The Greenbrier East Spartans suffered a 49-10 loss to the Alleghany Cougars last Friday night, and after an 8-8 tie the first quarter, never threatened the Cougars again as the Spartans struggled to run the ball and contain Alleghany’s Purcel Turner, Xzavier Hayslett and Des Jordan.
It was the first game this season that East let get away from them as they had been extremely competitive in their losses to Point Pleasant, Woodrow Wilson and Bluefield, and honestly could have easily won two of those three.
With a bye week this Friday before going to Class AAA #9 Princeton on Sept. 29, East will spend the next week cleaning some things up and focusing on themselves.
Here are a few key things from the loss to Alleghany that stood out to me:
Alleghany was the best team the Spartans have played so far this year:
The Cougars are now 4-0 on the season after defeating East and taking home the A.B.K. trophy, but I questioned how good they were as their schedule in Virginia had been relatively light through the first three weeks. However, they showcased their talent on the field in a big way. A newly consolidated team that combined Covington and Alleghany, the Cougars got the best of both worlds and showed it on Friday. The Spartans struggled to contain quarterback Des Jordan, Purcel Turner, Xzavier Hayslett, Sarge Persinger, and others as Alleghany broke an early tie in the first quarter and never looked back.
They were the first team that appeared to hurt East’s confidence which is why this coming open week and week of practice will be important for the Spartans to gain their mojo back.
East’s young core is continuing to grow for the future:
Sure, being 0-4 is not ideal with 40 percent of the season gone already. However, the Spartans have some young talent that will continue to have their ups and downs, and it will be those ‘downs’ that mold them into something special in a year or two.
The sophomore class of Brody Hamric, Nate Suttle, Kaden Stone, Grant Burdette, Gage Blevins, Owen Romero, and Brayden Brown will be a good nucleus to build around over the next two seasons. Every snap those guys get this year is one snap closer to a win not just in the future, but later this season as well.
Other players will step up each offseason too. Juniors Rhett Baker and Ashton Mentz are playing a lot and improving as is freshman Daniel Butler who has seen some varsity action.
Several years ago, in West Virginia, there was a school that played a lot of underclassmen, and they finished their first full season together, 0-10. A couple years later, they secured a spot in the state championship game. I will let you guys figure out who that was, but it is a reason to look forward to good things to come.
Turnovers, sacks, and lack of running game hurt against Cougars:
The key to winning football games is typically to run the ball, stop the run, and do not turn the ball over.
East had 38 rushing yards, three turnovers and gave up 263 rushing yards to Alleghany. Not quite the recipe for success.
The Spartans moved the ball in the Alleghany red zone several times, but fumbled on the goal line, then two sacks from Persinger stalled a couple of the chances and put East in a long yardage situation that resulted in a turnover on downs.
So, maybe the game was not as quite out of reach as the score indicated, but Alleghany just made more plays in critical situations and then capitalized when their offense hit the field, especially in the second half when the Cougars outscored East 28-0.
Where do the Spartans go from here:
With a week off, East can spend time working on themselves and their assignments individually. Coach Ray Lee has had a lot of success as a head coach in Fairlea and the respected head man will have his players focused and ready this week at practice and next week when East travels back on the road to Princeton.
Cleaning up turnovers in the opponent’s territory and continued work on special teams can go a long way before East battles the Tigers and their overall team speed on Sept. 29.
FRIDAY NIGHT QUOTE TO LIVE BY: “Success isn’t owned, it’s leased. And rent is due every day.” – Former NFL all-pro J.J. Watt
