Gallery by Ashley Honaker
Charmco – Friday night Mother Nature provided the rain.
Greenbrier West provided the thunder and lightning.
Scoring three touchdowns in just over a six minute span, the No. 4-rated Cavaliers knocked off top-rated James Monroe, 25-8.
“A lot of people say you don’t circle dates. Nah, this game is different. We respect the heck out of them and I’m sure they respect the heck out of us,” Greenbrier West head coach Kelly Vaughan said. “If you can find a better high school atmosphere than tonight, I want to be there. This was special here tonight. These kids are so fun to coach and they love each other.”
Following a scoreless opening quarter, the visitors were first to put points on the board just one play into the second period.
Facing fourth-and-inches on its own 29 yard line, West lined up to go for the first down. A false start forced a change of plans before disaster struck.
After watching Shady Spring snap three balls over the punter’s head last week for Cavalier touchdowns, the snapping woes struck West.
Isaac Agee made a heads up play by beating the James Monroe defense to the ball, but was tackled in the end zone for a safety.
The Mavericks could not inflict further damage after Agee bombed the ensuing free kick deep into James Monroe territory, but the Mavs were not done scoring in the opening half.
With just over six minutes until halftime, the Mavericks took over at its own 43 yard line and went on the attack.
Eleven plays later, Layton Dowdy found Chaz Boggs in the back of the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown pass with just 31 ticks on the first half clock.
The lead was only 8-0, but after a first half where the Cavaliers had only ran 13 plays to that point, the score appeared to be devastating for the home team.
Everything changed when Jake Pate took the kickoff deep into Maverick territory. Although the run was partially called back due to a penalty, West still had 20 seconds to make something happen.
“We had the good kick return, but we had a penalty. Still we were in what I call the safe zone. I said let’s give it a shot,” Vaughan said. “We made a nice throw and a nice catch. Then it started to snowball. We had one timeout left and 14 seconds, so I wanted to give it a whirl. If you have confidence in your kids, you can take chances.”
Senior quarterback Cole Vandall hit fellow-senior wideout Ethan Holliday down the sideline for a 27 yard pass. The senior tandem hooked up again on the next play for a 34-yard scoring strike sending the home crowd into a frenzy.
“Ethan Holliday is no doubt one of the best receivers in the state of West Virginia,” Vandall said. “I knew if I just threw it up to him, he would go get it and he did.”
“The offensive line did its job and gave Cole plenty of time to get the ball to me,” Holliday said. “I made a couple of moves and he got the ball right to me. Our offensive line are animals out there.”
Holliday converted the two-point try to tie the game and in a blink of an eye, West had seized all of the momentum.
“I think that gave them a lot of momentum coming into the second half. They just out-powered us and out-quicked us all night,” James Monroe head coach John Mustain said. “We had a couple of times there where things started to look better offensively, but they had a really good scheme. Everything they did seemed to work well for them.”
Holliday left the field for halftime screaming, “Let’s go!” to the home crowd, also saying “We are in a dogfight here.”
“He is not only a football player, he is an emotional leader that kids will gather around,” Vaughan said about Holliday. “Football is a game of emotion. When you get emotion involved, you can feel that tilt.”
Taking the second half kickoff at his own one-yard line, Holliday applied another gut-shot to the Mavericks.
Holliday returned the kick 61 yards and five plays later, West was back in the end zone, taking a 15-8 lead.
“My dad told me if I got the ball I better score, so I was looking for green,” Holliday said, laughing. “Everybody up front did their job for us.”
The eventual game-winning score was a 22-yard toss to Colton Dunbar down the seam with defenders fading towards Holliday on the outside.
“We knew what the Holliday kid was capable of, (especially) when you have a quarterback that has a big arm like that,” Mustain said. “They have other receivers too. They are very balanced and they did some good things tonight.”
A holding call and a sack on the next possession for James Monroe left it backed up deep in its own end. A hurried punt to due a low snap and heavy rush, gave West the ball at the Mavericks 26 yard line.
Vandall’s five yard run and a 15-yard burst from Pate set up a six-yard touchdown pass to Tucker Lilly in the back corner of the end zone and a 22-8 lead.
“That gives him 14 (touchdown passes) for the year and he only threw one last year. Cole has gotten better. Teams can’t key in on our running game now,” Vaughan said. “They don’t have to be long passes either. We can hit those quick hitches as I call them. Cole is not afraid to throw the ball to anybody.”
“(Assistant) coach (Isac) Osborne and I work every day in practice on me just throwing the ball. I am proud of myself and I hope my team is proud of me,” Vandall said. “I am mainly proud of my offensive line and my receivers. My line dominates up front and my receivers catch that ball.”
Hayden Ridgeway added the final points in the fourth quarter with a 28-yard field goal that split the uprights.
While West was adding to the lead, James Monroe was struggling to find any type of offense. The Mavericks were limited to just two first downs in the final two quarters.
“We did some good things too, but we had a lot of penalties that shot us in the foot. Anytime you get behind the chains you get in trouble at this level,” Mustain said. “We did some good things, but we just didn’t do enough of them. I have to give them all of the credit They have a strong team.”
Greenbrier West (6-0) hosts Petersburg Friday, while James Monroe (4-1) hosts Midland Trail.
JM: 0 8 0 0 – 8
GW: 0 8 14 3 – 22
Second quarter
JM: Safety
JM: Chaz Boggs 10 pass from Layton Dowdy (kick no good)
GW: Ethan Holliday 34 pass from Cole Vandall (Holliday run)
Third quarter
GW: Colton Dunbar 22 pass from Vandall (Hayden Ridgeway kick)
GW: Tucker Lilly 6 pass from Vandall (Ridgeway kick)
Fourth quarter
GW: Ridgeway 28 FG
Rushing: (JM) Cooper Ridgeway 15-51, Dowdy 11(-13), Boggs 2-7, Frederick Parker 10-26; (GW) Pate 7-24, Agee 1(-1), Vandall 16-72, Holliday 3-(-3).
Passing: (JM) Dowdy 6-16-67-0-0; (GW) Vandall 10-15-135-0-3
Receiving: (JM) Boggs 5-69; Ridgeway 1-(-2); (GW) Lilly 1-6-1, Dunbar 3-32-1, Holliday 4-82-1, Pate 2-19.
