Valley View Blazers | Delta Digital News Service

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: Valley View vs. Maumelle

Posted on February 3, 2024 by Brayden Morse

Blazers net Hornets, 38-14

Delta Digital News Service

Friday, November 10, 2023

JONESBORO, Ark. – Blazers quarterback Carson Turley’s five touchdown performance helped Valley View defeat the Maumelle Hornets 38-14 on Friday night at Central Dealerships Stadium, advancing to the second round of playoffs next week.

Turley threw two passing touchdowns and ran for three in the victory.

Maumelle’s Alan Timmons (0) fails to stop Valley View running back Anthony Feliz (29) during first half action in Jonesboro, Friday, November 10, 2023. Photo by Atsuki Ohbuchi

Valley View head coach Sean Cockrell expressed his thoughts on the play of his quarterback.

“We have been leaning on him all year and he just took over the game again,” Cockrell said.

On Maumelle’s first drive of the game, a screen pass led to a 34-yard touchdown along with a successful two-point conversion.

Valley View was then held to a three and out when they faked the fourth down attempt with a punt by their quarterback.

Running back Anthony Feliz had a 65-yard run for Valley View, then the very next play Turley scored a 5-yard rushing touchdown. The Blazers settled for a PAT to only be down 8-7.

Valley View linebacker Jude Rapert sacked Maumelle’s quarterback on their fourth down attempt, and the Blazers offense got the ball back with less than a minute left in the first quarter.

A 59-yard touchdown for Valley View was taken away for a personal foul penalty, resulting in the same field position.

Maumelle’s defense stopped the Blazer offense, but on the punt there was a controversial call for roughing the kicker. The Hornets got the ball back at the end of the first quarter.

Maumelle’s next drive ended in an interception by Valley View safety Laird Cullen, returning passed midfield. A quarterback keeper from Turley resulted in a 33-yard touchdown to give the Blazers a 14-8 lead early in the second quarter.

The Hornets ran a reverse sweep on fourth down to convert in Blazer territory. Maumelle converted on another fourth down on the same drive around the 10 yard-line for excellent field position.

The Hornets tried to go three in a row on fourth down conversions in the same drive, but stalled to an incomplete pass. Valley View got the ball back around the 15 yard-line.

Turley threw a 55-yard pass to wide receiver TJ Starks to give the Blazers an opportunity to increase their lead.

The very next play Turley threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Andrew Jones, taking a 21-8 lead with a little more than three minutes left in the second quarter.

Maumelle went on to score a late touchdown to minimize Valley View’s lead, 21-14.

When the Blazers got the ball back, Turley rolled out of the pocket and threw a 30-yard pass to Starks with five seconds left for a field-goal try. Their kick was successful heading to halftime with a 24-14 lead.

Valley View’s momentum carried over in the second half. Cockrell gave his comments on the way the team played in the second half.

“At halftime we challenged them and told them they had to come out and play hard. They did and I am super proud of the way we played,” Cockrell said.

“At halftime we challenged them and told them they had to come out and play hard. They did and I am super proud of the way we played,”
Valley View head coach Sean Cockrell

Maumelle’s first drive of the second half resulted in the offenses’ second interception, this time to Valley View cornerback Kenneth Robinson.

The Blazers settled for a field goal after the interception but missed to remain 24-24 midway through the third quarter.

Valley View eventually got the ball back when Turley scored his fourth touchdown of the game on a quarterback keeper, increasing their lead 31-14 at the end of the third quarter.

Turley threw a touchdown pass to Starks for his second passing touchdown, and fifth total touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter.

The Blazers will play another home game next Friday against the Shiloh Christian Saints, to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Cockrell had some thoughts on their upcoming game.

“We just have to take care of the ball and force some turnovers defensively,” Cockrell said.

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Brayden Morse is a multimedia journalism major in the School of Media and Journalism at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. He can be reached at brayden.morse@smail.astate.edu.

Feature Photo: Maumelle’s Bubba Johnson (31) gets stopped by Valley View defense during first half action in Jonesboro, Friday, November 10, 2023. Photo by Atsuki Ohbuchi

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: Valley View vs. Forrest City

Posted on October 3, 2023 by Brayden Morse

Blazers tame Mustangs for homecoming win, 54 – 20

Delta Digital News Service

Brayden Morse | Sports Editor

JONESBORO, Ark. – Defense and special teams dominance helped the Valley View Blazers to victory over the Forrest City Mustangs on homecoming at Central Dealerships Stadium on Friday night.

Valley View had three defensive touchdowns in the first quarter and two special teams touchdowns in the first half.

Blazers Head Coach Sean Cockrell addressed his thoughts on the defense and special teams in the first half in the 54-20 win.

“It was awesome. I thought we played well on all sides of the ball, but to get three defensive touchdowns in the first quarter is crazy. Kickoff return was great, the overhead punt getting out of the endzone. We scouted really well and had a great gameplan. The kids executed it,” he said.

Forrest City fumbled on their first drive of the game with Valley View linebacker Brian Huff recovering for a 25-yard touchdown with eight minutes left in the first quarter, taking a 14-0 lead.

Valley View’s Zane Guthrie (9) tries to shake Forrest City’s Lee Smith (28) during first half action in Jonesboro, Friday, September 29, 2023.

The Mustangs responded back with a 73-yard touchdown pass, for their first of three touchdowns of the game.

The very next kickoff, Blazer kick returner/wide receiver TJ Starks scored on an 81-yard return. Forrest City got the ball back and fumbled again, while Valley View free safety Laird Cullen recovered. The Blazers once again had great field position.

Valley View capitalized with a 17-yard rushing touchdown from running back Zane Guthrie, leading 28-6 midway through the first quarter.

The Blazers added two special teams touchdowns back-to-back punts. Linebacker Jayde Taylor recovered and scored the first, while cornerback Kenneth Robinson scored the second.

The score was 48-6 at halftime, so it was time to take the starters out.

“We wanted to take them out and did in the second quarter. They scored a couple late in the second half and we got kind of nervous. We had a lot of guys play tonight, probably about 70 guys so we are excited about that,” Cockrell said.

“We wanted to take them out and did in the second quarter. They scored a couple late in the second half and we got kind of nervous. We had a lot of guys play tonight, probably about 70 guys so we are excited about that.”
– Sean Cockerel, Blazers Head Coach

Valley View went on to score only one touchdown in the second half but ran the ball majority of the time to drain the clock while leading big. Forrest City fought hard for their two touchdowns in the second half but did not have enough time on the clock to complete a comeback.

The Blazers will travel to play Wynne next Friday at 7 p.m. Coach Cockrell gave his thoughts on how to relay this win to next week’s conference game.

“We said we wanted to be 2-0 (in conference) and we are. We know Wynne has so much tradition and they are a really good football team. It is going to be tough so we know we are going to have to focus next week to go down there and try to get a win,” he said.

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