If you were one of the Greenbrier East Spartan football fans that traveled to Princeton and watched the Spartans get blown out 56-7, it is important to remember one thing; that will be as bad as it will get for a while.
The young Spartans were just simply outmatched against the Tigers on Friday, but that’s okay because to learn and grow for the future, sometimes you must be humbled in defeat.
Princeton scored on their first and second plays from scrimmage and East had not even gotten a hand on a Tiger, much less a tackle. But the Spartans settled down after that and had some good moments, but the main thing about a game of that fashion is that East can now put it in the rearview mirror and move forward in building with their foundation. Forget about it. It’s done. Now time to move on and find that first victory of the season.
Here are some observations from the night:
Princeton may have the most speed in the entire state:
Having Dom Collins, who runs a 4.2-4.3 40-yard dash, gives the Tigers a leg up in the speed department. On the game’s first play, Collins flew past the Spartan defense and caught a 60-yard touchdown pass from Chance Barker. On their second play, their speedy running back Marquel Lowe broke loose around the end for a 27-yard TD run. Two plays, 14 points. Princeton set the tone of the game with those two plays just three minutes into the contest. It was apparent that East began to doubt themselves shortly after. However, Princeton is one of the fastest teams in the state and Collins is one of the fasts players in the country, and they have scored with speed against everyone they have played so far and will continue to do it for the remainder of their season.
Abram Wickline and Nate Suttle played the entire game like it was their last:
Let’s be clear about something. I do not for one second think that the Spartans did not play hard until the final whistle. However, Abram Wickline and Nate Suttle stood out with their effort and hustle to the naked eye. Wickline (2 rec, 36 yds, TD) was able to get a 20-yard touchdown reception for East’s only touchdown of the game, and Suttle (79 yds rushing) seemed to run just as hard near the end as he did at the beginning. Wickline also returned a kickoff 47 yards late in the game as well. Both players were nominated for our WVDN player of the week for their efforts and their ‘never-say-die attitudes, as was Grant Burdette (2 rec, 34 yds) who also displayed that ‘play hard until the whistle’ mentality.
These two teams meet again on October 27:
Due to a Coalfield Conference agreement involving a possible championship game in week 10, the Spartans and Tigers administrations agreed to play two times this year. Now, according to East AD Joey Hodge, there are disagreements involving that championship game week for next year, and the game may be falling through.
Nevertheless, East and Princeton will meet again this season in Fairlea with the Spartans getting a chance for a little bit of redemption. With the game at home, the Spartans can try and feed off their home crowd for some extra momentum and motivation. The Tigers speed will always show no matter where they play, but maybe the hour-and-a-half trek to Greenbrier County will stiffen their legs up for a bit, and the Spartans can surprise them early.
FRIDAY NIGHT QUOTE TO LIVE BY: “You can learn a line from a win and a book from a defeat.”
-Co-founder and first Cleveland Browns coach, Paul Brown
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