The Valley High School Football Season Preview
Football season is here! The Super Bowl seems like eons ago. Talking season is over, and it’s time for games. Football season is the best time of year (especially in Oct. and Nov. when it’s not 100 degrees). The only negative about football season is that it doesn’t last long enough. lt’s also time for the SRVO’s annual Valley high school football preview.
Strong River Bend
Strong River Bend (SRB) High looks to improve upon a good season last year. They made it to the second round of the playoffs, and they’re hoping to make a deeper run this year. Coach Jackie Mullen took over in 2023, and he implemented his Bulldozer offense, and it’s has been difficult to stop. Coach Mullen said, “Well, you know, we have a senior laden team this year, and they’ve worked really hard in the offseason. I think this year is gonna be a big year for us. We are going to pound the rock; they’ll be some games that we won’t throw the ball once. If you wanna come watch pretty boy 7 on 7, you probably won’t enjoy watching us play. We’re gonna wear you down and demoralize you. Stack the box, that’s ok. We still gonna run it.”
The SRB faithful has really embraced Coach Mullen and his style. They have high hopes for the year. SRB’s defense, coached by Joe Lee Grantham, should be a really good unit as well. This is Coach Mullen’s third year there, and many coaches take a big jump in year 3. We’ll see if that happens with SRB this year.
Valley City
The Valley City High faithful is hopeful for a better year this year. They were 2-8 last year and missed the playoffs. They have a new coach- Jeff Fedora. Fedora was the offensive coordinator for West Madison the past 2 years, and he brings a fast paced, high-flying offense with him. Fedora said, “I’m working with a talent gap here at Valley City, but I think our offense will be the equalizer. We’re going to score a lot of points, and hopefully our defense can make some stops for us. We hope to get our fans to start staying for the second half of games and not leaving after our halftime shows.”
Coach Fedora brought Johnson Ellis with him to Valley City to coach the defense. Many fans were not happy with that decision after his defense gave up an average 40 points last season. Hopefully, Valley City can start winning games again and live up to their great history.
Valley Prep
The Valley Prep faithful have high hopes for this year after coming up short last year. Their Standard Collective has been active this offseason, and they have brought in 8 new players that should be major contributors this season. Quarterback Austin Dart was brought in from West Smith to run the offense. He has offers from multiple G-5 teams. Receiver Donte Metcalf will be his deep threat. Metcalf, with size and speed, is a nightmare for opposing defensive backs. He has offers from all the big boys including Ole Miss, Alabama, Ohio State, and more.
Coach Lane Freeze said, “We are excited about this season. Our portal guys should help us a lot. We’re going to score points, and even though we lost some guys on defense from last year, we’re still expecting big things from our defense. Our conference is going to be tough, but I feel good about our guys.” Valley Prep hopes to maintain their recent success, so it’ll be interesting to see if their new crop of players can keep the momentum going.
Valleyans love high school football, and the quality of football continues to improve in The Valley. There a lot of interesting story lines coming into the year, and the SRVO and yours truly will be here to cover it all.