Kelvin LeonCLEVELAND, Tenn. - Every time the Ooltewah football team takes the field, quarterback Kelvin Leon feels like one of the luckiest guys in the world.
Friday night was no exception.
Leon threw for 367 yards and four touchdowns, and the Class 5A fourth-ranked Owls overcame a shaky start to blast Walker Valley 45-12 at "The Corral." Leon finished 29-for-36 passing, including a stretch of 20 consecutive completions.
"I love getting the ball out quickly and letting those guys do what they can do," Leon said. "We started slow tonight, but we realized what we could and couldn't do and came out in the second half like we should have in the first."
The Owls (8-0, 4-0) jumped out to a 14-0 edge on a pair of Leon touchdown passes to Corey Heard and Edward Hayes, but the Mustangs rallied, turning an Ooltewah fumble into the first of two Avery Jones touchdown runs in the second quarter.
His second, from a yard out, came a play after a 78-yard screen pass from Kolten Gibson to Alex King when the Owls were caught in a safety blitz. The score cut it to 14-12 with 50.1 seconds to go, but Leon raced the Owls downfield with four completions in 37 seconds, the final pass going 20 yards to Anthony Turner to make it 21-12 at halftime.
"We left the middle wide open all night, and they took it right down the gut on us," Walker Valley coach Glen Ryan said. "We had some chances in the first half to take the lead, but we didn't take advantage and that has haunted this team. We were lights out on defense but lethargic on offense."
The Ooltewah defense didn't force a turnover but held Walker Valley without a first down for the first 16 minutes of the game and 20 minutes of the second half. The Mustangs finished with 67 yards rushing, and Gibson was sacked five times.
Turner totaled eight catches for 177 yards for the Owls, while Hayes had eight for 111. Frunsez Kendricks had a pair of touchdown runs and 49 yards rushing.
"We settled down as the game went along," Ooltewah coach Mac Bryan said. "Walker Valley played our short routes and did a good job of taking that away from us, but that opened up some things downfield.
"Defensively, we settled in and started getting some three-and-outs, and that meant more possessions for our offense."
Walker Valley (4-3, 1-2) travels to Cleveland High (4-4, 3-1) next week.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.