Walker Valley’s Historic Season Comes To An End At The Hands Of Knoxville West

Walker Valley’s historic season comes to an end as Mustangs fall to Knoxville West.

BY JEFF CATE (TEAM FYN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR) – “The Walker Valley Way” wasn’t quite enough to get the victory over the defending 5A state champions from Knox West, but the Mustangs showed that it is here to stay as it finished 2023 one of the 4 teams left standing in the 5A playoffs. The Rebels ran away from Walker Valley for a 38-3 semifinal victory on Friday night and an appearance in the BlueCross Bowl on Friday December 1^st.

West set the tone early as Ryan Scott would force an Evan Schwarzl fumble inside the Walker Valley 20-yard line on the first play of the game, which the Rebels recovered. Marshaun Bowers would score on a 4-yard run to give the Rebels an early 7-0 lead 1:08 into the game. The Walker Valley offense answered on their next possession, which was kick started by Schwarzl’s 20-yard run on 3^rd and long to get the Mustangs inside the West 20. The drive would stall but the Mustangs got points on a 39-yard Eli Wilson field goal, cutting the West lead to 7-3 with 7:13 remaining in the first quarter.

West would begin their last drive of the first quarter in Walker Valley territory after fake punt was sniffed out by the Rebels, giving them the ball at the Mustangs’ 40. West would cash in with 9 seconds remaining in the quarter on Bowers’ second rushing touchdown of the quarter, giving the Rebels a 14-3 lead. Walker Valley would fumble the ensuing kickoff that West would recover at the Mustangs’ 39-yard line, which would make the third time the Rebels would start inside the 40-yard line of Walker Valley.

“They just do what they do so well”, Walker Valley head coach Drew Akins said about West. “They’re very simple, they don’t have a crazy scheme; they just play what they play so well. They attack you and they play with such great effort. When you make mistakes against them it’s going to cost you, and it cost us tonight.”

Almost a mirror image of the first quarter when the Rebels got their first points 1:08 into the first quarter, West would score 1:03 into the second quarter when Devin Jamison outraced the Walker Valley defense on a 36 yard and a 21-3 lead. The Mustangs would force and recover a West fumble, but were unable to get anything going and punted the ball back to the Rebels. West would drive inside Walker Valley 5-yard line near the end of the first half, but would have to settle for a 20-yard field goal with 5 seconds remaining in the first half, which would make the West lead 24-3 at the half.

The Walker Valley defense stuffed Bowers on 4^th and 1 on the first possession of the second half, giving the Mustangs the ball near midfield. But the West defense would return the favor as Walker Valley went for it on 4^th and long, but Schwarzl’s pass was incomplete. Bowers would show off his speed on the following possession, this time from 46 yards out, making defenders miss for his third touchdown of the game and West extended their lead to 31-3 with 2:14 left in the third quarter, a lead they would take into the fourth quarter.

West kept in on the ground for the majority of the final 12 minutes. They would cap the scoring with 1:40 left when Mesijah Wren scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to give the Rebels a 38-3 lead, which would be the final score. West saw 0:00 hit the scoreboard and knew they had a return trip to Chattanooga to try to defend their 2022 state championship when the Rebels will take on Page at 7pm on Friday December 1st in the 5A BlueCross Bowl championship game.

Walker Valley ends the 2023 season 11-3 overall, a season that saw many firsts in addition to another region championship

“It was a special year”, Akins said when discussing Walker Valley’s breakout season and what it means to the program. “First-time with double-digit wins, first time with 11 wins, first time in the quarterfinals, first time in the semifinals, first win over McMinn (County). What’s it done is it’s changed the expectations here. We now have expectations that this is what we do.”

“A group (senior class) that’s completely changed our program”, Akins said about his senior class and Evan Schwarzl. “He (Schwarzl) was the leader of it and they just decided they weren’t going to be a normal team. Evan led that, and you saw other guys join in because of Evan’s leadership. I love that kid so much. Who he is, what he does, and the character that he has; there’s not a better kid around”.

Follow Jeff Cate on “X” at @TheJeffCate