LINDSIDE - On a chilly Friday evening at the H.E. Comer Jr. Sports Complex, the visiting Greenbrier East Spartans came into Lindside and corralled home-standing James Monroe 27-6.
"It's real important," Greenbrier East head coach Aaron Baker said of the win. "?It's great to be able to come and put those five losses behind us. My hats off to these kids, they'll stand up and fight any day of the week."
Both teams came out ready in the first quarter as neither team could score. The Spartans intercepted Andrew Evans on the first series of the game, but couldn't turn it into points.
The game began to change though in the second quarter swinging into Greenbrier East's favor.
The Spartans found running room up the middle with big plays by Tyler Freeman and Tre' Moore. After Moore's carry, Clay Ayers handed it to Josh Grubbs who rumbled in for a four-yard touchdown.
"I thought we could come out in run the ball," Baker said. "We have a quality stable of running backs. Our game plan was to come out and run it at them. They're a quality ball club. They can play football.
"They smacked us in the mouth and we smacked them in the mouth. It was a great high school football game. My hat is off to Coach Jackson and his staff."
James Monroe would answer on their next series.
Andrew Evans found Jordan McKinney wide open on a fly route in the endzone for a 28-yard touchdown reception. The Mavericks went for two, but could not convert to keep the game tied at six.
Late in the second quarter, Evans was intercepted again this time by Jason Fisher.
"We had it in good football position," James Monroe head coach Donnie Jackson said. "You can always second guess. I don't think that had any outcome on the game. They wore us down."
Two players later, Greenbrier East found the endzone when Clay Ayers laced a beautifully thrown ball to Michael McCormick for a 42-yard touchdown with six second lefts on the clock.
"We took a timeout," Baker said. "And, though we could fool them where we had been running the ball. We told the quarterback to throw the ball away if it wasn't there. Ayers made a heck of a play and McCormick made a great catch."
Ayers added a three-yard touchdown in the third and the Spartans began to wear down the Mavericks.
"They were so much stronger in the line," Jackson said. "It just wears on you after a while. Chapmanville did it to us two weeks ago."
Greenbrier East continued to apply pressure on Evans and James Monroe.
Midway through the fourth, Jacob Harper stripped Matt Romanello and returned it six yards for the final score of the game.
The Spartans held the Mavericks to seven yards rushing on the night and 114 total yards.
"Our defense played well all night long," Baker said. The held a team to six points who had been putting big points on the board. Great all around night for us."
Grubbs led Greenbrier East with 145 yards on 24 carries. Moore added 104 yards on 11 carries. Ayers added 76 yards through the air with 54 going to McCormick.
With games against St. Clairsville (Ohio) and Bluefield left, James Monroe (5-3) is looking for answers.
"We just have to go back to the basics," Jackson said."Block and tackle. That?s the key to the game. If we don't do that, we're going to lose."
Greenbrier East (3-5) hosts Princeton Friday while James Monroe travels to St. Clairsville.
? Contact Jonathan Greene at jgreene@bdtonline.com
At H.E. Comer Jr. Sports Complex
Greenbrier East............0 13 7 7 - 27
James Monroe.......0 6 0 0 - 6
Second Quarter
GE -Josh Grubbs 4 rush (Kolten Renick kick failed), 9:31
JM - Jordan McKinney 28 pass from Andrew Evans (PAT failed), 5:46
GE - Michael McCormick 42 pass from Clay Ayers (Renick kick), :06
Third Quarter
GE - Ayers 3 rush (Renick kick), 9:33
Fourth Quarter
GE - Jacob Harper 6 fumble recovery return (Renick kick), 5:32
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - East, Grubbs 24-145-td, Moore 11-104, Freeman 4-34, Level 7-26, Ayers 5-(-22)-td. JM, Lilly 9-18, Romanello 6-13, McKinney 2-1, Mustain -(-3), Evans 11-(-22).
PASSING -East, Ayers 4-10-76-1td. JM, Evans 8-16-1td-2int-104, Mustain 1-2-0-0-3.
RECEIVING - East, McCormick 2-54-td, Grubbs 1-22. JM, McKinney 3-69-td, Romanello 5-32, Tuggle 1-18.