Greenbrier West Guts Out Win for Gray

CHARMCO – Inspiration comes in many ways throughout our lives. The motivation to drive yourself to attain a goal can be powerful. Friday night in Charmco, a troop of Cavaliers rallied behind lessons taught to them long before they ever arrived on campus. These were values instilled in them from the very beginning of their careers, words of wisdom and fundamentals drilled at the youth and middle school levels. Friday night, Greenbrier West honored the distinguished coaching career of longtime coach Mark Gray.

In an afternoon prayer session by the football team, the question was posed “how many in this room were coached by Mark Gray?” Nearly the entire room raised their hands. Gray coached youth and middle school football and wrestling for nearly thirty years in western Greenbrier County. To say he had an impact on our athletes would be a gross understatement. Gray tragically lost his life on the sideline at Western Greenbrier Middle School on Thursday night. I can be certain of one thing, Coach Gray died doing what he loved to do. Coach.

Emotionally charged, the Cavalier football team made the decision to wear their gray uniforms in Coach Gray’s honor instead of the blue combination that had been selected earlier in the week. Drawing on that early adrenaline, Greenbrier West marched 58 yards on their opening drive to take a 7-0 lead. Quarterback Evan Vandall raced 32 yards on the game first play to set West up at the Hillbilly 21-yard line. Five plays later, Vandall found the endzone on a one-yard sneak. Trey Franklin nailed the extra point, and the Cavaliers had an early lead with 9:16 remaining in the quarter.

It would be the only score of the first half as the two teams duked it out defensively. The Cavaliers squashed Man’s first drive with a turnover on downs at the West 36-yard line. Two plays later, the Cavaliers turned the ball over with a fumble at their own 45-yard line. Despite an eight-play drive to the Cavalier seventeen, the ‘Billies once again turned it over on downs with a desperation heave to Trey Ward in the endzone that sailed high.

West embarked on a drive of their own as the game transitioned into the second quarter. But a seven-play drive that had netted only five yards ended when Devan Sanders intercepted Vandall’s pass at the Cavalier 44-yard line. Man could do nothing with the possession and punted the ball back to West. An 11-play drive for Greenbrier West was snuffed out at midfield and a 3-yard punt was the result of that drive. Fighting a waning clock, Man put together a drive that had them on the doorstep of scoring, but a touchdown saving tackle from Vandall ended the ‘Billies hopes at the Cavalier three-yard line.

Man’s opening possession of the second ended with a punt, but the Cavaliers’ turnover woes continued when Vandall’s pass to Brandon Poticher was underthrown and picked off by Dusten Baisden. One play later, the Hillbillies made West pay for their mistake. Kaleb Mullins took an option to the right up the Man sideline, and cutback hard at the 25-yard line. Mullins cruised into the endzone for a 32-yard score. The Cavaliers managed to retain their lead, however, when

Poticher squirted through the line and elevated to block the PAT. West’s lead was 7-6 with 8:17 to go in the third.

Relying mainly on the legs of Vandall and Poticher, West set out on a 12-play, 5:28 minute scoring drive to increase the lead to seven. Vandall capped off the scoring drive with a 3-yard sneak around the right end, but the surprising play of the drive came on play number seven. From the Man 40-yard line, Vandall raised up to hit Colton Dunbar on a 17-yard slant. Dunbar wasn’t expected to be back from an ankle sprain he sustained in the week two win over Summers County until the James Monroe game. Dunbar’s insertion into the offense cannot be overlooked as impactful. The Cavaliers were up 13-6 with 2:26 to go in the third.

The Hillbillies came to play, however, and their answer was swift. All week the Cavaliers had worked on covering and containing what they felt was Man’s main scoring threat, junior speedster Trey Ward. Ward, who lined up at wide receiver or slot much of the night, tucked in at the left-wing position and ran a short reverse to the right. The Cavaliers’ worst fears were realized when a missed tackle in the backfield resulted in a cutback all the way the West sideline and a 59-yard scoring run for Ward. Man tried to take the lead with a two-point conversion, but Vandall slammed the door on the try as he hip-tossed Mullins to the ground. The Cavalier advantage was 13-12 with 2:26 to go in the third quarter.

The next Cavalier drive resulted in a punt, but West got the ball back when ‘Billie punter Ward fumbled in front of the West bench after a 35-yard punt return. C.W. Sturgell and Logan Berry sandwiched Ward and forced the fumble, and Joevun Robinson secured the ball at the Cavalier 26-yard line.

The resulting West drive fizzled faster than it started and forced another Cavalier punt. Devon Sanders returned the punt to the Greenbrier West 46-yard line. Five consecutive carries by Kaleb Mullins advanced the ball to the Cavalier 14-yard line. Facing a fourth and two, Sanders faked to Mullins off the right side and bootlegged left. He lobbed the ball intended for Ward into the endzone. Although incomplete, West was flagged for pass interference.

With a fresh set of downs and a first and goal at the West six-yard line, the ‘Billies were in business. Mullins carried the ball up the gut to the two-yard line. Now on the doorstep of a go-ahead score, Man would go to Mullins again with an unexpected result. Mullins burst over right tackle and was immediately sent end-over-end by Brandon Poticher’s hit at the knees. As Mullins somersaulted through the air, the ball squirted loose and into the endzone. Freshman defensive back Ben Butler covered the ball up and the Cavaliers had thwarted a Hillbilly score.

On the cavalier’s first play following the turnover, Kamden Sams flipped the field with a 34-yard pass reception from Vandall. Vandall carreid the ball five consecutive times before a 3rd-and-10 situation forced a pass attempt that fell incomplete. West chose to pin Man as deep as they could and Vandall’s punt rolled out of bounds at the Hillbilly sixteen-yard line.

Once again, the vaunted West defense would be called upon to make a play. It came in a big way. Sanders took a shotgun snap on second down and looked to his right in the direction of Ward.

Joevun Robinson crashed into Sanders from the backside just as he cocked his arm to throw and shot the ball directly toward the goal line. Poticher frantically tried to scoop the ball and score for the Cavaliers, but Mullins knocked him away before logan Berry secured the ball at the Man two-yard line. As Coach Mark Gray used to tell me, “And the crowd roared.” That they did.

Vandall would score on a keeper on West’s first play, but the Cavaliers were flagged for assisting the runner. Undaunted, Vandall scored on the same play call one play later, this time from the six-yard line. The conversion run failed, but West had a 19-12 advantage with only 2:14 remaining.

Man would catch a break in their comeback attempt when the West kickoff sailed out of bounds, giving them great starting position at their own 43-yard line. The rally would be short-lived, however, as Kamden Sams sliced in front of a Sanders to Ward pass attempt for an interception. Sams scrambled momentarily before literally taking a seat on the turf at the Hillbilly 48-yard line. A late hit was assessed giving the Cavaliers a fresh set of downs at Man’s 33-yard line.

Trying to milk as much clock as possible, Vandall had three more runs to the left to chew up time. The Hillbillies still had a sliver of a chance though after two false start penalties forced another Cavalier punt with a minute remaining. Ward grabbed the ball off the turf at the Hillbilly 11-yard line and returned thirteen yards.

On first down, Sanders hit tight end Jake Endicott for a gain of fourteen yards for a first down. Snaders dropped back again and searched for his favorite target Ward in front of the Man bench. The comeback was not meant to be. Not on this night. Kamden Sams swooped in front of Ward at the 50-yard line for his second interception of the fourth quarter as time expired.

Evan Vandall’s 35 carries were a career high for the signal caller, and his 122-yard effort was just shy of his career-high in that department. Vandall was 5-11 for 78 yards and two interceptions. Kamden Sams now has four interceptions on the season.

With the win, Greenbrier West moves to 4-1 and will likely ascend to 10th in next week’s WVSSAC playoff ratings. The Cavaliers host Ohio powerhouse Fort Frye next Friday night at 6:30 P.M. Man drops to 2-3 and will travel to Sherman next Friday night.

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