Walker Valley Slays Dragons

Walker Valley slays Dragons, reaches 5A semifinals for the first time.

 

BY JEFF CATE (TEAM FYN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR) – Before his team hit the field to take on Clinton, Walker Valley head coach Drew Akins said, “the new Walker Valley way (is) when you have difficult things, you go beat its tail”. The new Walker Valley way was the exciting and winning way on this playoff Friday night as the resilient Mustangs erased a 14-0 first quarter deficit to knock off the Clinton Dragons 24-20.

 

Clinton quarterback Josh Keith showed off his athletic ability on the Dragons opening possession, which ended with his 3-yard touchdown run and the 2-point conversion from D’Mon Marable to give Clinton an early 8-0 lead. Walker Valley marched down the field on their first possession and got inside the red zone, but two costly penalties forced the Mustangs into a field goal attempt which they missed, allowing Clinton to hang on to their 8-point lead. Jawan Goins showed off his speed after eluding a couple of Mustang defenders and extended the Dragons lead to 14-0 on his 60-yard touchdown run (the 2-point conversion attempt was no good) with 1:03 left in the first quarter, which would be the home team’s advantage after the first twelve minutes.

 

Walker Valley cut the Clinton lead to 14-7 a little over a minute into the second quarter when Roman Eulo slipped behind the Dragons secondary and Evan Schwarzl found him for a 45 yard touchdown. The Mustangs defense would answer the call on the next possession, getting an interception on a 4th and 6 attempt with 3:08 remaining in the first half after Clinton had driven inside the Walker Valley 35-yard line. The Mustangs’ offense was able to get things going and drove inside the Dragons’ 5-yard line with a chance to tie the game at halftime, but Schwarzl was stopped inside the 2-yard line on the final play of the first half and Clinton took that 14-7 lead to halftime.

 

Not much went on for the majority of the third quarter until Walker Valley put together a nearly 7-minute drive, which saw the Mustangs once again get inside the Clinton 5-yard line. The drive stalled but Eli Wilson connected on a 19-yard field goal and Walker Valley inched closer to the Dragons, who now led 14-10. That would be the score at the end of the third quarter, setting the scene for another example of “the new Walker Valley way”.

 

After kicking short on the ensuing kickoff after the field goal and setting up shop at the Walker Valley 21-yard line, the Dragons only gained 4 yards on the drive and the Mustangs defense made another statement on 4th down. Keith found Jerius Hundley on a pass to the sideline, but Jacob Hollingsworth tackled him short of the first down marker and gave Walker Valley a chance to take their first lead of the game with 11:05 remaining. Less than 3 minutes later, they did just that. Schwarzl connected with Hudson Makuch, who broke 2 tackles on his way to the end zone, on a 52-yard touchdown and a 17-14 Mustangs lead with 8:59 left in the game. Clinton looked to stop the bleeding and the momentum Walker Valley had just taken in the Dragon’s Den. The Dragons rolled the dice and went for it on 4th and 1 from their 29-yard line and looked to be stopped short, but were able to convert to keep the drive alive. That lasted one play because Keith bobbled the next snap but was able to get control of the ball and pitch it forward to Goins. Goins retreated but fumbled and Walker Valley recovered at the Clinton 20-yard line with 6:27 left in the game.

 

The Mustangs would score their 24th unanswered point six plays later when Schwarzl avoided pressure off the edge after shaking off 2 Dragons’ defenders, rolled out, and found Spencer Makuch from 11 yards out to push the lead to 24-14 with 3:47 left on the clock.

 

 

 

 

 

If there’s any time left on the clock, the Clinton Dragons have shown that’s plenty of time to make something happen. Keith would get his second rushing touchdown of the night to cap a drive that took 2:47 off the clock to get Clinton within 4 (after another failed 2-point conversion), trailing Walker Valley 24-20 with 1 minute left. The heart rate for everyone wearing blue and gold on the Walker Valley side went sky high as Clinton recovered the onside kick at the Mustangs’ 49-yard line with 56 seconds to try to work some of the Dragons’ playoff magic they’ve had in previous wins vs. McMinn County and Oak Ridge. But number 1 in white sealed it with 24 seconds left in the game when Schwarzl went up and intercepted a Keith pass at the Mustangs’ 2-yard line.

 

 

 

 

“It was unbelievable”, Akins said about Schwarzl’s interception. “He was playing so deep on the previous one but he was saying: I promise you coach, when it gets in the air I’m going to go get it”.

 

Walker Valley was able to get away from their goal line because of two personal foul penalties on the Dragons as frustration began to set in for Clinton, knowing their special playoff run was coming to an end. Schwarzl took a knee and the Mustangs’ historic season continues for another week.

“We’re going to practice on Thanksgiving”, Akins said when asked about his new holiday plans. “I’ve talked to so many coaches and they’ve said practicing on Thanksgiving is the goal. I bet these momma’s make some real good side dishes for our Thanksgiving lunch so that’ll be fun”.

 

Walker Valley (11-2) advances to the 5A semifinals to take on Knox West (12-1). It is the first time the Mustangs have made it to the semifinals in school history and set a new school record for wins in a single season with 11. Clinton ends their 2023 season with a record of 6-7.

 

Follow Jeff Cate on “X” at @TheJeffCate