At the beginning of the 2021 high school football season, Greenbrier West head coach Toby Harris wasn’t quite sure what he would get from his team.
After back-to-back quarterfinal appearance in the playoffs, West was hit hard by graduation leaving a young, inexperienced group to carry the torch.
That young group played well enough this season to take the Cavaliers (6-4) back to the postseason.
No. 13 Greenbrier West will battle No. 6 Williamstown (8-2) in a rematch of the 2019 quarterfinal contest won by the Yellowjackets.
While the season has been a success in regards to making the playoffs, the Cavaliers could easily be hosting a playoff game this Friday.
Unfortunately for West, turnovers have been an issues and were key factors in losses to Buffalo, James Monroe and last Friday night to Mount View.
“We knew when we started out that we would have a lot of new guys out there. Had we just not made a lot of mistakes we could have won several of those ballgames. The only game that we really got dominated in was Midland Trail,” Harris said.
A tough, one-point loss to Buffalo in week one was followed by four straight wins. Three losses, all at home, in the last five games, however, have put the young Cavaliers on the road to start the playoffs.
“I hope it is just their youth. We keep thinking they will grow up a little bit and quit dropping the ball,” Harris said. “Our turnovers have been the story of the year. We work on it every day and talk about it every day, but when get into games, we still do it.”
“Even the other night against Mount View, we were in that football game. If we don’t throw two interceptions and have four fumbles, we might have won that game. That’s juts football.”
As in years past, the Cavaliers have a strong rushing attack led by Ty Nickell who has rushed for over 1,400 yards and 17 touchdowns. Nickell averages almost 10 yard per carry.
Cole Vandall has thrown for 782 yards and nine scores on the season. His main target has been Chase McClung who has hauled in four touchdown grabs, averaging over 21 yards per catch.
Nickell also leads the team in tackles with seven coming for loss, while Reney Cordial and Joey Terry have each recorded six tackles for loss.
McClung leads the team with four interceptions and Kadin Parker has three.
If the Cavaliers are to pull off the upset, they will have to play a clean game and be solid on defense.
Williamstown has been a playoff stalwart over the years, last winning the Class A title in 2014. The Jackets were runner-up in 2018.
They are led by a pair of 1,000 yard rushers in Rickie Allen and Maxwell Molessa. The tandem has combined or 28 rushing touchdowns. Molessa has also thrown for over 600 yards and five more scores.
“Seems like every year if you want to make it to Wheeling you have to go through Williamstown. They are always hanging around. It is a tough draw, but that is the way it goes,” Harris said.
The Jackets have not lost to a team from West Virginia this season with both losses coming to teams from Ohio.
“They are very fundamentally sound and really strong. The good thing is you know where they are going to be because they are so well coached,” Harris said. “We know what they are going to do. The question is can we line up and take advantage of it?”
Williamstown has four wins over WV teams in the top-20, but just one, Doddridge County, is in the playoff field this weekend.
West was 2-3 against teams inside the top-16.
“They are not the Williamstown of two years ago and we aren’t either. I think they have some weaknesses and I feel like we can move the ball,” Harris said. “It’s the same old story, we can’t fumble it. If we are able to keep the ball, I think we can do OK.”
Game time is set for 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Yellowjacket Field.
“We will be the underdogs and I kinda like that,” Harris said. “If we are fortunate enough to beat Williamstown, we are on the right side of the bracket, who knows where we might be in a few weeks.”
