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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

TUSCALOOSA – The Coosa Valley Rebels made history on Sept. 6 as they set a school record for most points in a single game across both 8-man and 11-man play during a 62-14 win at the North River Christian Chargers.

The performance also gave Coosa Valley its all-important first win of AISA Class A play in their return to 8-man football this season.

According to the Alabama High School Football Historical Society, the previous record was 60 points, originally set in 1975 in a 60-0 win over Chickasaw Academy.

That record was tied two separate times in 2000 in a 60-0 victory over Jefferson Christian and in 2011 during a 60-15 win over Ellwood Christian before falling in week two, only one week removed from when Coosa Valley scored just six points.

The Rebels made an immediate impact by recovering a fumble in the first minute of the game. That quickly led to a 22-yard Rhett Johnson rushing touchdown and Landon Payton two-point conversion to go up 8-0.

North River knotted up the score at 8-8 a couple of minutes later, but Jordin Rogers responded on the ensuing kickoff by taking it back to the house to retake a 14-8 lead.

Payton and Jake McArthur connected for a 43-yard touchdown catch and two minutes later, Rogers ran in a 22-yard touchdown. The Rebels also got two-point conversions on both scores and led 30-8 with four minutes still left in the opening period.

Coosa Valley wasn’t done scoring in the first quarter as Payton and McArthur linked up again, this time for a 59-yard touchdown which put their team up 38-8 at the end of the first.

The scoring pace slowed down dramatically from there as both teams traded a fumble each. The Rebels didn’t let halftime hit without hitting the end zone one more time as Johnson scored his second rushing touchdown of the game from eight yards out.

That gave Coosa Valley a 46-8 lead as the teams went into the locker rooms for halftime.

The Chargers struck first in the second half with a rushing touchdown four minutes into the third, cutting the deficit to 46-14. However, that would be their last points of the game as the Rebels had a couple more big plays up their sleeve.

Payton and McArthur connected once again on their third touchdown of the night as Payton’s 55-yard pass to McArthur was good enough for six points. The ensuing conversion added two more and made the lead 54-14 with seven minutes left in the third.

A fumble recovery gave Coosa Valley another golden opportunity to strike, and the Payton took advantage, finding McArthur a fourth time for a 14-yard touchdown pass. The senior quarterback then ran the two-point try in himself to cap off the 62-14 win and break the school record.

Payton finished 5-for-6 with 195 yards and three touchdowns, and all of those passes were to McArthur.

Rogers led the ground game with two carries for 33 yards and a touchdown in addition to his kick return score. Payton ran the ball four times for 32 yards and Johnson finished with 25 yards and two touchdowns off five carries.

Over on defense, McArthur and Johnson each recovered a fumble. Payton led the team in tackles with eight, Johnson had six, Andrew Weaver had five and Brooks Klinner had four. Kai Santiago secured two sacks and Ethan Hollingsworth had one also.

Coosa Valley will now take its 1-1 record and newfound offensive momentum into a non-region game against the ACSC’s East Central HomeSchool Patriots on the road on Sept. 13.