VALLEY — Valley High School homecoming queen senior Aryria Colburn wasn’t the only big winner Friday night as the Rams defeated Marbury 48-28.

The Rams are now 4-2 on the season and still undefeated in 5A Region 3 play, as Friday’s game was not a region game. 

Valley got off to near-perfect start, forcing a three-and-old on Marbury’s first drive, followed by senior running back BJ Baker striking for a 39-yard touchdown run.

The Rams did trail for a few minutes late in the first quarter after Marbury senior quarterback Jessie Caver hit senior running back Dantavius Bristow for a 31-yard touchdown pass on a blown coverage by Valley.

On the ensuing drive, Valley struck again and would never look back.

Valley sophomore quarterback K.D. Hutchinson, who spent most of the game taking snaps at quarterback, extended his consecutive touchdown streak to six games. Hutchinson took the snap in shotgun, made one quick cut, broke a tackle and took off for 54 yards and a touchdown, making the score 12-7.

Midway through the second quarter, Baker put Valley up 18-7, with a 4-yard rushing touchdown.

Marbury attempted to climb back into the game with big pass from Caver to sophomore wideout Gabriel Causey, but Valley snuffed out the drive with a fourth-down stop.

The next drive features a Ram fourth-down conversion with 2:32 left in the first half. Eventually Hutchinson struck again scoring on an 11-yard touchdown run, set up by a 20-yard Baker run to make it 24-7 going into halftime.

The second half featured Hutchinson making quick throws behind the line of scrimmage to Baker, one being a 30-yard catch and run, which led to another Baker touchdown.

The Rams were up 31-7 with 7:53 in the third quarter when senior lineman Daniel Osborne picked off a Caver pass, which set up another Hutchinson to Baker catch and run for a touchdown.

Hutchinson connected with Baker on a 47-yard touchdown pass making the score 38-7.

Marbury eventually again late in the third quarter on a Caver rushing touchdown and Valley added a 28-yard field goal sophomore kicker Mario Vega to make the score 41-14.

Marbury attempted a comeback after Caver hit junior wideout Michael Rhodes for an 11-yard touchdown pass. 

While up 41-21, Valley head coach Buster Daniel pulled Hutchinson and Baker from the game, and backup junior quarterback Willis Kennedy had a pass deflect off a receiver’s hands and was picked off by senior defensive back Jakhiel Waller for a touchdown, pulling the Bulldogs within 13 with 7:09 to play. 

Marbury tried the onside kick, which bounced through a few Valley players before Hutchinson picked it up. 

The Rams seemed destined to put the game away after a 30-yard run by Baker, who was back in the game, along with Hutchinson after the turnover. However, Hutchinson fumbled on the next play and the ball was recovered by Marbury. 

Marbury had its chance to come within one score but couldn’t get out of its own way with three penalties and was faced with a fourth-and-30, resulting in an incomplete pass. 

With 4:26 left in the game, Valley took over on downs and junior running back Joshua Heath sealed the victory for Valley with a 24-yard rushing touchdown, bringing the final score to 48-28. 

Valley finished the game with 450 yards rushing, with Hutchinson gaining 195 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown. Baker finished with 128 yards on 14 carries with three touchdowns on the ground and one receiving touchdown. Hutchinson completed four passes for 100 yards and one touchdown. 

Next week Valley stays at home to face Tallassee High School.