Kelly Edges Toward Playoffs With 30-20 Win Over Powell Valley

BIG STONE GAP, Va. – Hanging across the J.J. Kelly bleachers Friday night was a crepe-paper sign that asked the team, “How bad do you wanna make playoffs?”

It was probably rhetorical, but the Indians answered it anyway – along with several other dark question marks surrounding the program.

With Kelly and Powell Valley ranked Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, in the Region D, Division 2 Virginia High School League ratings, the Indians defeated their 25-year Lonesome Pine District tormentor 30-20 at Bullitt Park.

The victory put Kelly (6-1, 2-1) one step closer to its first playoff berth since 2002 and, for the weekend at least, exorcised the demons that had been haunting them since last season ended in an 0-4 losing streak.

“Twenty-five years ago doesn’t matter,” Kelly head coach B.I. Salyers, an Indian alumnus, said. “But let me tell you something: I got the hardest-working kids in Southwest Virginia, hands down.
“We wanted it more than they did.” 

The Vikings were unable to control the three-headed running tandem of Jordan Bates, Devan Sproles and Chris Dotson, who combined to rush for 266 yards and all of the Indians’ four touchdowns.

“I’ve been getting mentally prepared since day one,” Bates said. “Summer weight lifting, that’s what we’ve been weight lifting for – to beat Powell Valley. This is the biggest game of my high school career.”

Sproles churned for 90 yards in the middle, Dotson collected his 66 yards on the edges and Bates racked up 99 yards everywhere in between.

All of their success, however, began and ended with the offensive line.

“Up front, [this is] probably the best group of offensive lineman I’ve coached in my life,” Salyers said. “Running backs don’t do anything without their offensive line. I’m so proud of that offensive line, it’s not even funny.”

Kelly’s victory was particularly sweet against the backdrop of a quarter-century’s worth of lopsided losses, courtesy of Powell Valley.

In their previous seven meetings, the Vikings had humiliated their Wise County neighbors by an average score of 47-10. 
“This is a step up for our program and the thing we’ve got to do is build on this and not let it be something that happens once every 20 years,” Salyers said. “That’s what I want to happen.”

After both teams punted on their opening possessions, Kelly and Powell Valley traded touchdowns until halftime, when Bates went into the end zone from one-yard out, delivering a 22-14 intermission lead.

After receiving the second-half kick off, the Vikings responded with a Jordan Martin 10-yard touchdown run. They were unable, however, to tie the score when a two-point conversion pass failed.

Kelly sealed its win with a late fourth-quarter scoring drive, which featured 13 plays and two fourth-down conversions before Dotson took a sweep around the left side and into the end zone.

“They whipped us up front,” Powell Valley head coach Phil Robbins said. “They ran their offense to perfection. They didn’t have a turnover, they played well, they didn’t do anything that we didn’t expect.
They just outperformed us.”

The loss leaves the Vikings (3-4, 0-3) with only a slim chance of making the Region D, Division 2 playoffs, but Robbins is still impressed with the desire he sees from his inexperienced team.

“We don’t worry about [making the playoffs],” Robbins said. “We might get in, but just getting in the playoffs doesn’t suit me. I want to see improvement in my football team and I want to see kids playing hard and I think we did play hard tonight.” 

Kelly, on the other hand, is in perfect position to seize a playoff slot. But with Clintwood and Haysi still on their docket, the Indians have trials ahead.

But after Friday night’s game, the future was far from Salyers mind. Before giving his team its post-game speech, the coach couldn’t do anything but smile.

“This is the biggest win of my career,” he said.

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J.J. Kelly 6 16 0 8—30
Powell Valley 7 7 6 0—20
Scoring Summary
JJK – Jordan Bates 9 run (kick failed)
PV – Jordan Martin 18 run (Taylor Barton kick)
JJK – Devan Sproles 1 run (Sproles run good)
PV – Dakota Cantrell 5 run (Barton kick)
JJK – J. Bates 1 run (Bates run)
PV – Jordan Martin 10 run (pass failed)
JJK – Chris Dotson 11 run (Dotson run)
Team Stats
First Downs: JJK 20, PV 12; Rushes-yards: JJK 55-268, PV 26-186; Passing Yards: JJK 43, PV 16; Comp.-Att.-Int.: JJK 2-5-0, PV 2-6-0; Fumbles-lost: JJK 1-0, PV 2-1; Penalties-yards: JJK 3-25, PV 2-9; Punts-avg.: JJK 2-41.5, PV 2-35