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.