Gallery by Ashley Honaker
Hico – James Monroe head coach John Mustain admitted that the game Friday night against Midland Trail worried him some.
Following a hard fought physical game the previous week against Greenbrier West, the veteran coach was convinced the Patriots provided another tough test for his ball club.
Mustain had no idea that earning his 70th career win as head coach of the Mavericks would be the exact opposite.
Rolling into Fayette County on a five-game win streak, James Monroe exploded for 27 first-quarter points and rolled past Midland Trail 48-13.
“I told them the one thing that I was most pleased about, was that,” Mustain said about the fast start. “I was real worried coming up here. We had seen them on film. I have been talking with the team for a good while now about not coming out flat, but coming out and dictating the game. I thought we did a really good job of that tonight.”
The visitors seized the momentum from the opening kick after winning the toss and electing to receive. While the typical school of thought might be to defer and kick to open the game, that has not been the James Monroe plan of attack.
“It is always a tough one for me to decide, but for the last couple of years, that is what we have been doing. It has been working, so we have been sticking with that,” Mustain said. “A lot of teams do like to defer, but to me it is six of one or half dozen of the other. It can backfire on you talking the ball first. It can backfire on you doing the other.”
Once again the boys from Monroe County made it work by marching 74 yards in seven plays for a 7-0 lead before two minutes had come off of the clock.
Following runs by Layton Dowdy of 13 and 21 yards, the senior all-stater hit Ryan Mann for a six-yard touchdown to jump-start the offense.
The game quickly went south for the Patriots when the problem with turnovers haunted Trail once again.
“I just don’t know how to fix it. I have tried and tried,” a distraught Midland Trail head coach Jeremy Moore said. “(We talk about) ball security, protecting the ball and making plays matter. It is disheartening and reflects on me as a coach, not being able to fix it.”
Brock Parker created the first turnover when he picked off a Thad Brown pass three plays into Trail’s first possession, giving the ball back to the offense just outside the red zone.
A 12-yard scamper from Dowdy moved the ball inside the Midland Trail 10-yard line where the Mavs’ signal caller scored from nine yards out for a 14-0 advantage.
Unfortunately for the hometown boys, turnovers continued to put them behind the eight-ball with the second miscue coming one play later.
A Midland Trail fumble was recovered at the Patriot 37-yard line and Dowdy wasted no time making Trail pay. Dowdy hooked up with Ryan Mann for a 37-yard touchdown strike on the very next play and the rout was on.
Sitting at 2-4 and desperately needing a win, Midland Trail had no answers for the questions James Monroe brought to bear on Roger Eades Field Friday.
“I didn’t see this coming. I thought we would compete a lot better than what we did,” Moore said. “Don’t get me wrong, (James Monroe) is a very good football team. After the Summers (County) game and the Nicholas County game where our defense played so good, I thought we would give a little more resistance than what we did. We let them know that we are playoff life-support all week. This was Week 1 of the playoffs and we just didn’t come out and bring it.”
Before the first quarter horn sounded, James Monroe tacked on six more after forcing a turnover on downs at the Midland Trail 42-yard line.
Brock Parker scored from one yard out following two big plays from freshman Ben Comer. Comer ran for 13 yards before grabbing a 23-yard pass from Dowdy taking the ball to the one-yard line.
“I was really surprised with that kind of start. I was definitely happy with it, but I was surprised with that,” Mustain admitted. “What I saw of them on film, I thought they played Wheeling Central really tough. I thought they played a heck of a game over at Nicholas County. A lot of it is a testament to the kids just coming out with the right frame of mind.”
With the Mavericks once again playing some stingy defense, the offense tacked on two more scores for a 41-0 lead at the break.
The first score of the second quarter came on a 15-yard pass to Kadyn Hines to give Dowdy three touchdown passes in the opening half as well as a rushing score. Parker capped the first half outburst with another one-yard plunge.
“He is just a good all-around athlete. He is good at basketball too and I always thought he should have played baseball. He probably would be a great baseball player too,” Mustain said about his quarterback. “Layton is not a vocal leader. He kind of reminds me of the way Grant Mohler was when I had him a few years ago. The things that he does provides the leadership a lot of times.”
The James Monroe starters did not see the field in the second half.
“I have been on both sides of the score being run up and I take great pains in trying not to do something that gives the impression to the other team that we are trying to run the score up on them,” Mustain said. “You start doing that and some people won’t play you. Sometimes if you keep the starters out there too long, a freak injury can happen as well. It also gives the young kids a chance.”
Will McGraw scored on a one-yard run for Trail in the third quarter and Brown added a five-yard run early in the fourth quarter. Freshman Jayden Hubbard rounded out the scoring for the Mavs with a three-yard run.
James Monroe (6-2) travels to Petersburg next Friday, while Trail (2-5) travels to Liberty.
JM: 27 14 0 7 – 48
MT: 0 0 7 6 – 13
First quarter
JM: Ryan Mann 6 pass from Layton Dowdy (Peyton Gardinier kick)
JM: Dowdy 9 run (Gardinier kick)
JM: Mann 37 pass from Dowdy (Gardinier kick)
JM: Brock Parker 1 run (kick no good)
Second quarter
JM: Kadyn Hines 15 pass from Dowdy (Gardinier kick)
JM: Parker 1 run (Gardinier kick)
Third quarter
MT: Will McGraw 1 run (Edan Maxwell kick), 2:15
Fourth quarter
MT: Thad Brown 5 run (kick no good)
JM: Jaden Hubbard 3 run (Gardinier kick)
Stats:
Rushing: (JM) Parker 8-16-2, Dowdy 8-74-1, Comer 4-22, Hubbard 11-69-1, Andrew Weikle 4-0, Jayden Miller 1-(-2), Bryce Parker 2-17; (MT) Kaden Lephew 10-37, McGraw 15-61-1, Brown 3-3-1, Maximus White 9-48, Xaylen Johns 1-10, Aiden Wise 1-(-3).
Passing: (JM) Dowdy 6-10-1-87-3; (MT) Brown 10-17-1-115-0, Rayce Dickerson 0-2
Receiving: (JM) Hines 2-17-1, Mann 3-47-2, Comer 1-23; (MT) Jamison Swafford 2-5, Aiden Foster 1-2, Johns 3-58, Lephew 2-15, McGraw 1-23, Jacon Ewing 1-12.
