SERVING UP HOMECOMING

After Class 2A, DI Valley Mills Eagles dramatically post first victory on Homecoming Night last Friday, Meridian hopes to follow suit in District 10-2A, DII opener hosting Hubbard for Homecoming at Jacket Stadium

For Class 2A teams in Bosque County, Homecoming Night could be just the thing need to get the season turned around. And after the Class 2A, Division I Valley Mills Eagles closed out their non-district schedule by getting its first win of the season to celebrate Homecoming last Friday night, the Class 2A, DII Meridian Yellowjackets hope to open district play this week by posting their first victory on Homecoming Night.

VALLEY MILLS 23, BLOOMING GROVE 16

On the strength of a fourth quarter rally, the Class 2A, Division I Valley Mills Eagles came from behind to bury the Blooming Grove Lions, 23-16, for their first win of the season to celebrate Homecoming Night last Friday.

“We’re glad to get our first win of the season,” Valley Mills head coach Bob Featherson said. “We’re still making a lot of mistakes that have to be overcome. But at least we had some kids that made big plays when they had to.”

In a game where both teams combined for four turnovers and 22 penalties, the Eagles jumped out to an early 7-0 lead when junior Jasean Johnson scored on an eight-yard run and junior Jacob Garcia nailed the extra point conversion.

Although Blooming Grove responded for a score of its own to tie it up, Valley Mills bounced back to reclaim the lead when sophomore Blayne Griner connected with Garcia for a 14-yard scoring strike. But Blooming Grove returned the ensuing conversion attempt for a two-point shocker as the Eagles clung to a slim 13-9 lead at halftime.

With the Eagles outgaining Blooming Grove by over 100 yards, Griner completed 15 of 28 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns, while Johnson led all rushers with 90 yards on 22 carries. Junior Andrew Rodriguez led receivers with five catches for 72 yards, followed by sophomore Landon Lemaster with three receptions for 55 yards and Garcia with a team-high seven catches for 41 yards.

“Offensively, we did not play as well this week,” Featherson said. “But we found a way to make the plays late to win the game.”

In the third quarter, Blooming Grove grabbed its only lead of the game with an eight-yard rushing touchdown for a three-point advantage, 16-13, the stood up going into the final period. With the Eagle offense still struggling to move the ball, the Valley Mills buried the Lions for a safety to pull within one point.

Defensively, senior Fred Sadler led the Eagles with 10 tackles, four for losses with the safety, followed by Rodriguez with seven takedowns and am interception, and freshman Bryson Bell with six tackles and an interception.

“Our defense played well overall,” Featherston said. “But had a couple of drives where we weren’t fitting together as a unit. We must get better at angles and fitting off each other.”

Inspired by the defensive big play shifting momentum, the Eagle offense took flight as Griner connected with Lemaster on a 17-yard touchdown pass before Johnson cashed in with a two-point conversion run to put Valley Mills up to stay

“Hopefully, this win will help these young guys understand how to finish close games,” Featherston said. “We will continue to improve on the fundamentals and try to get better every day.”

This week, the Eagles will be hitting the road for the District 7-2A, DI opener at the Italy Gladiators at 7 p.m. Friday. The Gladiators (3-1) will be coming off 34-26 victory over Cayuga last Friday, Italy’s third straight win after opening the season with a 27-20 loss to Scurry-Rosser.

“Italy is a very good football team,” Featherston said. “They have a lot of athleticism and rally well to the ball defensively. The quarterback is an exceptional player and takes over the game when it’s on the line. It’s going be a tough road game to start the district.”

MERIDIAN HOSTS HUBBARD FOR HOMECOMING

Coming off an open date in the schedule, the Meridian Yellowjackets hope to give their fans plenty to cheer about on Homecoming Night.

After taking a much-needed idle week to give some injuries a chance to heal and regroup as a team, Meridian (0-3) will open District 10-2A, DII competition at home against Hubbard Jaguars on Homecoming Night at 7 p.m. Friday at Jacket Stadium. The Jaguars (1-2) lost to Comlesneil Indians, 22-14, before getting an open date last Friday.

“Hubbard has greatly improved from last year,” Meridian head coach Jim Kerbow said. “So, we will have to minimize our mistakes Friday night and play fundamental mental football.”

With injuries taking their toll early in the non-district slate of games, Meridian’s progress slowed to a crawl as the coaching staff looked for replacements to fill the starting lineup. With only 12 returning lettermen with varsity experience entering the season, the Jackets knew dealing with a lack of depth would be a challenge.

“Injuries have been our Achilles heel during non-district play,” Kerbow said. “We knew depth was one of our weaknesses when we started the season. Hopefully by getting some of our players back, we can start to gel in all three phases of the game. We should have the majority of our players back healthy before Friday night.”

With only three non-district games as a part of the eight-team District 10-2A, Division II, the Jackets open district against Hubbard before lining up against the top-ranked Mart Panthers, as well as pre-season sixth-ranked Bremond Tigers, 11th-ranked Chilton Pirates, Goldthwaite Eagles, Wortham Bulldogs and Frost Polar Bears.

Looking for their first playoff appearance since 2017, the Jackets hope to compete for the league’s fourth place playoff berth with Goldthwaite, Wortham, Frost and Hubbard.

“We will need to take it one game at a time,” Kerbow said. “Hubbard is a must-win if we want to stay in the hunt.”

Due to the onslaught of injuries, the Meridian offensive unit has struggled to come together to move the ball consistently. And the Jacket defense continues to work to build cohesion and discipline within the changing and evolving lineup, the lack of which proved to be Meridian’s downfall in a 61-16 loss to Bosqueville two werks ago.

“We won’t be completely healthy on the offensive line Friday night,” Kerbow said. “But hopefully, we will have the majority of our players back. A positive will be that several of our young kids got a lot of work last week during the open week.

“But we will have most of our players back on defense. We have spent the open week working fundamentals so that we can eliminate the mistakes we made two weeks ago against Bosqueville.”

Photos by WENDY OROZCO & courtesy of VALERIE KENDRICK PHOTOGRAPHY