The Happy Valley Jr. Warriors were able to use a stout ground assault to top the Unaka Jr. Rangers 36-8 Thrusday at Unaka High School.

Leading the attack was Jr. Warriors Gabe Nickles, who finished Thursday night with 79 yards rushing on 11 touches, while running in three touchdowns. Nickles’ teammate Matthew Bahn had a big night also as he rushed for roughly 66 yards on 8 carries, while rushing in a TD.

“Unaka is a good football team,” Jr. Warriors head coach Brandon Mottern said. “They have made leaps and bounds from last year. My boys played their hearts out tonight. They played as close to a perfect game as they could.

“We did have some mistakes,” Mottern added. “But I was super proud of them. Both teams played really well.”

After recovering a fumble on Unaka’s first drive, the Warriors were able to set up shop on the Jr. Rangers’ 15, before Nickles scooted in to put Happy Valley up 6-0 with 7:41 left in the first frame.

The teams would battle it out defensively for the rest of the first quarter with neither squad finding paydirt.

The Jr. Warriors broke the scoring drought in the second with Bahn busting free for a 27-yard rushing TD, before he punched in the 2-point conversion to put Happy Valley up 14-0 with 4:07 left in first half.

Happy Valley found the endzone one more time in the second quarter as Nickles plowed through on a 2-yard carry. With Jr. Warriors fullback Timmy Mounts running in the 2-point conversion, Happy Valley took a 22-0 lead heading into half time.

In the second half, the Jr. Warriors scored on their first drive as Nickles scored on a 4-yard run to give his squad a 28-0 lead with 4:45 left in the third frame.

Happy Valley’s final score of the night was the result of a 48-yard touchdown run by Jr. Warriors Brayden Henderson. Happy Valley QB Eli Ayers found Peyton Freeman for the 2-point conversion to give the Jr. Warrios a 36-0 edge with 2:28 left in the third quarter.

Playing with a never-say-die attitude, the Jr. Rangers found the endzone in the fourth frame. Jr. Rangers QB Will Sexton found receiver Devin Ramsey on a 16-yard pass play to put the Jr. Rangers on Happy Valley’s 42. On the next play, Sexton connected with Nathan Reed on a 42-yard TD pass, and with Landon Ramsey blasting through on the 2-point conversion, the score moved to 36-8 with 1:09 left to play.

“We are still young in spots,” Jr. Rangers head coach Daniel McInturff said. “We had some mental lapses. And against a team like that, you can’t loose focus. We can’t put ourselves in a hole like we did. . . We moved the football well, but when it mattered, we turned it over. But I am proud of my boys tonight.”

The Jr. Rangers are 1-1 on the season after winning a hard fought game against Camp Creek Tuesday night. The Jr. Warrior move to 2-1.

Unaka is off next week, while the Jr. Warriors head to Bluff City on Tuesday.