“I knew I had to do my job and I believed in my O-line,” he said. “It was a wide open hole and I cut it. … I knew I was going to bust it in there.”
Walker’s 32-yard touchdown run with 4:55 remaining lifted the Rams to a 20-13 victory over Southeastern in an Ohio Heritage Conference South Division thriller on Friday night in South Charleston.
Rams junior Cooper Payton and junior Alex Horney each scored rushing touchdowns for Greeneview, which improved to 4-3 and 2-0 in the OHC South.
“(Southeastern coach A.J. Woods) and his staff had those kids ready to play,” said Rams coach Ryan Haines, who also earned his 50th coaching victory. “It was a heck of an OHC South battle. I’m proud of our kids. I told the kids in the huddle after the game that at the beginning of the year we were letting those slip away. We found a way to finish tonight and I’m proud of them.”
Junior Hayden Davis rushed for 115 yards and two TDs for the Trojans, who fell to 4-3 and 1-1 in the OHC South.
“Our kids played hard, worked hard,” Woods said. “We had a good game plan in place. There were opportunities in the game that we had and Greeneview took a couple more than we did.”
Payton scored on a 2-yard run in the first quarter to give the Rams an early 6-0 lead.
The Trojans answered with a 16-yard run by Davis to give Southeastern a 7-6 lead.
Horney followed with a 1-yard run to give the Rams a 12-7 lead at the half.
“The thing that we did best today was keep playing,” Haines said. “The things that were issues for us early on, we talked to our kids at halftime and tried to make some adjustments. You saw it — I don’t think we did anything exceptionally well, on both sides of the ball, but at the end of the day, we found a way. That’s what speaks volumes for me.”
The Trojans took a 13-12 lead midway through the third quarter on a 6-yard run by Davis.
With less than five minutes remaining, the Rams faced a 4th-and-3 from the Trojans 32-yard line. Walker ran the ball through the left side of the line and got it back to the right, diving into the right pylon to give the Rams an 18-13 lead.
“We were going for it, trying to make them bleed slowly at the end,” Haines said. “At the end of the day, we have two very talented backs (in Walker and Payton). (Walker) took the rock and finished just like he did on that two-point conversion. I’m so proud of him, so proud of him.”
The Trojans blocked the ensuing kick, but were penalized for running into the holder. The officials initially waved off the flag because Southeastern tipped the ball, but later determined the penalty would stand. After a more than 10-minute conference, the Trojans were penalized and Walker ran in the two-point conversion to make it 20-13.
“That’s one call,” Woods said. “I don’t want to focus on that. Our kids played hard all night. They had a great run there in the second half. Coach Haines and his staff have done a great job. They’ve got a great program.”
The Trojans had two more possessions, but were held on fourth down with 50 seconds remaining.
Greeneview won its 12th straight OHC South game. The Rams haven’t lost a division game since falling to Greenon in their 2020 season finale.
“I’m so grateful to get this win,” Walker said. “We’ve really been building up for this one because this was a good team. At halftime, we talked and knew we didn’t play our best. We just talked about bringing it back in the second half and that’s exactly what we did.”
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