Eulo, Walker Valley handle Cleveland on opening night.
Team FYN Sports August 23, 2025
CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Coming into the 2025 high school football season, Walker Valley senior Roman Eulo was expected to be a primary target in the Mustangs offense that defenses would need to be ready for. That did not stop number 6 six in white from making a statement against one of their county rivals. Eulo would account for all 4 of Walker Valley’s touchdowns and the Mustangs would not allow a touchdown while adding 4 turnovers to the stat sheet in a 28-3 triumph over Cleveland on Thursday night at Benny Monroe Stadium.
Cleveland would begin the season on offense but soon would be on defense as Aiden Burns recovered a Blue Raider fumble, giving Walker Valley the football at the Blue Raiders’ 21 yard line.
Aiden Burns (Walker Valley) after a Cleveland turnover in the Mustangs’ victory over the Blue Raiders
Eulo would line up in the backfield, taking the snap and racing in from 7 yards out to give the Mustangs a quick 7-0 lead with 9:59 to go in the opening quarter. Cleveland would put together a nice drive on the following possession and getting points on a 27-yard Sloan Bolaños field goal, cutting the Walker Valley advantage to 7-3.
Eulo, who is committed to Austin Peay, would make up the scoring in the second quarter with two scores each; the first coming on a 3-yard run less than 2 minutes into the second quarter. After holding the Blue Raiders on 4th down on the next possession, quarterback Chase Stephens and Mustangs went back to work. Stephens, who transferred from Cleveland in the off-season, completed a 3rd and 16 pass to continue the drive. Eulo would haul in a 10-yard pass from Stephens to cap the drive and extend the Walker Valley lead to 21-3 with 1:16 to go in the first half. Kaleb Jackson’s interception with 25 seconds remaining on the clock added the perfect end to a dominate first half for the visitors from Charleston.
Eulo’s 1 yard touchdown run with 3:26 left in the third quarter ended the scoring for the game, which gave Walker Valley a 28-3 lead. The fourth quarter saw the Mustangs’ first punt of the game with under 9 minutes left in the game, followed by the Blue Raiders’ third fumble of the night that was recovered by Walker Valley.
“I am really proud of our guys”, Walker Valley head coach Drew Akins said. “Our defensive effort was unbelievable, and the pride of the Walker Valley community showed up”.
Cleveland’s offense lining up against Walker Valley’s defense
Eulo would end up with 107 yards of total offense (57 yards rushing and 50 yards receiving) and Stephens ended the night 10 of 20 for 132 yards passing with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Junior Cason Cunningham made a splash with 146 yards rushing on 24 carries for the Mustangs.
“This was a fun win, it’s cool to be here and win”, Akins added, soaking in his first win at Benny Monroe Stadium as the Mustangs’ head coach. “Anytime you get a win in these rivalry games, they’re not easy and we’re going to make sure that we celebrate those things the proper way and then turn the back when we need to.”
Walker Valley goes to 1-0 and will host Bradley Central next Friday night. Cleveland drops to 0-1 and hits the road to take on McMinn County.
Cleveland defeats Bradley Central, snaps 9 game losing streak to rival Bears.
Team FYN Sports October 29, 2024
BY JEFF CATE (TEAM FYN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR)
CLEVELAND, Tenn. – The 50th meeting all-time between Cleveland and Bradley Central was a battle of teams looking to end the 2024 season on high notes. The Blue Raiders were looking to snap a 3-game losing streak while the Bears were looking for momentum with their 4 total returning starters from Bradley Central’s 2023 state semifinal squad. This golden edition of the battle for Bradley County would have shades of blue and red as Cleveland knocked off Bradley Central 14-13 Friday night at Bear Stadium.
Both teams spent the first quarter figuring each other out, with neither team putting a mark on the scoreboard and heading into the second set of 12 minutes tied up 0-0. The Bears would be on the move early in the second quarter after getting possession at the Blue Raiders’ 31-yard line, but David Yancey would get an interception for Cleveland at the CHS 2-yard line to stop the Bradley Central threat.
David Yancey hauls in an interception for Cleveland
The Blue Raiders would drive 98 yards and get the first points of the contest on a 6-yard AJ Westfield touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead with 5:25 left in the first half. Bradley Central would answer on the following possession, driving 75 yards and getting a touchdown on a 37-yard Tucker Cook to Kaden Cantrell pass to tie the game 7-7 with 1:09 left in the second quarter. The Bears were going to get the ball first to start the second half after tying the matchup, but the Blue Raiders had other plans in regards to the halftime score. Cleveland drove 68 yards in just under a minute to retake the lead 14-7 when Kason McGowan connected with Reggie Hubbard on a 22-yard pass. Isaiah Davis would have a 22-yard run to get inside Bradley Central territory.
The third quarter would begin with turnovers on both teams. Bradley Central would be unable to get control of the second half kickoff and Cleveland would take over with excellent field position inside the Bears’ 20-yard line after Hubbard recovered.
Cleveland’s Reggie Hubbard after his recovery vs. Bradley Central.
Davis would put the ball on the turf on the very next play, which Bradley Central would recover at their 18-yard line. The Bears would put a nice drive together, highlighted by two 4th down conversions in addition to a 27 yard pass to get inside the red zone. But the drive would stall, forcing a 30-yard field goal attempt that was no good.
Kyree Scott would haul in another interception for the Cleveland “Legion of Blue” defense at the CHS 2-yard line to end another Bradley Central drive, but the Bears’ defense would hold and force a punt that gave the black and gold excellent starting field position at the Cleveland 39-yard line. The Bears would cash in this time, getting points on a 1-yard Kenyon Phelps touchdown run with 4:25 remaining in the game. But the special teams woes would continue for the Bears as the extra point attempt was no good, allowing Cleveland to keep the lead 14-13 which would be the difference. The Blue Raiders would rush the field as the clock hit all zeros and the weight of 2 different losing streaks would be lifted off of the boys from Raider Drive. The win snaps a 9-game Bradley Central winning streak in addition to a 3-game skid over the last 3 matchups this year against Charlotte Christian (NC), Bearden, and region champion Maryville.
Davis and Phelps would each go over 100 yards rushing on 20 plus carries for their teams. Davis would end the night with 144 yards on the ground on 22 touches for the Blue Raiders while Phelps would record 130 yards on 29 carries and the touchdown for the Bears.
“Some coaches try to downplay the rivalry and say it’s just like any other game”, Cleveland head coach Chandler Tygard said. “We did the opposite; we’ve been talking about this game for 365 days. You can’t change the program to where you are competing with the Bearden’s and Maryville’s in our region if you don’t win your county first.”
Cleveland improves 6-3 overall and 2-2 in region play. The Blue Raiders will hit the road to take on Hardin Valley on Thursday night. Bradley Central falls to 3-6 overall (1-3 in the region) and will play at Bearden on Friday night.
Follow Jeff on “X” at @TheJeffCate