Daulton Hyatt’s 36-yard touchdown pass to Andy Noles with 5:14 left in the game gave sixth-ranked Etowah a 24-16 victory over Class 5A, Region 7 opponent Alexandria last Friday (Sept. 16) at AHS.
The Blue Devils improved to 4-1 and 2-0, while the Valley Cubs dropped to 1-3 and 0-3.
Following a scoreless first, quarter, Etowah took a 3-0 lead into halftime courtesy of Raul Hernandez’ with two seconds remaining in the second quarter.
The visitors increased their lead to 10-0 in the third quarter when Etowah faked a field goal attempt and Emil Smith tossed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Jamin Graham.
Alexandria finally got on the scoreboard on Quentin Bowie’ 10-yard TD pass to Chase Smitherman at the 1:30 mark of the third period. The Valley Cubs converted the two-point conversion pass to narrow the gap to 10-8.
The Blue Devils responded with Cory Thomas’ 26-yard touchdown run for a 9-point margin.
Alexandria kept within striking distance by way of a 9-yard scoring run by Smitherman, however, and a successful two-point conversion run by Grayson Chaffin drew the hosts within 17-16 with 9:14 left in the game.
Hyatt’s TD strike to Noles held up as the winning score.
For the Blue Devils, Thomas finished with 145 rushing yards on 12 attempts, while Caleb Horton added 94 yards on 13 carries.
Hyatt completed 10 of 17 passes for 158 yards, Noles had seven receptions for 90 yards.
Defensively for the Blue Devils, Carter Dingler had 11 tackles, followed by Robert Warren-Romine with seven and Lovell Cylar, Malik Wilson and Justin Harris with six each.
Cylar had two sacks, while Harris and Emaje Graves both had an interception.
Etowah continues region play this week with a visit to Fort Payne.
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