ALEXANDRIA — Alexandria’s offense averaged 38.3 points per game last season, and the Valley Cubs picked up right where they left off Friday night, defeating Ohatchee 21-7 and Weaver 49-7 in a five-team jamboree at Lou Scales Stadium.
Friday’s jamboree included Alexandria, Munford, Ohatchee, Piedmont and Weaver, with each team playing one 12-minute varsity quarter and one 10-minute junior varsity quarter against two separate opponents.
Running back JJ Beason and wide receivers Evan White and MJ Morris all had big nights for Alexandria.
Beason scored on a 22-yard touchdown run against Ohatchee but did most of his damage against Weaver, scoring on runs of 3 and 61 yards. He also had an interception on defense against the Bearcats.
Morris caught a 65-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Cole Wheeler against Ohatchee. He scored again against Weaver, hauling in a short pass from Wheeler and racing 37 yards for the touchdown.
White added touchdown catches of 60 and 34 yards against the Bearcats.
“If they load the box, we can get it out and let those guys make plays,” Alexandria head coach Todd Ginn said. “Evan and MJ are pretty good, and the reason why they’re so open is, obviously, our line, and then JJ. Y’all saw JJ is pretty good too.”
Tylen Hunt finished the night with two interceptions on defense.
Jayden Nixon had two long touchdown runs during the junior varsity quarters, one against Ohatchee and the other against Weaver.
Max Guffey put the finishing touches on a strong night for the Valley Cubs, intercepting a Weaver pass and returning it for a touchdown.
Piedmont
Piedmont was equally impressive Friday night, defeating Munford 27-0 and Weaver 34-7.
Quarterback Cole Austin had touchdown runs of 3 and 25 yards against Munford and threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Carson Cleveland against Weaver.
“He made a lot of plays out there tonight, did a great job of running the offense,” Piedmont head coach Jonathan Miller said.
Running back Jaxson Howard finished the night with three rushing touchdowns. He had a pair of 4-yard scores and also plunged into the end zone from 1 yard out.
The Bulldogs also scored on defense when Ben Tolbert picked off a pass against Weaver and returned it for a touchdown.
Piedmont’s junior varsity put points on the board as well. Isaiah Pinto, the younger brother of former Piedmont star Rollie Pinto, threw a touchdown pass to Trevin Holley against Munford, and Noah Bolton scored on a 24-yard run against Weaver.
“It was good to get out here and see who wants to block and tackle,” Miller said. “It was good to hit somebody else for a change.”
Ohatchee
The Indians debuted a new offense Friday, with Ohatchee head coach Blake Jennings saying the team has abandoned the Ugly Eagle.
“It is a version of the Wing-T,” Jennings said. “We’ll do some different stuff out of it, too, as we go throughout the year. Obviously tonight, you know, you’re in a jamboree, you’re going to come out here and run your base stuff.”
The new-look offense produced touchdowns against both Alexandria and Munford.
Carson Sanders connected with Phoenix Tuiolosega for a 38-yard touchdown against the Valley Cubs, and Jayden Siegler scored on a 1-yard run in the Indians’ 7-0 win over the Lions.
Jennings said the decision to switch to a new offense was based largely on the team’s personnel.
“Just doing stuff that fits us, you know, doing what fits our kids, and that’s what you gotta do,” Jennings said. “We’ve got a guy at fullback in Gus Hunter that we think we can utilize, but we’ve also got to be able to utilize Jayden Siegler at tailback. Carson Sanders does a really good job throwing the football for us.”
Weaver
It was a long night for the Bearcats, who were outscored 83-14 by Alexandria and Piedmont.
“We got kicked in the teeth. I wanted to schedule these two teams just to see how we stacked up,” Weaver coach Logan Brooks said. “We did a lot of good things and a lot of bad things, and most of them were on me as a coach. This is my first time doing this, and I put a lot of it on me. They weren’t prepared, but I promise you this, we’re gonna fix it.”
Turnovers plagued Weaver on Friday, but the Bearcats did make a couple explosive plays.
Weaver quarterback Connor Hyatt connected with wide receiver Junior Allen on two long touchdown passes. The first came against Piedmont, with Hyatt tossing a 29-yard strike to Allen for the score. The two hooked up again against Alexandria, with Allen taking a quick screen and racing 65 yards to the end zone.
“I’m a firm believer, and I’ll stand on this, I’ve got the best athlete in Calhoun County in Junior Allen,” Brooks said. “He’ll make plays when there are none to make.”