By Lisa Benfield

Correspondent

On a night when Happy Valley was recognizing its eighth-grade football players and cheerleaders, a win for the home team would have made the evening especially nice.

Cloudland’s Jr. Highlanders had something else in mind, however, posting a 40-18 Thursday victory on Warrior Hill.

On the opening kickoff of the game, eighth-grader Josh Blair returned the ball for a 69-yard touchdown. Jordan Coffey provided the Highlanders with the PAT to put Cloudland in the lead, 7-0.