Pleasant Valley coach Jeff Davis has a special take on games played against teams inside Calhoun County. “Those are folks that you live with, work with, shop with,” he said.
“You should get fired up about those games. I know I am.
“If I’m going to have to live around those folks and shop around them, then I want something I can hold over their head.”
Pleasant Valley will have that chance on Friday night as it plays host to White Plains in a game where both teams will be looking for their first Class 3A, Region 5 win of the season.
The good-natured and somewhat joking take of Davis’ on rivalry games isn’t far off from what many people think.
However, his team’s take on those games are no laughing matter for Davis right now.
The Raiders played Ohatchee in the season opener and lost, something that made the coach none too happy.
“We just came out flat,” he said. “I can’t figure it out, but we better.”
Davis has said he’s got a lot of figuring out to do with his team right now as they prepare for the Wildcats (1-1).
After the stellar season the Raiders put together last year, even breaking school records in the process, his team sits 0-2 and winless in the region.
While it’s still early and there’s time to figure things out, Davis does not like the hole where his team is currently.
Friday night the Raiders fell to Tarrant, who moved down from 4A, in a game that was very winnable.
Pleasant Valley rallied twice and eventually fell 27-22.
After giving up three first-half scores to Tarrant, Pleasant Valley looked like a different team in the second half.
Michael Lockridge connected on touchdown passes of 22 yards to Ben Haynes, 11 yards to Joe Faucett, and 12 yards to Taylor Burgess.
The Raiders also got a 36-yard field goal from Kyle Bean.
With White Plains on the slate this week, Davis said he sees a different White Plains squad from years past – one that’s getting better.
White Plains routed Donoho in the season opener 51-6, but had a very different outcome last week.
It was pretty much just the opposite: a 55-0 loss to Leeds, who many see as the one of the favorites to win the region.
“They’re improving,” Davis said of White Plains.
“It was hard to tell about them against Donoho, (coach Heath Harmon) subbed so many of them before the half.
“But against Leeds, they were getting better as the game went on.”
White Plains was held to less than a 100 yards of total offense.
Cameron Burns led the Wildcats on the ground with 38 yards on eight carries and quarterback Tyler Jones was 7-for-18 passing for 30 yards.
