Gardendale running back Dequa Houston ran for four touchdowns in the Rockets' 42-13 win over Pinson Valley.

By ROBERT CARTER

The North Jefferson News

Pinson Valley was looking for plenty of passing from Gardendale on Friday night.

But what the Indians got instead was running, running and more running.

The Rockets rushed for 460 yards, with Dequa Houston leading the way for 158 yards and four touchdowns as they rolled over the Tribe 42-13 in a crucial Class 6A Region 6 battle.

Houston was one of four Rocket players who ran for more than 80 yards for the night. Fellow running back Tye Dunklin gained 102 yards on 10 carries, Omari Burton tallied 91 yards on a dozen attempts and quarterback Zac Cupps ran for 81 yards on nine carries.

It was a dominant effort by Gardendale, who never trailed in the game.

Houston put the visitors on the scoreboard first, as he finished off the Rockets’ opening drive with a 10-yard dash to the end zone just three minutes into the game.

Cupps did the honors a little more that three minutes later, as he found a hole and went straight up the middle for a 16-yard touchdown run.

Pinson kept it close late in the first half, when quarterback Jackie Matthews connected with Keimon Norman over the middle for a 21-yard touchdown, cutting the Gardendale lead to 14-7 with 1:24 left before halftime.

But in the second half, Houston was in complete command.

The 5-foot-8 senior reeled off the next three Rocket touchdowns, on runs of 14, 9 and 18 yards, respectively. The last came with 10:24 remaining in the game.

Burton finished things off for Gardendale when he ran it in from five yards out with just over four minutes left.

Matthews got the Tribe out of single digits late, when he threw to Errius Collins for a 74-yard touchdown play on the first play of the subsequent drive, but it was too little, too late for the home team.

Matthews had a productive night with his passing, but that was largely because he was forced to gain ground as quickly as possible for Pinson to get back in the game. He finished with 226 yards and a 9-of-20 effort, with one interception by the Rockets’ Jake Stewart.

Cupps had more completions, but far fewer yards than Matthews — 10-of-15 for 63 yards.

But Gardendale’s stout offensive line gave the runners room to maneuver, and they kept the chains moving all night long. The Rockets totaled 32 first downs, compared to just 14 for the Indians.

The four-touchdown effort was a first for Houston; he previously scored three and gained 175 yards in his varsity debut.

Gardendale (2-1, 2-0 region) coach Matt Plunkett kept to the ground game in an effort to simply wear the Tribe down, and it worked.

“I really felt like we could ‘out-physical’ them,” Plunkett said. “I challenged our O-line all week that we could do this and just take the game over, and it worked. If we hadn’t had some mental errors in the first half, we would’ve had a shutout. But I was really proud of our players.”

Pinson (3-1, 1-1 region) had chances to get back into the game as they got into the Gardendale red zone, but came up with nothing but a missed field goal.

Tribe coach Matt Glover knows his team was outplayed.

“They dominated us, they did a great job,” he said of the opposition. “But we just didn’t play good. We missed about 50 tackles.”

Torrey Hendrix ran for 79 yards on 16 carries for the Indians.

NEXT UP: CENTER POINT at GARDENDALE

The Rockets will likely get a bit of a breather for their homecoming game this week, as they face an Eagles squad that has struggled. A 6-0 win over Woodlawn last week was preceded by a 35-0 loss to No. 3 (5A) Pleasant Grove and a 27-14 loss to region foe Shades Valley. Look for Plunkett to wear Center Point down physically, much as they did with Pinson Valley, to score a win before their alumni.

PINSON VALLEY at CLAY-CHALKVILLE

The Indians jump from the frying pan into the fire, as they take on the top-ranked team in Class 6A and a team listed in the nation’s top 25 by USA Today and MaxPreps.com. The Cougars escaped with a narrow 41-40 win at Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa two weeks ago, but otherwise have dominated their opponents in four wins.

C-C quarterback Ty Pigrome has two favorite passing targets: T.J. Simmons, an Alabama commit; and Nico Collins, whose services are sought by almost every school in the Southeastern Conference.

A win by the Indians would be a major upset, and a sure boost for their morale and prospects for the post-season. A loss would not end their playoff hopes, but would likely mean a first-round game on the road.