BUFFALO, WV- With three weeks in the books, Greenbrier West has had an exceptional start to the 2023 season. The Cavaliers dispatched Pendleton County 41-7 to kick off the Kelly Vaughan-era in week one. Cavalier Field also showed out with a brand new FieldTurf surface. In week two, Greenbrier West trekked to Hinton to dismantle the undefeated Summers County Bobcats 42-14. In week three, the Cavaliers were as electric as the skies in a 48-0 win over Pocahontas County that took a little over 15 minutes of game clock to complete. With a 3-0 record, Greenbrier West found themselves tied for tenth in the first set of WVSSAC Class A ratings that were released on Tuesday. That’s not a bad start for a team with great expectations.
Week four will find the Cavaliers traveling to Putnam County to face the Buffalo Bison. The series between these two schools has been highly competitive throughout the years, at least in terms of wins and losses. Greenbrier West owns a 6-5 advantage over the Bison, but all the games have not been closely contested. Let’s look at the highlights of the series.
The school’s first met in the opening round of the 2006 Class A playoffs. Greenbrier West won 22-16 in a matchup of clashing styles. Trent Walker amassed 200 yards and two touchdowns in a game that saw the Cavaliers roll up 289 yards on the ground and 40 yards through the air. Buffalo’s Nick Harris set Greenbrier West postseason opponent’s records for passing attempts (49) and yards against (268), but the Bison could muster only 32 yards rushing in the loss.
The first regular season meeting between the two schools was a barnburner. Greenbrier West sported a 3-0 record and the top spot in the Class A ratings. The Cavaliers would not play like a #1 team, though, turning the ball over six times. Two of the turnovers were returned for Bison scores in the second quarter, all but securing the upset win for the visitors. Malik Boatwright churned out 245 yards on the ground and scored a touchdown, but Buffalo’s Laythen Good had two touchdowns runs of his own and a 44-yard fumble return for a touchdown. Mikey Goddard connected with Josh Martin two times for 56 yards, but Bison quarterback Levi Jordan completed three passes to Good for 42 yards on an 8-16, 99-yard night. Jordan also returned an interception 81 yards for a score and Buffalo prevailed 29-20.
The Cavaliers made their first trip to Buffalo in 2013. Once again West was 3-0 and rated #1 in Class A, but what a difference a year made. After a mistake-riddled meeting in ‘12, Greenbrier West returned the bulk of its roster, and the veteran squad dismantled the Bison 53-12. Boatwright and Cox both rushed for over 100 yards and two touchdowns a piece. Bradden Isaacs also scored twice for the Cavaliers. Of note defensively, Marquis Frazier hounded the Bison with 3 sacks, 3 tackles for loss, and 2 fumble recoveries. Chase McClung and Chris Gabbert each collected five tackles.
The 2014 edition of the series saw the Cavalier defense bottle up All-State running back Jordan Tucker to the tune of five yards on eight carries. A pair of Jordans (no, not the shoes) named Tincher and Grimmett, both rushed for over 100 yards. Tincher rushed for two touchdowns, Grimmett caught a touchdown pass and rushed for another. Dustin Yoakum also did his part to do the Bison in. Yoakum added a rushing touchdown to go with the scoring pass to Grimmett. West rolled to a 36-14 win in Charmco.
The Greenbrier West bus encountered a flat tire on the way to Buffalo in 2015. Then the Cavalier football team encountered Ethan Burgess and his trusty sidekick, Dylan Lucas. The tire was easier to deal with. Buffalo rolled out to a 35-0 lead and never looked back. Burgess threw for 139 yards and five touchdowns. Lucas gobbled up 280 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground as well as a receiving touchdown courtesy of Burgess. Derek Coryell rushed for 135 yards and Hunter Bevins threw for 103 yards, 92 of them to Adam Johnson, but the Bison were too much in a 56-20 Cavalier loss.
Two words sum up the 2016 game. Remember me? Lucas lit up Cavalier Field like no other player ever has. Lucas rushed for a Greenbrier West opponent-record 366 yards on the ground, scoring on jaunts of 92, 34, 26, and 48 yards. Lucas also hauled in a 74-yard touchdown pass on a night that saw him register an incredible 449 total yards on 23 touches. Burgess was almost as good. Burgess connected on a mere 4 of 10 passes, but three of the completions went for touchdowns. In addition to Lucas’ scoring catch, Cody Tillis hauled in scoring receptions of 50 and 33 yards. Believe it or not, the Cavaliers had the lead at one point in the game. Colton “Breadman” Kessler gave West a 7-0 advantage with a one-yard touchdown in the first quarter. When the smoke cleared, however, Buffalo ran away with the 49-13 win.
Trailing 16-0 in the fourth quarter of the 2017 contest, Chad Ramsey got the Cavaliers on the board with a 3-yard score, then connected with Kaiden Pack on the conversion pass to draw within eight of the Bison with 7:13 remaining in the game. The Bison, however, answered with a 33-yard touchdown pass on fourth and 8 to go up 22-8 with 4:55 to go. Ramsey was able to hit Mylik Cox with a 10-yard scoring strike with under a minute to play. Pack added another conversion catch to cut the lead to 22-16, but West’s onside kick was unsuccessful, sealing the win for Buffalo.
Greenbrier West rolled to the biggest win of the series in 2018, giving head coach David Witt the signature win of his 2-year tenure. Ramsey rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns. Ramsey was only 1-1 passing, but the completion was a big one. Colton Kessler hauled in the 65-yard touchdown pass as West steamrolled to a 30-0 halftime lead. The 42-0 win was the first shutout for the Cavaliers since 2014.
Toby Harris’ return to the West sidelines was a successful one. The Cavaliers shutout Buffalo for the second consecutive season. Kaiden Pack staked West to a 12-0 halftime lead with two touchdown runs. Kyle Holliday nailed the first Cavalier field goal since 2016 in the third quarter, a 30-yarder to put West up 15-0. Noah Brown capped the Cavalier scoring with two fourth quarter scores, a 21-yard run and a 34-yard interception return.
COVID caused the 2020 edition of the series to be cancelled, but the 2021 contest made up for lost time. West took an 8-0 lead in the second quarter on a 19-yard Kadin Parker run and Ty Nickell conversion. Buffalo scored to answer but the conversion was no good. Trailing at the half, Buffalo surged back into the lead in the third quarter with a touchdown and conversion to lead 14-8. Parker tied the score with a 47-yard touchdown reception but failed to take the lead when the conversion failed. The two teams went to overtime and the Cavaliers struck first with a 2-yard Josh Jones score. The conversion failed, opening the door for Buffalo. After scoring on a touchdown run, the PAT was the deciding factor in a 21-20 Buffalo win.
In last year’s contest, West rolled to a 33-0 win in two and a half quarters of play. Just like last week’s West win over Pocahontas County, lightning shortened the game but not the Cavaliers’ output. West rolled up 353 yards of total offense before the contest was halted with 5:17 to go in the third quarter. Ty Nickell ran for 237 yards and three scores in the abbreviated game.
Greenbrier West is averaging 43.7 points per game in 2023. The Cavalier run game has churned out 794 yards and 10 touchdowns. The passing game has been equally as effective in 2023 as Cavalier quarterbacks have thrown for almost 300 yards and seven scores. More importantly, the Cavaliers have only allowed 21 points in three games. The stout West defense has only surrendered three rushing touchdowns and a paltry 102 yards on the ground. The secondary has given up 253 yards through the air but has three interceptions to its credit. Expect the Cavaliers to be explosive offensively and stifling on the defensive side. Ethan Holliday has been electric in the return game, so look for a big play this week from the special teams.
Buffalo is struggling through the 2023 campaign at this point. Their projected starter at quarterback, junior Josh Moody, transferred to Nitro over the summer. Moody threw for over 2000 yards including 17 touchdowns in 2022. Grant Weaver has filled the quarterback spot vacated by Moody and is a work in progress. This year’s version of the Bison is doing their best to compete under veteran head coach Bob Mullett. In Buffalo’s season opener, Petersburg led 39-0 at halftime. That prompted both teams into an agreement to play six-minute quarters in the second half. Buffalo mustered only 103 yards of offense and five first downs, with Weaver completing 6-14 passes for 76 yards. Chris Williams rushed for 17 yards and had 59 yards receiving.
In last week’s 49-16 loss to Poca, Buffalo gave up points at an alarming rate. Poca scored on its first play from scrimmage, then took only two plays to score on their second possession. Poca blasted the Bison for 35 points in the first quarter. After collecting two more scores in less than a three-minute span of the second quarter, the Dots led 49-0 at halftime. Two bright spots for Buffalo were Wesley Oldaker who had a third quarter rushing touchdown and Anthony Burgess who caught a scoring toss from Connor Weaver in the waning moments of the game.
Kickoff is set for 7 P.M. at Buffalo Stadium. Radio coverage begins at 6:30 on Rock 95.
