Aaron Everson dominates for Bartlett

Bartlett senior running back Aaron Everson wasn’t eager to speak after the Hawks’ 47-27 Upstate Eight Valley win over Metea Valley Friday.

Everson wanted his offensive line to get the glory, and he wanted to get on the bus and get some rest.

It stands to reason Everson would want to conserve his energy after the win, because he expended all of his energy in the game.

Everson scored six total touchdowns in the win, five of them rushing. He ran for 246 yards on 36 carries, accounting for all but 51 of Bartlett’s offensive yards. He also added an 89-yard kickoff return for a score and kicked five extra points.

“We’re real pleased with his effort,” Bartlett coach Tom Meaney said. “He works hard. The second and third efforts, we’re real proud of the way he works. It comes from the price that the offensive line pays, too.”

Metea (1-3, 0-2) jumped out to a 10-6 lead early on, but Everson quickly gave Bartlett a 12-10 lead that lasted until halftime. After Metea kicked a field goal, Everson took the ensuing kickoff to the house.

He gave the Hawks (3-1, 2-0) a little more of a cushion by taking the first handoff of the second half 82 yards for a score and adding a 1-yard run the play after Bartlett’s only pass of the game to make it 26-10 with 3:37 left in the third. But the Mustangs did not go away quietly. A 27-yard Cameron Wilcox touchdown run and two-point conversion cut the lead to 26-18.

The score was 33-24 when Metea recovered an onside kick and drove for a field goal to slice the lead to 33-27, but a 41-yard touchdown run from Everson and a 52-yard interception return from Nick Garcia, his third pick of the game, iced the game in the final minute.

“It’s the same old thing, we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot,” Metea coach Ben Kleinhans said. “We just can’t stay out of our own way. They have so much character and they fight and compete and the effort is outstanding. They’re never out of the fight; they just have to stop shooting themselves in the foot.”