In the quarterfinal round of the state high school football playoffs, historically the No. 4 versus No. 5 matchup is most often the premier game.
On paper, that appears to be the case Friday night when No. 5-seed Wahama invades Charmco looking to knock off No. 4-seed Greenbrier West.
“The kids are excited. The school is excited. The community is excited. There is no doubt they love their football in Charmco,” Greenbrier West head coach Kelly Vaughan said. “I think you will get your five-dollars worth, or eight. Whatever it costs to get in games now days.”
The White Falcons have been a juggernaut offensively. Greenbrier West has been rock solid on defense.
Something will have to give Friday night.
“We will run our base stuff, but we will give them different looks and different coverages. We won’t be statues,” Vaughan said. “They can put some points on the board. The only real challenge so far for them was the first game of the season. They have just whooped everybody.”
After scoring 38 points in the opening win of the season against playoff bound East Hardy, Wahama has scored under 50 points just once in the last 10 games.
Three times the White Falcons have scored over 60 points and also hung 70 points on South Harrison just over a month ago.
Last week in the playoff opener, Wahama scored on every offensive possessions against No. 12-seed Summers County in a 65-14 win.
“We are going to face some adversity Friday. I feel like the team that handles adversity the best will win the game,” Vaughan said. “I think there will be some scoring both ways. They have offensive threats everywhere. When you get down to these games, the teams are really good.”
Senior signal-caller Sawyer VanMatre leads the Wahama attack and has been a dual threat nightmare for opposing defenses.
VanMatre has rushed for nearly 1,600 yards and passed for over 1,000 more, while accounting for 38 touchdowns along the way.
“The quarterback is big and really solid. He reminds me of Brady Green at Shady Spring as far as size goes,” Vaughan said. “He can run it and throw it. He is listed as 6-(foot)-4, 220 pounds. He is hard to bring down and they do that run-pass-option stuff.”
The White Falcons are far from a one-man gang with two big-time runners to compliment their quarterback in juniors Dillan Fields and Connor Lambert.
Lambert, who has had his name mentioned with the likes of former Kennedy Award winner Judah Price from Independence, tallied 1,131 yards and 21 touchdowns over the regular season campaign. Fields rushed for 795 yards and six scores.
The two backs recorded a hat trick last Friday night with three scores each and combined for 336 yards along the way in the playoff opener.
“(Lambert) has some speed and he is a home run hitter,” Vaughan said. “They just play good old football. They are nothing we haven’t seen per se, but they have the speed. He is going to get his yards. We just have to hopefully find some way contain him.”
“He is shifty and he has a burst. If he gets loose he can take to the house. We have some kids that can run, but they can’t run like him,” Vaughan continued. “He just blows people away. He looks like a legit 4.5 guy with decent size. He does run the ball hard.”
The Cavaliers will provide their fair share of problems for the visitors on both sides of the ball.
Senior Cole Vandall has changed the run-dominant thinking in Charmco with a stellar season at quarterback which includes 1,627 yards through the air and 26 touchdown passes.
Senior running back Jake Pate has done the heavy lifting on the ground with 1,124 yards, but West also has numerous threats to riddle defenses.
Ethan Holliday and Isaac Agee are weapons both running and receiving, while Tucker Lilly and Colton Dunbar have been on the opposite end of 15 scoring tosses.
“I think we match up well and we will be a challenge for them to stop too,” Vaughan said. “The kids are focused. You have to take it day-to-day and week-to-week this time of year. These kids love to play and they are fired up.”
Defensively the boys from Charmco have pitched six shutouts and allowed only three teams to scores multiple times.
Holliday leads the stingy unit with 87 total tackles, followed closely by Brandon Poticher with 85 total tackles. Holliday has 22 tackles for loss and three interceptions, while Poticher has four sacks on the year.
C.W. Sturgill has 66 total tackles, while Pate will come up and put a lick on runners with 45 total tackles and three picks as well.
When Jacob Whitt is not clearing holes for the backs, he is in the opposing backfield with 13 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
Agee (44), Trent Parker (42) and Dunbar (35) have also shined on defense this year. Vandall is not worried about sticking his nose in the pile either recording nine tackles for loss.
Friday night will be just the second meeting between the schools. The White Falcons bested the Cavaliers 21-12 in a playoff tilt in Point Pleasant back in 2012.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to the semifinal round where it will meet the winner of No. 1-seed James Monroe and No. 8-seed Cameron.
