CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Occasionally, Walker Valley coach Drew Akins has a quarterback at the helm of his offense who has the ability to help the Mustangs put up video-game numbers.
In Chase Stephens, not only does Akins have a good one but one who, in his own way, has a chip on his shoulder. Pair them both together, and on Friday night, it was dynamite.
Stephens threw for 461 yards and five touchdowns, and the Mustangs piled up 672 yards of offense in a 54-42 home win over McMinn County in a battle of teams that routinely compete for their region’s championship.
A transfer from Cleveland, Stephens slid a bit under the radar as the Blue Raiders’ previous coaching staff rotated two — and sometimes three — quarterbacks in and out of the game. He fit right into the Walker Valley system, aided by the dangerous two-headed monster at receiver of Roman Eulo (232 yards on eight catches and a rushing touchdown Friday) and Sawyer Boyd, who also moved over from Cleveland and exploded for 153 yards and a pair of scores on six catches against the Cherokees.
(READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday night’s Chattanooga-area prep football games)
“Roman is one of the best receivers in the state, hands down, and Sawyer is a Division I track athlete. When we have all those options, man, it’s just unstoppable,” Stephens said. “We showed tonight with a very good defense, very aggressive defense and I think once we showed that we can actually throw the ball around everywhere that we’re unstoppable.”
Eulo, who is committed to Austin Peay, has been a major part of the offense, but Akins said it was important to get Boyd going after seeing the talented senior track star have 120 receiving yards in the fourth quarter of last week’s 28-14 loss to county rival Bradley Central.
“This week we changed our call sheet, so we have plays for Roman and plays for Sawyer, and we’re attacking with those plays,” Akins said. “I thought our other guys did a great job. Other receivers are going to end up popping because you’ve got to guard so many people.”
Luke Hayden had just 42 yards on five catches, but three of those went for touchdowns for the Mustangs (2-1, 1-0 TSSAA Region 3-5A), who are ranked 10th in their classification. Running back Chase Cunningham had 109 yards on 12 carries, with one of those a score.
McMinn County (2-1, 0-1) piled up 500 yards of offense, but quarterback Luke Lawson was intercepted four times. Lawson did throw for 321 yards and a pair of scores, while Jakaryn Dyer rushed for 139 of his 165 yards and all three of his touchdowns in the second half.
Nathan Kessler had 143 yards on six catches.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.