This season has belonged to the defenses and none have stood out more than Greenbrier West’s.
The Cavaliers have yet to yield a point through five games – the only team in the state to hold that distinction. Friday’s 54-0 win over Meadow Bridge was the latest standout performance in that stretch and was also a record-breaking one. Previously the Cavaliers had shutout their first four opponents in 1981 and ’83.
Led by Ethan Holliday’s two-interception, eight-tackle performance the 2022 Cavaliers cemented their legacy in the program’s rich history as the only team to blank its first five opponents.
For his role in the historic performance, Holliday has been named the 2022 Week 5 Lootpress Player of the Week by the Lootpress sportswriters.
The award is sponsored by Bodyworks, the Law Offices of Brandon Steele and Mid-State Ford.
Sustaining such a streak is difficult by any standard. In a game with 22 different variables at any given time, just one error, bust or misalignment could result in a touchdown. It’s why every detail requires attention, nuance and focus.
Fortunately for the Cavaliers they’re often on the same page.
“We work as a team and everybody did their job,” Holliday said. “We knew we could and we made it happen. We’re a family and we all have each other’s backs. If one dude messes up the other one picks him up and we keep playing and we play together.”
For Holliday the streak and his performance this season – he leads the team in tackles, assisted tackles and interceptions while tying for the team lead in forced fumbles and tackles for a loss – are not a fluke.
As a safety-linebacker hybrid that moves back and forth to spell his teammates when necessary, he’s all over the field and his coaches trust him to make plays when he shifts around.
His production is a product of preparation which was on display Friday night. The two interceptions brought his season total to three with one of them being returned 79 yards for a touchdown.
“We watch a lot of film every Monday and during the week,” Holliday said. “I saw the receiver break out and watching on film he does the same thing. We had pressure on the quarterback and he was scrambling out. He threw a bad ball and I just stepped up and picked it off and had guys blocking for me.”
“It’s prep and film though for me. Seeing the offensive line up and guessing where they’re going to be at, I can see the play develop and I try to make a read on it to where I can get to that ball.”
Holliday’s contributions weren’t limited to the defensive side of the ball. He turned his one carry of the game into an 11-yard touchdown but his preferences are no secret.
“I like defense more because I like hitting people. It’s always been my thing,” Holliday added.
It’s easy to be satisfied with breaking the program record but there are still loftier goals to chase. For starters the program record for shutouts in a season is six – achieved in 1991. A strong defense also translates into playoff success as it often travels if necessary. That ’91 team, three of its six shutouts came in the postseason, earning the Cavaliers a spot in he Class AA title game that season.
Holliday doesn’t anticipate a lapse in focus from the defense though.
“The intensity in practice this week has picked up more than it has the entire year,” Holliday said. “We’re working hard and pushing each other 10 times harder than we have been and we’re just relying on each other.”
Shady Spring receiver Jalon Bailey finished second in the Player of the Week fan vote with 5,412 votes, 23.47 percent of the total vote tally. Because Layton Dowdy, the overall vote getter, has already won the fan poll once, Bailey wins the fan vote. In an effort to reward communities for their diligence in voting for their respective players, Lootpress will take the top vote getter each week that hasn’t already won the Community Choice poll and advance them to the pool of candidates for the newly created Community Choice Player of the Year. When the regular season concludes, the 11 players that led in total votes their respective weeks will be grouped into a poll where everyone can vote on one player to win the award as well as the $500 scholarship that comes with it.
2022 Player of the Week Winners
Week 1: Kaiden Vance, Westside
Week 2: Darmonte Mitchell, Beckley
Week 3: Ian Cline, Greenbrier East
Week 4: Judah Price, Independence
Week 5: Ethan Holliday, Greenbrier West
2022 Community Choice Winners
Week 1: Cooper Ridgeway, James Monroe
Week 2: Layton Dowdy, James Monroe
Week 3: Khamrin Proffitt, Princeton
Week 4: Drake Cole, Summers County
Week 5: Jalon Bailey, Shady Spring
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
