Avery 5-yard line, but a delay of game penalty on 3rd and 1, followed by a defensive stop forced Mitchell to settle for a 25 yard Sutton field goal, drawing the Mountaineers to within a field goal at 35-32.
The Mountaineer defense adjusted to the Viking running game, forcing an Avery punt on its ensuing series. Avery punter Dylan Aldridge pinned the Mountaineers back inside its own 20-yard line with a strong kick, but return man Josh Bennett brought the punt back 37 yards, setting the Mitchell offense up with field position at the Avery 45-yard line. From that point, Jensen put his team on his shoulders, completing a pass to Bomar for 14 yards and running the football three straight times before connecting with receiver Zach Stamey on a 23-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone. The PAT was blocked, but Mitchell had its first lead of the game at 38-35 with
Avery had one final shot to either tie or win the contest. The Vikings packed nine plays into less than a minute of time. Perhaps the biggest play of the game occurred when Avery chose to go for a fourth down conversion from the Mitchell 25-yard line with 30 seconds left. Following a timeout, Alex Villanueva called his own number of a quarterback keeper and with second effort gained three yards to keep Avery’s hopes to win alive.
“During the timeout, Alex came to huddle and called that play. He said “Coach, I’ll get the first down.” When you have special football players, you want them to want the ball, and that’s what he did,” Coach Brewer said regarding the play.
After three incomplete passes, Villanueva completed the touchdown pass to Gonzalez for the winning score.
“When we scored there were seven seconds on the clock. If we don’t score or don’t get out of bounds we might not have the chance to reset and we run out of time, so we felt like we had to go for it right there,” Coach Brewer added. “It was a great call by Coach Laws who had thought it through and suggested it in the huddle. We had not run that quad set by throwing back side with the post corner to the single receiver side all season.”
Mitchell had one final play following the Avery kickoff, but a hail mary pass from Jensen was completed 25 yards short of the goal line, securing the 42-38 Avery triumph.
Mitchell outgained Avery 483-340 in total yardage, while the Vikings were a perfect 4 for 4 on fourth down conversion attempts.
Colton Blackburn rushed 10 times for 132 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Kenny Hicks rushed 15 times for 97 yards and a score. Mitchell was led by Logan Jensen’s 190 yards on 29 carries, with 106 yards on 22 carries by Shawn Jackson.
The win was a huge one for the Vikings. “I told the kids how proud I was of them. They fought hard all year, and I told them that when you keep battling good things will happen,” Coach Brewer said. “We told them to enjoy it tonight, because next week it’s a new season. We’re 0-0 and everybody’s back to square one, so to speak.”
Avery improved to 5-6, finishing with a 3-4 conference record. The Vikings earned a #12 seed in the 1-AA state playoffs and travel to
