Photos by Steph Redden
Friday night there was a somber atmosphere during Homecoming at Greenbrier West High School.
The tight-knit community had been rocked Thursday night with the passing of Western Greenbrier Middle School coach and Cavalier radio personality Mark Gray.
However, there was still a game to be played and it is was an important one. Without a doubt, the beloved Cavalier would have wanted it no other way.
Inspired by the memory of Gray, Class A No. 12 Greenbrier West battled through the adversity to take a crucial 19-12 win over Class A No. 14 Man.
“The first thing we have to start off with is the emotion of the kids,” Greenbrier West head coach Kelly Vaughan said. “Most of you know or have heard that we had a (Western Greenbrier) middle school coach pass away on the sideline last night during the middle school game. His name was Mark Gray. Mark and I went to high school together and played baseball together. Super guy. He coached these kids that are in (our) locker room right now.”
“Those kids love coach Gray with all of their heart. There is not a doubt in my mind,” Vaughan went on to say. “They asked if they could wear gray (uniforms) today. We had planned to wear all blue. That is part of life that’s tough dealing with. Hats off to our kids. They played with emotion and they played with a heavy heart. By golly they ended up getting a win at the end of the game.”
The Cavaliers roared out of the gate marching 58 yards in six plays to take a 7-0 lead on a one-yard plunge by Evan Vandall.
For the remainder of the half, however, Greenbrier West struggled on offense, putting its defense in some tough spots, giving Man a short field to work with.
A fumble, an interception and a three-yard punt, gave the Hillbillies the ball twice at the Cavalier 45 and once at the Cavalier 46.
The punt came right before the half with 43 seconds left and Man drove the ball to the 16-yard line just before the break. On the final play of the half, the Cavaliers dodged a bullet by preventing a score when they tackled the runner at the three-yard line.
Getting to halftime with the lead was a big key to the game for Greenbrier West.
“That was our halftime talk. We had a 7-0 lead, but we had shot ourselves in the foot. Their attitudes were good at halftime,” Vaughan said. “Our kids made a couple of plays that put us over the top.”
Veteran Man head coach Harvey Arms talked about the missed opportunities.
“Anytime you can take advantage of your opportunities, you are better off. Kids are kids. I felt like our kids made a valiant effort, but we just made too many mistakes,” Arms said. “I thought our defense played well. I thought our offense moved the ball pretty well. We just didn’t make the big plays.”
The Hillbillies did hit on two big plays in the second half, but they could not overcome mistakes at key points in the final two quarters.
Kaleb Mullins put Man on the board with a 32-yard jaunt four minutes into the third period following another Greenbrier West interception on its first series.
Still leading 7-6, the Cavaliers took a 13-6 lead after a 12-play 74-yard drive that ended with Vandall’s second score of the night on a three-yard keeper.
“We have a kid that has never played quarterback. He rushed the ball 35 times tonight,” Vaughan said about Vandall. “He is a well-built, strong kid that is getting better every day. The kids are gathered around him. We just have to keep chugging a long.”
The new found momentum was stopped in it tracks, however, when Trey Ward appeared to be stopped on a sweep, but reversed his field and outran the defenders for a 59-yard score.
When the two-point try failed, West held a 13-12 lead with 2:26 to play in the third quarter.
Clinging to the lead, the Cavaliers were forced to punt on the next possession and appeared to be in trouble when the return went deep into West territory before a forced fumble gave the ball back to the home team.
The offense stalled once again and West punted the ball back to the Hillbillies early in the fourth quarter.
Sitting on a golden opportunity with the ball at the Greenbrier West 46, Man drove the ball to the Cavalier 2, but once again, could not score.
A fumble on a dive play sent the ball into the end zone where freshman Ben Butler dove on the ball for a touchback.
“We were fortunate to win. We made a big play on the goal line and broke that ball out of there,” Vaughan said. “You hate to say one play, but that was a huge, huge play so we could get the ball back, advance it down the field and burn that clock.”
Needing to move the ball out of its own territory, Greenbrier West went to the air where Vandall hit Kamden Sams on a huge 34-yard gainer.
Although the Cavaliers eventually punted the ball back to Man, the field position change was huge.
With the Hillbillies pinned back at their own 16-yard line, West forced another fumble which Logan Berry pounced on, giving the home team the ball near the Man goal line.
Following a five-yard penalty, Vandall recorded the hat trick with a six-yard run making it a 19-12 game.
Man had two more opportunities with the ball in the final minutes, but both drives were stopped cold by interceptions from Sams.
“We have a couple of (defensive backs) that break on the ball and do a really nice job. The Sams kid got a couple of (interceptions) there that were big time plays. He did a fantastic job, but he is not the only one,” Vaughan said. “Evan Vandall comes up and plays the secondary like you are supposed to. We have a freshman out there, the Butler kid, that is coming along and getting better.”
With tons of new faces in the lineup, Greenbrier West hearkened back to the defensive prowess of the last few seasons to pick up the win Friday.
“(Assistant) coach (Jared) Robertson does a great job getting the kids prepared, teaching them their assignments, teaching them their alignments and teaching them their techniques,” Vaughan said. “They are buying in and getting some confidence. They are green in some areas.”
Along with his three scores, Vandall was the workhorse for the Cavaliers rushing for 121 yards on his 35 carries.
“Offensively we are shooting ourselves in the foot. I talk about execution all the time. We had a couple of turnovers that hurt us and we had a couple of penalties that hurt us. That is the nature of the game, but they are correctable,” Vaughan said. “That is a fine football team right there. (Trey Ward) is a football player. Kaleb Mullins is a football player. Coach Arms does a good job with them. We knew coming in that it is was going to be a hard-nosed slugfest between two teams that liked to play physical and that is what it was.”
M: 0 0 12 0 – 12
GW: 7 0 6 6 – 19
First quarter
GW: Evan Vandall 1 run (Trey Franklin kick)
Third quarter
M: Kaleb Mullins 32 run (kick blocked)
GW: Vandall 3 run (pass failed)
M: Trey Ward 59 run (run failed)
Fourth quarter
GW: Vandall 6- run (run failed)
Rushing: (M) Dusten Baisden 2-16, Ward 1-59-1, Mullins 22-135-1, James Maynard 1-(-4), Devon Sanders 6-(-12).; (GW) Brandon Poticher 5-12, Vandall 35-121-3, C.W. Sturgell 2-17, Sams 1-(-10)
Passing: (M) Sanders 7-14-2-63-0; (GW) Vandall 6-12-2-76-0
Receiving: (M) Ward 3-42, Jacob Endicott 2-18, Mullins 1-(-3), Noah Frazier 1-6; (GW) Poticher 2-6, Sams 1-34, Colton Dunbar 2-22, Joevun Roberson 1-14.
Takeaways: (GW) Logan Berry (fum rec), Ben Butler (fum rec), Kamden Sams (2 INT)
