Dakota Cochran produced in his new role for Happy Valley Friday.
The Warriors were able to move closer to .500 with a 40-7 win over the Buffaloes of West Greene. Happy Valley improved to 4-5 overall before next week’s Region 1-AA finale on Senior Night on Warrior Hill against South Greene. The Warriors need a win over the Rebels to force a three-way tie atop the standings.
“Big win, hopefully, we have a little momentum going our way,” Happy Valley head coach Jason Jarrett said. “Senior night next week, big final game at home here. We’re blessed to be in a position to still have a lot to play for this time of the year.”
Cochrane, the senior running back turned quarterback powered through for a trio of rushing touchdowns. He also picked up a fumble on a field goal attempt late in the first half. All of that helped the Warriors to a 34-7 lead at the break.
Cochrane finished the evening with 94 rushing yards on 15 attempts. Through the air, he was 4-for-6 for another 97 yards. Cochrane also recorded seven tackles.
“He’s a really good player for us,” Jarrett said about Cochrane. “My hat is off to him, he’s kinda taken it by the horns, and done a good job leading the offense. It starts up front. The last two weeks the offensive line has done a good job of opening up holes. It’s been a total team effort.”
Happy Valley had the lead before the offense could take the field. West Greene’s second play from scrimmage saw quarterback Alick Daugherty fumbled a shotgun snap deep in Buffalo territory. That is where Cameron Slone picked the ball up and raced in from 10 yards out to score.
West Greene answered on an eight-play scoring drive capped when Daugherty hit Chase Jennings for a 21-yard touchdown pass. That tied the score at seven each, but the Warriors posted 40 straight from there. Happy Valley has averaged 39.6 points in their four wins this season while scoring 35 combined points in the five losses.
The scoring was capped when Will Tittle raced 29 yards to the end zone early in the third quarter. Happy Valley tried for two but failed on the attempt. Tittle had 65 yards on seven carries to go with a catch that covered 58 yards on a second-and-25 play. The long catch-and-run set up Cochrane’s final touchdown dive.
The Warriors won for a tenth time over the Buffaloes this century. Happy Valley has averaged 37.3 points per game in that stretch while West Greene has scored 6.8.
The Buffaloes went to 2-7 on the season before next week’s trip across the county to Chuckey-Doak.