The Greenbrier West football team might throw a gadget play at its opponents from time to time. For the most part, however, the Cavaliers are going to line up and pound it down the defense’s throat.
Over the first two weeks of the 2023 season, that has once again been the calling card for Greenbrier West.
After going for over 300 yards of total offense in a week one win over Pendleton County (41-7), the Cavaliers exceeded 500 yards of total offense in a 42-14 win over Summers County this past Friday night.
The majority of the yards against the Bobcats came via the ground game which amassed 425 yards and averaged nearly 10 yards per carry.
Naturally, the main key to the rushing success for West lies on the backs of the young men in the trenches.
For their efforts, the guys up front have been named the Lootpress Week 2 Offensive Line of the Week.
“The kids really got after it. They play hard and we have five or six lineman that rotate in and out. Having depth really helps” Greenbrier West head coach Kelly Vaughan said. “We also have four or five kids that run the ball hard. They just wear teams down when it come to that.”
Seniors Jacob Whitt and Jacob Nutter have been the anchor across the front five. They are joined by a pair of underclassman and surprise addition to the rotation.
Our center is Logan Berry (sophomore) and we have another underclassmen in Peyton Ford. They are both pretty good size kids,” Vaughan said. “Then we have Trent Parker that we moved to tackle. He has been a blessing. He is strong and has done a fabulous job.”
“(Senior Daron) Vaughan rotates in as well and I love how they play,” Vaughan went on to say. “Coaches ask how we get them so aggressive. We don’t beat on them, but we do practice hard, regardless of who we are playing.”
Making the Cavaliers more lethal this year is their variety of backs that can tote the rock. Friday night four runners had over 60 yards each and a total of nine backs had carries in the win.
“We won’t have a 1,500 yard rusher, but we have a solid group that has first or second team all-state type talent,” Vaughan said. “Having a strong group of backs keeps them practicing hard.”
Ethan Holliday led the stable of backs with 95 yards on nine carries and Jake Pate had 93 yards on seven carries. Isaac Agee added 70 yards and Brandon Poticher had 61 yards including a 47-yard touchdown run.
“Those kids have just grown. The Agee kid and the Poticher kid are juniors and they have really matured and grown,” Vaughan said. “They have added more to what we already had.”
Greenbrier West (2-0) hosts Pocahontas County Friday before heading to Buffalo the following week.
“We just need to continue with our attitudes, our enthusiasm, our effort and hopefully stay healthy,” Vaughan said.
