By Sarah Turner
MONTEVALLO, Ala. — High school football. Friday night lights. Late game thrillers. All of this was present as the Montevallo Bulldogs played host to the Sipsey Valley Bears on Oct. 6, and came out with a tough 21-20 win.
On the offensive side of the ball, Bulldog senior quarterback Braxton King threw for 167 yards, and completed 11 of his 16 pass attempts, which included two passing touchdowns. He also added 42 rush yards to his sheet for the night.
Javon Rogers, senior wide receiver for the Bulldogs, was on the receiving end of one of these touchdowns. He had eight receptions for 150 receiving yards.
Running back Rozario Conwell also put up lots of numbers, adding 130 rush yards and one rushing touchdown to his phenomenal junior year statistics.
The Bulldogs defense has been putting up big performances all year, and their play against Sipsey Valley was no different.
“I think the high school game is still very much a defensive oriented game,” said Blake Boren, who is in his fourth year as head coach for the Bulldogs.
“I think right now, the defense is the strength of our team.” As a unit, the defense totaled 44 tackles, with senior linebacker EJ Morton leading the way with seven take downs. The team also totaled 3.5 sacks on Bears junior quarterback L.J. Cormier and added two interceptions.
The game started with the Bulldogs going up first late in the first quarter, with Sipsey Valley evening the score to 7-7 just before halftime. Coming out of the half, Montevallo struck quickly with Conwell’s rushing touchdown, bringing the score to 14-7.
This quick adjustment by the Bulldogs’ offense was influenced by the bonds that this team has created with each other this year. “We tried to put a renewed interest and focus on our team culture,” Boren said.
He’s been emphasizing this idea to his players throughout the offseason, and is hoping the lessons learned over the summer have been brought into the season, which is now at the midway point.
“I think we’ve got guys that are playing for things beyond themselves,” said Boren.
The fourth quarter was jam-packed with action. The Bears evened out the score again with eight minutes left to play in the game after a 47 yard pass from Cormier to hit his first string wide receiver in senior Wyatt Bailey.
After a quick three and out by Montevallo, the Bears got the ball back, and Cormier again hit his favorite target, Bailey, for a 67 yard touchdown, bringing the score up to 20-14 in favor of the Bears.
Fortunately for the Bulldogs, the Sipsey Valley kicker, junior William Espino, missed the extra point attempt, which meant all Montevallo needed was a touchdown to win the game with seven minutes left.
The Bulldogs are no stranger to adversity, as they’ve had to come from behind in most of their games so far this season. Boren said he tells his players that “every play has a life of its own, every week is a play of its own, and every game has its own life…We have to focus on that and then let everything else take care of itself.”
Every play has a life of its own.
Blake Boren
Montevallo would have possession of the ball for nearly the rest of the game, and after a few short gains and first down plays, King hit senior wide receiver Christian Tolbert for an electric touchdown to ice the game.
Last year, Montevallo went 4-6, losing to Sipsey Valley 33-14, so this win meant a lot to the team. And though it wasn’t the prettiest game the Bulldogs have played this season, it was definitely one of the grittiest. “It just goes back to executing what we’re supposed to do,” said Boren.
This team doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, and is exceeding all kinds of expectations across AHSAA 4A Region 3 football at the moment, sitting in third place in the standings.
“When you’re playing for something other than yourself, and you’re playing for the guy next to you, and you’re playing to represent your school and your community, your friends that you’ve been with since elementary school,” says Boren, “that maybe feels a little bit different.”
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