Reigning state champs looking to start fast

The Pinson Valley High School football team has had “just the right blend” each of the last two seasons, and head coach Patrick Nix believes that to be the case once again. 

That blend was a mix of returning contributors and players eager to step up and make their mark. And it resulted in back-to-back Class 6A state championships.

“The new guys have never won [a state championship] before and they want to prove to everybody that they can do it too, that we didn’t win it just because of the old guys,” said Nix, who enters his third year at Pinson Valley.

The old and new guard alike will be out to prove that the Indians can continue their winning ways in 2019, after the graduation of record-breaking quarterback Bo Nix and several others that led the Indians to a combined 28-1 mark in 2017 and 2018. 

“I think everybody in this building knows what the expectations are, from the small things to the big things,” Nix said.

OFFENSE

The elephant in the room is how Pinson Valley plans to replace the production of Bo Nix, who won the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Mr. Football in 2018 and is now in a quarterback battle at Auburn University. 

“We’ll adjust. We don’t have Bo, so things will be different,” Patrick Nix said. “We don’t have a guy that can do the things he can do. But we have some unbelievably talented guys that we just have to make sure we’re getting them the ball and allowing them to do what they do.”

The battle to become signal-caller includes Caleb Nix, Bo’s younger brother, and Barry White, who started a handful of games in 2017 and performed well.

“We’ll see what happens and how it goes,” Patrick Nix said, while also indicating the battle may last into the season’s first few games.

At running back, senior Jay Sharp returns. Sharp had a strong start last fall before being sidelined with an injury. Mike Sharpe and Kenji Christian each got valuable playing time last year and give the Indians a dynamic, deep backfield.

Out wide, lethal weapon Keyonteze Johnson is back. The speedy receiver caught over 90 passes in 2018 and scored nine touchdowns. Ga’Quincy McKinstry is one of the state’s top cornerbacks but spends some time on the offensive side of the ball as well. The Indians have also added Jaquel Fells, who transferred from Ramsay, to the mix.

Donny Hawkins and Nic Miller have returned on the offensive line, but Patrick Nix expressed confidence that the other three spots along the line would be taken by newcomers who “stepped up” in the spring. Neilson Holt and Joel Brown are also likely starters.

DEFENSE

The offense has been breathtaking to watch over the past two seasons, averaging just shy of 39 points per game over that time frame. But just as important over those state championship seasons has been the Indians defense, which has given up an average of 14 points per contest in the same period.

“I think it’s pretty obvious that we put a huge emphasis on it because we win a lot of games because of defense,” Patrick Nix said.

James Perkins returns the most experience of anyone along the defensive front, with players such as Kendall Thornton, Julian Peterson and Tradarrius Swanson looking to step into big roles after playing in the rotation some last fall. 

The Indians have plenty of experience returning in the second and third levels of the defense, with Antoine Williams, Dorian Henderson and Kennedy Thomas all returning at linebacker. Williams and Henderson started every game last season, and their coach called them the “leaders of the defense.”

In the secondary, McKinstry and Deshazio Williams are two of the most experienced and talented corners in the area and provide a great level of comfort for Pinson Valley. Demarques Densmore and twins Jamari and Markel Dailey are also returners and newcomer Tomas Wesley is expected to contribute.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Chris Soto is back to handle kicking duties for Pinson Valley, while the Indians are looking for another punter after Bo Nix held that role for the past couple seasons.

“We’ve got to develop that guy,” Patrick Nix said. “We’ve got several options, but you just never know until you get in a game situation.”

There is no shortage of options in the return game, as McKinstry, Johnson, Sharp, Sharpe, Christian and Fells could all see time returning kicks and punts.

SCHEDULE

Pinson Valley is not coasting into the 2019 campaign, opening up on the road at Class 7A powerhouse Hewitt-Trussville before playing at Ramsay, one of the top 5A teams. The following three weeks are 6A, Region 6 foes Shades Valley, Clay-Chalkville and Oxford.

“The first half of our season is the big part of our season,” Patrick Nix said. “We’ve got to come through that like we have in the past and we’ve got to start fast.”

The latter half of the Indians’ schedule consists of games at Gardendale, against Huffman, at Pell City and at home against Lee-Huntsville to round out the nine-game slate.