The one constant in high school sports is change.
As a result of graduation, change will be the theme this season at Greenbrier West when it comes to football.
All-staters like Noah Brown, Kaiden Pack, Cole McClung and Hunter Starkey led a senior-heavy team to a 19-3 record over the past two seasons which included two quarterfinal state playoff appearances.
“I am sure a lot of people are thinking this is not going to be one of our better years and feel like they can beat us,” head coach Toby Harris said. “We lost a lot of really good seniors from last year’s team, so we are just about starting over on both sides of the ball.”
The 2021 Cavaliers will have plenty of youngsters that were successful at the JV level to go along with a small group of returners.
Senior Chase Franklin leads the returners on offense and will be a three-year starter. Franklin will be joined on the offensive line by fellow-senior Dale Treadway who also started last season.
“Chase makes very few mistakes and he is much stronger this year. We are expecting him to be a pretty good football player for us,” Harris said. “Dale has also done a nice job for us at the guard position.”
Tucker Gibson is another senior that started on offense in the playoff games last year and is projected to hold down a tackle position.
“We have quite a few lineman that are young. We might not have the all-stater in there, but we have guys that are battling and they are pretty equal,” Harris said. “We are hoping to get five offensive interior players and three defensive interior people.”
Senior Joey Terry started last year and will anchor the defensive line. Ethan Hammons, Reney Cordial, Jacob Whitt and Jacob Nutter are also likely to see minutes in the trenches.
“We have some guys that we are looking at, but we have some question marks. We are hoping that some of the sophomores step up for us,” Harris said. “It will be a work in progress. They aren’t beginners because they got in some games last year. We put everybody out there that we could.”
West has two players working at quarterback in junior Kadin Parker and sophomore Cole Vandall. Both players are likely to see action this season.
“We are a single-A football team. We not only look for kids that can play both ways, we want our backs to be able to play any position that we ask them,” Harris said. “Parker started at wing-back last year and was a really good wing-back. Cole is a big kid, 6-foot tall and 190 pounds. We are working both of them in there.”
It’s no secret that the Cavaliers are a run-heavy team, but when they do throw it, their main targets will be junior Michael Kanode and senior Chase McClung.
“We have a couple of receivers that have never played high school football, but they are good basketball players and will provide a big target,” Harris said. “Both are working to get acclimated to the game. We will also have Parker to throw it to as well.”
With the abundance of talent at running back last year, junior Ty Nickell played on the line for Greenbrier West. Now Nickell gets his shot at toting the football and Harris thinks he will be a good one. Nickell will also line-up at inside linebacker on defense.
“Ty started for us a lot as a freshman and played multiple spots on the line last year as a defensive tackle, defensive end and offensive tackle. He played wherever we needed him,” Harris said. “He may be a well kept secret, but people are going to know his name. This year he will line-up at fullback and tailback. He is probably the fastest kid on the team, so he will be getting the ball. He loves to hit people and loves the contact. That is his strength.”
Teams may feel West is rebuilding this year, but Harris feels if his team can get off to a good start, the postseason is not out of the question.
“I think the key to our season is the first three ball games. Buffalo will be tough and they have an all-stater. Then we play Summers County who has a new coach with new enthusiasm. They are always tough for us,” Harris said. “Then it’s James Monroe and they have their old coach back. I look for all three of those teams to be better than last year. If we can get some momentum, who knows where we can go.”
Schedule
1 08/27/21 7:00PM A – BUFFALO –
2 09/03/21 7:30PM A – SUMMERS COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL –
3 09/10/21 7:30PM H – JAMES MONROE –
4 09/17/21 7:30PM H – WEBSTER COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL –
5 10/01/21 7:30PM A – MEADOW BRIDGE HIGH –
6 10/08/21 7:30PM H – POCAHONTAS COUNTY –
7 10/15/21 7:00PM A – RICHWOOD –
8 10/22/21 7:00PM A – SHERMAN –
9 10/29/21 7:30PM H – MIDLAND TRAIL HIGH SCHOOL –
10 11/05/21 7:30PM H – MOUNT VIEW HIGH SCHOOL –
Roster
# Pos. Name Gr Ht Wt
1 RB/LB Ty Nickell 11 6’0 210
2 QB/E/LB/DB Cole Vandall 10 6’2 190
10 RB/DB Moses Gray 10 5’7 140
11 QB/RB/DB Kadin Parker 11 5’8 155
12 QB/RB/DB Tucker Lilly 10 5’7 120
13 E/DB Colby Winnings 12 5’9 125
14 RB/LB/DB Josh Jones 12 5’10 165
20 QB/E/DB Bradley Hodge 9 5’10 145
21 RB/LB Marcus Adkins 10 5’11 175
22 QB/RB/DB Isaac Agee 9 5’9 145
23 E/RB/DB Kameron Shrewsbery 10 5’8 130
24 QB/E/DB Chris Davis 10 6’2 170
30 RB/LB Evan Vandall 9 5’10 165
32/60 OL/RB/LB Elijah Perkins 12 6’2 185
9 RB/LB Jayden Robinson 12 6’1 180
33 E/DB Michael Kanode 11 6’4 200
41 E/RB/DB Roy Loudermilk 10 5’7 125
42 E/RB/LB Trent Parker 10 5’11 180
43 QB/E/DB Joevan Robinson 9 5’11 145
44 RB/LB Brandon Poticher 9 5’9 165
50 OL/DL/LB Jacob Nutter 10 5’10 185
51 OL/DL Hunter Richmond 11 5’11 215
52 OL/DL Terry Treadway 10 6’0 165
53 OL/DL Reney Cordial 11 6’0 215
61 OL/DL Joey Terry 12 5’9 210
62 OL/DL Keylee Clere 9 5’5 215
63 OL/DL/LB Jonathon Painter 9 5’7 145
64 OL/DL/LB Daron Vaughan 10 5’10 165
66 OL/DL Chase Franklin 12 5’8 260
67 OL/DL Tucker Gibson 12 5’11 230
70 OL/DL Hunter Gwinn 10 6’0 180
71 OL/DL/LB Mason Thornton 12 5’10 160
72 OL/DL Ethan Hamons 10 6’3 270
73 OL/DL Kaden Dix 9 5’10 300
74 OL/DL Jacob Whitt 10 5’7 175
75 OL/DL Peyton Ford 9 5’10 250
76 OL/DL Dale Treadway 12 6’0 265
77 OL/DL Cameron White 10 5’9 215
80 E/DB Randall Keener 9 5’9 140
82 E/DB Sheldon McKenzie 9 5’5 100
84 E/LB/DB Chase McClung 12 6’0 180
85 E/DB Austin Baker 10 5’8 140
