Valley freshmen fall to Opelika in season finale
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, October 24, 2018
OPELIKA — First-year Valley coach Thomas Hill and the freshman football team wrapped up this season with a 35-12 loss at Opelika on Monday evening.
The freshman Rams end the year with an unofficial record of 2-5-1.
Running back Tykale Foreman was a bright spot for the team all season and recorded eight carries for 41 yards this week in the season finale. Foreman was given many handoffs in a year where fellow freshman running back B.J. Baker was starting on Valley’s varsity team. Kalen Sherrell had four carries for 79 yards, Marquez Hart had a run for 10 yards and M.J. Atkinson ran for yards on one attempt.
Atkinson and John White were the two athletes who alternated at quarterback for the majority of the season. On Monday night, Atkinson completed 3-of-6 passes for 27 yards, while White completed 3-of-4 passes for 83 yards and a touchdown.
Sherrell caught four passes for 56 yards and a touchdown, John White caught a pass for 27 yards and John Poe caught a ball for 12 yards as well in the effort.
On the defensive side of the ball, Jordan Benbrook, Hunter Burdette and Kross Colley put up steady statistics all season long. On Monday night, Benbrook had six tackles, one for a loss, Burdette had six tackles, White had six tackles and Jay Brown had four tackles, including one for a loss.
Hill came to Valley after serving as Springwood School’s head coach for a handful of seasons to assist head varsity coach Buster Daniel. He was brought in to help oversee the culture change that Daniel wanted to implement in Valley football, Daniel previously said.