Gallery by Steph Redden
Charmco – Friday night the unstoppable force ran into the immovable object.
For the sixth time this season, the Greenbrier West defense refused to be moved.
Scoring twice on defense and recording another safety, the No. 4-seeded Cavaliers blanked No. 13 Wirt County 49-0 in round one of the West Virginia State High School Football Playoffs.
“Defensively we just made some plays and got a couple of scores,” Greenbrier West head coach Kelly Vaughan said. “We have always preached to the fact that if you get a defensive score, the chances of winning increase 80 percent and they believe in that. They love getting defensive scores.”
Along with the scores on defense, Greenbrier West put the clamps on the Tigers’ top rusher, Chase Lowe.
Entering the game with 1,607 yards for the season and averaging 160.7 yards per game, Lowe was held to 51 yards on 20 carries.
“They did to us what they have done to a lot of teams this year,” Wirt County head coach Jason Hickman said. “This whole season I think they were giving up 1.7 yards per carry for their opponent. We knew that coming in and knew it was going to be tough. That is why we tried to throw the ball a little bit and loosen them up a little bit.”
Facing an uphill battle coming in, Wirt County put itself in a tough spot on the opening kickoff.
Jake Pate reeled in the opening boot at the Cavalier 20-yrd line and took it back to the Tiger 24-yard line setting West up with a golden opportunity just seconds into the contest.
Two plays later, Ethan Holliday raced in the end zone from 14-yards out for a 6-0 lead.
“We were supposed to kick that thing on the ground. For some reason the kicker kicked it right to the kid,” Hickman lamented. “We didn’t want to do that. Obviously we got off on the wrong foot right off the bat. That was not the game plan.”
The visitors did get some life when an interception halted the next Greenbrier West drive, but the momentum was short lived.
After the Cavalier defense forced the second three-and-out of the first quarter, Pate did the heavy lifting on the second scoring drive of the night.
Spanning 55 yards in eight plays, the shifty senior scored from four-yards out on his sixth carry of the drive for a 13-0 lead.
The first possession for the home team in the second quarter was a back-breaker for the Tigers.
Pinning West at its own seven yard line, Wirt County could not take advantage with a quick stop.
Instead, the Cavaliers marched 93 yards in 13 plays for a 19-0 lead. The score came on a throw from Cole Vandall just inside the right corner of the end zone to Tucker Lilly from 24-yards out.
Greenbrier West capped the dominant first half with an eight-play, 70-yard drive that culminated in another Vandall scoring toss. This time it was a swing pass to Holliday who weaved through the Wirt defense barreling over the safety at the goal line.
“(Colton) Dunbar made a nice catch. He went up with a kid all over him and made the catch. Jake ran the ball strong and Isaac Agee hitting it up in there. Holliday is a nice little runner too,” Vaughan said. “We have some weapons, but we just have to keep grinding.”
At the half, Wirt County had one first down and minus-seven yards rushing.
“They are good. They give you a lot of different looks and different things up front to deal with,” Hickman said. “I thought our kids handled it well at times, but against a team like that you have to handle it well all the time or you do not have a chance.”
The best opportunity to score for the Tigers came at the start of the third quarter when two nice pass plays of 35 yards and 25 yards put Wirt inside the red zone at the Cavaliers six-yard line.
Three running plays netted one yard and a bad snap on fourth down ended the drive and handed the ball back to the Cavaliers.
“We have played Williamstown and St. Marys and when we got the ball in that scoring territory we generally were able to score this year,” Hickman said. “They just shut us down. We weren’t able to get it done and we had the bad snap on the fourth down play. If you get it in the end zone there is might be a little different game. They are just a good football team.”
Following the safety late in the third quarter, Pate added another five-yard scoring jaunt to open the final period.
The two defensive scores came on a 19-yard fumble return by Lilly and a 36-yard interception return from Holliday.
“They have 58 kids on the roster and 18 of them are seniors. We dress 24 kids total, so we knew it was going to be an uphill battle. I thought our kids came out of the locker room in the second half and played a pretty good third quarter,” Hickman said. “We got some stuff going, but we weren’t able to finish a drive or two there where it might have been a little different. The wheels just fell off in the fourth. They are good enough on offense. When you are giving up defensive scores like that it is going to be a long night.”
Greenbrier West will now host No. 5 Wahama in the quarterfinals. The time and date will be announced Sunday morning.
First quarter
GW: Ethan Holliday 14 run (kick no good)
GW: Jake Pate 4 run (Hunter Ridgeway kick)
Second quarter
GW: Tucker Lilly 24 pass from Cole Vandall (pass incomplete)
GW: Holliday 15 pass from Vandall (Ridgeway kick)
Third quarter
GW: Chase Parsons tackled in the end zone
Fourth quarter
GW: Pate 5 run (Ridgeway kick)
GW: Tucker Lilly 19 fumble recovery (Ridgeway kick)
GW: Holliday 36 INT return (Ridgeway kick)
Stats:
Rushing: (WC) Chase Lowe 20-51, Channing Lowe 10-(-6), Tyler Smith 4-(-32), Chase Parsons 1-(-2), Braden Whipley 1-2; (GW) Jake Pate 21-92-2, Cole Vandall 8-31, Ethan Holliday 3-20-1, Isaac Agee 2-3.
Passing: (WC) Smith 6-18-2-107-0, Parsons 0-1; (GW) Vandall 12-19-2-154-2
Receiving:(WC) Brody Ewing 1-1, Parker Goodwin 2-45, Channing Lowe 1-5, Isaiah Simpson 2-56: (GW) Holliday 5-80-1, Pate 2-18, Tucker Lilly 1-14-1, Colton Dunbar 4-42.
