Pinson Valley Indians named to the 14th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard

MaxPreps is pleased to announce that the Pinson Valley (Pinson, Ala.) Indians have officially been named to the 14th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard, which is in its fourteenth year honoring football.

This is one of the most prestigious team awards in all of high school sports and it is an exclusive honor reserved for 100 of the top teams nationwide. In order to be eligible, a team must win a state championship and be highly ranked in the MaxPreps National Rankings. For football, only 50 of the country's best are invited and with nearly 17,000 competing varsity teams, this puts the Indians ahead of 99.9 percent of their opponents!

In order to be eligible, the team not only had to be nationally ranked, but also had to win a state championship. Beating Saraland 26-17 in the AHSAA Class 6A state championship contest on Friday, December 7 marked the completion of an incredible 13-1 season — and earned Pinson Valley an invitation to the Tour of Champions.

Bo Nix's two-yard plunge late in the opening quarter, and Geordon Pollard's 83-yard scoring strike from Nix allowed the Indians to rally from a 3-0 deficit to claim Pinson Valley's second straight Class 6A state football title at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn.

Although Saraland never regained the lead, the runners-up did pull within 12-10 and 19-17 in the second half, the latter coming on an 11-yard pass play with about nine minutes left. But Kendall Thorton picked off a pass and raced 32-yards to clinch victory for the Indians. Demarion Holloman scored on a two-yard pass from Nix early in the fourth quarter.

Nix completed 25 of 35 passes for 306 yards and the two scores and led the ground game with 15 carries for 66 yards and a touchdown. John McKinney added 20 yards rushing on seven carries, while Pollard caught two balls for 93 yards. Ga'Quincy McKinstry reeled in six aerials for 87 yards and Keyonteze Johnson hauled in 10 passes for 71 yards. Dorian Henderson and Antoine Williams made 11 tackles each, while Joel Parker was in on a pair of sacks. Thorton recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass, while McKinstry broke up three passes.



Pinson Valley opened postseason play with a 47-0 blanking of Albertville. Then, following a 45-21 win over Muscle Shoals, the Indians kicked in the door to the Final Four with 48-7 win over Homewood. The Indians bumped Clay-Chalkville from state championship contention with a 28-20 semifinal win to set up the championship bout with Saraland. Pinson Valley opened the season with a 52-14 loss to Hoover. Then, following a 41-12 win over Ramsay, the Indians throttled Shades Valley 49-7 to open the season 2-1. Patrick Nix's club did not lose again and outscored its competition 534-190. Pinson Valley posted two shutouts and held 10 foes to 14 points or less, while scoring a season-high 52 points in a win over Pell City.

Having won their final 13 straight games in 2018, the Indians set themselves up for some pretty high rankings come season's end. Not only is Pinson Valley ranked the No. 1 team in MaxPreps' Alabama Class 6A Rankings, the Indians are the second best squad in all of Alabama. Pinson Valley is the No. 74 team in MaxPreps' National Rankings!

These incredible season achievements have earned the Pinson Valley Indians an invitation to the 14th Annual Tour of Champions. Please join us in the auditorium for a school assembly as we celebrate with the football team, coaching staff, students and fans on Tuesday, February 5 at 2:40 p.m.

For more information about the Tour of Champions, please visit the MaxPreps Tour of Champions site.