Gallery by Ashley Honaker
After an 0-2 start, defense had been the catalyst for James Monroe’ two-game winning streak.
Tuesday night that unit again carried its weight and then some.
The Mavericks forced four turnovers and held Narrows to 140 yards of total offense, collecting a 34-6 victory over the Green Wave in Lindside.
The game was moved three times from its original kickoff date of Friday due to the impact of Hurricane Helene on both communities. But the Mavericks looked sharp as ever.
The two first-half turnovers set the Mavericks inside the Narrows 40 and they capitalized on both with touchdown drives.
“The defense, I felt like the last three games I’ve seen progress and they continue to progress,” James Monroe head coach John Mustain said. “They’re really starting to get it. Our d-backs are really coming on. We had a young group in the defensive backfield, especially, and, we moved Layton (Dowdy) to linebacker so that made it even younger. But I’m really, really tickled with the way the d-backs played. Will Boggess had a good game back there tonight. Bryce Gardinier had two interceptions and some good breakups and he’s breaking on the ball well. Hopefully that’ll continue.”
Before the Maverick defense took the field its offense set the tone.
The hosts took the ball and marched 78 yards in eight plays on their opening drive, capping it with a 6-yard touchdown run by Brock Parker. It proved to be the longest drive of the game for the Mavs who never started any drive further back than their own 40 the rest of the way.
Gardinier was one of the reasons why, intercepting Narrows QB Hunter Owens on the Green Wave’s second drive, setting up the hosts at the Narrows 37. Six plays and 37 yards later Ryan Mann found the end zone from 12 yards out with 1:32 left in the first quarter.
It was the start of an avalanche for Narrows which was intercepted again two plays from scrimmage later with Wilson Boggess nabbing an Owens pass. Ben Comer did the honors three plays later, extending the lead to 20-0.
Though the interceptions serving as arm punts was seemingly the best strategy for Narrows as a punt block by Andrew Hill and a recovery in the end zone by Kole Ballengee buried the Green Wave at 27-0 with 8:29 to play in the half.
Narrows found a jolt of its own on its next drive getting on the board with 6:13 left in the half courtesy of a 2-yard pass from Owens to Tucker Bryan.
That was the highlight of the night for the visitors who saw star running back Cooper Helvey struggle to find holes against an imposing James Monroe front. Helvey gained just 70 yards on 23 carries, 37 of which came in the final 1:08 of the game.
“Cooper’s a phenomenal, phenomenal running back, and I thought that about him last year too,” Mustian said. “He’s such a hard runner, and Cooper’s got some speed too. But, you know, the first couple of plays at the beginning of the game it almost looked like he was going to start breaking things open, but our defense buckled down and started reading their keys and all that. The second half, yeah, he got some more yards but that’s, to me, that’s a testament to him. He’s just that good of a player.”
Despite their first-half success, the Mavericks largely struggled on offense in the second half.
Until their final drive of the game, they had just 44 yards across six drives, punting or turning the ball over on their first four drives after the half.
“I felt like that was one of the things that hurt us against Shady going in at halftime with the lead,” Mustain said. “I thought we came out flat then and we did it again tonight. But I told the boys, I said, ‘Field condition is pretty tough.’ I’m not out here, so I don’t really know what it’s like, other than walking through the mud over there. But you know, it that probably played a factor in too. But again, I think we did come out flat in the second half.”
Ryan Mann led James Monroe in yards from scrimmage with 75 and a touchdown in the win.
Gardinier finished with two interceptions and a forced fumble.
James Monroe will be off two days before traveling to Summers County in search of its fourth straight victory.
“I think this is actually the third time this has happened over the last four years,” Mustain said of playing his second game in a week. “It seemed like we had another week (in 2021), and I can’t remember who it was, where we ended up doing two games in a week. I mean it’s not an easy thing to do. And, you know, people don’t understand. People say, basketball plays three or four a week, and baseball does. When you’re out here getting beat on and beating on somebody else, it’s a lot. It’s a lot more difficult than it is in other sports. But I think the kids are going to respond well. But again, Summers County, I’ve seen them on film and don’t let their record say anything about them, because they’re a tough team.”
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
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