Gallery by Ashley Honaker
Lindside – Greenbrier West has compiled an undefeated football season largely on the back of a stingy and relentless defense.
Friday night with a trip to the Class A state championship game on the line, the Cavalier defense played arguably its best game of the season.
Not allowing an offensive score and holding an explosive James Monroe offense to 114 yards of total offense, Greenbrier West stymied the Mavericks in a 27-7 semifinal win.
The Cavaliers will now play Williamstown in the state championship game Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Wheeling Island Stadium.
“Honestly, I felt like they took it to us tonight. There is not really much else I can say,” James Monroe head coach John Mustain said. “They have a heck of a defense and I knew that coming in. That was the one thing I was most concerned about was what they do defensively.”
For the first three quarters, both defenses shined making life tough on the opposing offenses.
James Monroe forced a pair of Greenbrier West turnovers in the opening quarter, while the Cavaliers held the Mavericks to just one first down.
The initial first down came on the last play of the opening quarter, but two plays later it was West recovering a fumble on a high snap from the Mavericks.
Just when it looked like both offenses were stuck in the mud, Greenbrier West junior wide-out Isaac Agee locked it in four-wheel drive and hammered down.
After connecting on an 18-yard pass with quarterback Cole Vandall, Agee took a swing pass from Vandall and raced through and around defenders for a 60-yard touchdown.
“To be honest, I felt like we should have been up two scores going into halftime,” Greenbrier West head coach Kelly Vaughan said. “Defensively we did an outstanding job. We just had a couple of turnovers, but that’s football.”
The 7-0 halftime lead was erased midway through the third quarter when it was the Mavericks turn to electrify the home crowd on defense.
Reading a middle screen by the Cavaliers, sophomore Brock Parker stepped in front of the pass and raced 18 yards into the end zone to tie the score.
“I thought we did a lot of good things defensively,” Mustain said. “When it got to be 7-7 I thought our chances were much better, but we just had trouble moving the ball.”
Greenbrier West responded with a drive deep into Mavericks territory before another turnover appeared to flip the momentum back to James Monroe.
The momentum was short lived, however, and for the final 18 minutes of action, senior Ethan Holliday put the Cavaliers on his back and carried them home.
“He runs the ball well and did it in crunch time when they really needed it tonight,” Mustain said. “I have talked all year long about him being such a good receiver. We have seen several good receivers this year, but he is just a good all-around player on both sides of the ball. He is good on defense too. He is all over the place.”
Three plays after the interception, it was Holliday stepping in front of a pass for an interception which he returned to the James Monroe 22-yard line.
“(Assistant) Coach (Robertson) told me to get him the dang ball, so that was what I did,” Holliday said. “The quarterback shifted his eyes and I glanced over and saw the receiver there. I just tried to make a move and the Lord put it in my hands.”
With Vandall hobbled and struggling, Holliday moved to quarterback and took over the game.
“Vandall was banged up and they did a good job defending him. The good part about our offense is if they are taking away one thing, that will open something else up,” Vaughan said. “Holliday was just hitting it up in the C-gap. Football is not a difficult sport. If you have a bull, you ride him. That is what we did.”
The first big play came through the air on fourth-and-8 from the Mavericks 20-yard line. Holliday lofted a pass up to Colton Dunbar for a crucial first down. Two plays later and on the first play of the final period, Holliday bulldozed his way in from seven yards out for a 14-7 lead.
“Coach (Vaughan) told me we had some players banged up and I would need to run the ball a little bit more. I just said, yes sir, give me the rock and I was going to give it everything I had,” Holliday said. “We knew we had a little momentum coming into that final quarter. They said we couldn’t run it down their throat, but we lined up and the line got a great push.”
A sack from Dunbar forced James Monroe into a punting situation on the next possession. A heavy rush from the Cavaliers forced a miscue and Jacob Nutter was there to fall on the loose ball.
“They have a good scheme and they have kids that fly to the ball. They have a lot of talent and we had trouble getting a push on them,” Mustain said. “They were doing a lot of twisting in there and I think it was confusing our boys from time to time. They get off the ball so quick you would think they were on offense. They have a lot quick kids on that team.
Four straight runs from Holliday covered 44 yards culminating in a 14-yard dash to the end zone.
“The offensive line started a little slow, but they heated up. They got the train rolling and we just pushed it in there,” Holliday said.
With Vandall down, Greenbrier West went back to what the Cavaliers have been know for traditionally – hard-nosed running.
“He is a baller,” Vaughan said about Holliday. “My philosophy is, you get the football to your best football player. He is our best football player. I have nothing but praise for how that kid plays. He goes hard every play and he is as tough as a pine knot. He has that “it” factor when it come to the mentality to play football.”
Holliday added the final score of the game on a six-yard run.
“We have been waiting on this all week. All week we busted our butts in practice and did everything that we could,” Holliday said. “We were told this was going to be a real atmosphere on social media, so we ready for tonight and we couldn’t wait to get here.”
GW: 7 0 0 20 – 27
JM: 0 0 7 0 – 7
Second quarter
GW: Isaac Agee 60 pass from Cole Vandall (Hayden Ridgeway kick)
Third quarter
JM: Brock Parker 18 INT return (Peyton Gardinier kick)
Fourth quarter
GW: Ethan Holliday 7 run (Ridgeway kick)
GW: Holliday 14 run (kick no good)
GW: Holliday 6 run (Ridgeway kick)
Stats
Rushing: (GW) Vandall 12-2, Holliday 17-109-3, Agee 5-(-2); (JM) Cooper Ridgeway 10-17, Chaz Boggs 2-8, Layton Dowdy 17-(-8), Parker 3-15
Passing: (GW) Vandall 9-16-3-126-1, Holliday 1-1-10; (JM) Dowdy 11-23-1-82-0
Receiving: (GW) Holliday 2-11, Agee 4-83-1, Colton Dunbar4-42; (JM) Cooper Ridgeway 2-3, Boggs 5-38, Ryan Mann 1-22, Baylee Ridgeway 2-18, Parker 1-1.
