By Adam Crocker/Sports Correspondent
It was homecoming last Friday (Oct. 7) at Jim Glover Field, as Etowah High defeated Boaz, 51-10, in a Class 5A, Region 7 game in Attalla.
With their seventh straight win, the Blue Devils improved to 7-1 overall and 5-1 in region play. The Pirates dropped to 0-7, 0-5.
“It was sloppy, but we were able to play a lot of people,” said Etowah head coach Drew Noles. “We had a lot of people out this week, and guys played, got to start, and that was good for us, and I’m glad for another win. Hopefully, we were able to get out of tonight without any injuries.”
The Blue Devils started the game out quickly with a quick four-play, 70-yard scoring drive that resulted in a 44-yard touchdown run by Caleb Horton. Raul Hernandez’s kick was good, making it 7-0 with 10:13 left in the first quarter.
After the Pirates turned it over on downs, the hosts added another score off an 11-yard pass from Daulton Hyatt to Justin Harris. Hernandez’s kick was good for a 14-0 lead.
Boaz kicker, Gerardo Baeza-Medina pushed through a 23-yard chip shot field goal at the 6:35 mark in the second quarter to pull the visitors within 14-3.
At the 3:58 mark of the opening quarter, Horton punched it in from 20-yard out. Hernandez’s PAT was good for a 21-3 lead.
After a quick Boaz three-and-out, it only took five plays for Cory Thomas to find the end zone from eight yards out, and with 1:30 remaining in the first half, Etowah was ahead 28-3.
The Blue Devils added a pair of scores in the third quarter. Hyatt punched in the first touchdown from 33 yards out. The second score came courtesy of Thomas’ 51-yard run.
Following an Etowah safety that pushed the lead to 41 points, the Blue Devils tacked on a final TD on Davion Robinson’s 31-yard scoring run.
The Pirates closed out the scoring on a one-yard dash by Andrew Trammell with 16.9 remaining in the game.
Hyatt was 9 for 15 in passing for 151 yards. Harris and Andy Noles each caught three passes.
Horton finished with 107 rushing yards on seven carries, while Thomas ran seven times for 93 yards.
Tahj Taylor finished with 10 tackles, including five for a loss. Alex Howard had nine stops, followed by A.J. Taylor and Carter Dingler with eight each. Deaundre Williams had an interception.
Etowah hosts Crossville this week in region play.