WS Chronicle

It was a scoreless game until the final minutes of the game between Walkertown and Alleghany. A late fumble by the Trojans gave the Wolfpack great field position and a few plays later, Jayden Switzer runs it in from 8 yards out for the only score of the game.

A 6-0 game might seem like it was a defensive battle; this game was more about missed opportunities and penalties. Rodney McKoy, Walkertown head coach, was pleased with the victory, especially when considering how young his team is.

“As I just told this group, I have more than 20 ninth graders on my JV team, because I bumped up most of my sophomores to the varsity team and we made some ninth-grade mistakes,” said McKoy. “What we did do is continue to fight and got a turnover late and was able to get a touchdown and win the game.

“I was happy for the kids and they should have won last week but again, we made ninth-grade mistakes. To get a chance to see them celebrate was great and I’m happy for them.”

The first quarter was tough for both teams. The Trojans and the Wolfpack had a hard time moving the ball. In the second quarter, Walkertown looked to get on the scoreboard with a quick screen to a wide receiver that took it to the house, but it was called back due to an illegal man downfield penalty.

During the second quarter, Alleghany began moving the ball using the running game. Their starting running back was injured early on, so most of the running game duties fell on the shoulders of Alex Woodel.  

Coming out of the half, both coaches seemed to make some offensive adjustments. The Trojans got the ball first in the second half and went right back to the ground game with Woodel. Alleghany drove the ball into Walkertown territory, but an untimely fumble ended the drive.

As the game looked to end in a tie late in the fourth quarter, Woodel fumbled deep inside Walkertown territory giving them a golden opportunity. A few plays later, Jeremiah McIntyre ran it in from 8 yards out for the eventual game-winning score. Coach McKoy feels a win like this will give his young players some positive momentum as the season progresses.

“This is a really good class and we have some young kids that are just learning what to do,” he said. “They are learning on the job and I have a plan and we just have to see the plan through.”

Noah Lyon, Alleghany head coach, was a little worried about his team prior to kickoff. He felt they may have underestimated Walkertown, because of how easily they defeated their opponent the previous week.

“This group has high expectations in our community and we have high expectations for them, as coaches,” Lyon said. “They won a game last week against a team that wasn’t very good, and I don’t know if our mindset was there tonight. I don’t want to take anything away from Walkertown, because they had a lot to do with us not playing well.

“They are young JV kids and I would rather them learn that lesson now than on Friday nights, so that’s part of the growing process as young men.”

Coach Lyon thought his team left a lot of opportunities out on the field. Lyon realizes they are young kids, but wants his team to focus more in practice, so they can perform better on Thursday nights.

Moving forward, McKoy says he wants to see improvements along the offensive line. He feels his defense played well, but wants to see better execution in all phases of the game.