CHARMCO, WV– With eight weeks in the books, Greenbrier West has acquitted itself nicely. Off to a 7-0 start, the Cavaliers have conquered every challenger they’ve faced. The results were no different this past Friday night in a 41-0 shellacking of a very good Petersburg Viking squad. The Cavaliers outgained the Vikings 510-123 in the win, establishing several program records with the victory.
West wasted no time sending an early message. Jake Pate took the opening kickoff up the middle for a 21-yard return. Starting at their own 29-yard line, Greenbrier West’s offense began the game with back-to-back carries by Pate, testing the right side of the Viking’s defense. With a net gain of four in the first two plays, the Cavaliers went to the air on third down. In a five-wide set, Greenbrier West sucked in the Petersburg front four as Cole Vandall took a deep drop. Pate, the inside receiver of four-wide set to the right side, slipped in behind the Cavalier offensive line who had set up the screen pass perfectly. Just out of Petersburg’s reach, Vandall dumped a short pass over their heads to Pate at the West 35-yard line. An open-field nightmare, Pate darted up the left hash and out of reach of a diving Caden Arbaugh. Near the 50-yard line, Pate shifted right at a 45-degree angle, then veered right again at the Petersburg 47 to run through the arm-tackle of Ethan Taylor. As Pate drifted toward the Vikings’ sideline, he picked up an escort in Colton Dunbar. As Colton Vance tried to track Pate down from behind, Kaleb Kuhn tried to use the angle to get to Pate. Kuhn slowed at the Petersburg 15 to go inside of Dunbar, giving Pate all the room he needed to outrace a diving Vance at the five and score a 67-yard touchdown. A bobbled snap on the PAT left West with a 6-0 lead 1:45 into the first quarter.
Petersburg got off to a much rougher start. Arbaugh was bottled up for a five-yard loss on first down then barely escaped a sack on second down for a completion that lost another yard. Arbaugh was chased out of the pocket on third down but completed a pass to Taylor underneath that was stopped twelve yards shy of the line to gain, forcing the Vikings to punt.
The Cavalier offense went right back at the Petersburg defense. Ethan Holliday took a jet sweep to the right for a gain of six. After being ambushed in the backfield for a loss of two, Pate took an option pitch to the right for a gain of 12 on third down. Armed with a fresh set of downs, Vandall play-actioned to the left, then tossed a short pass in the right flat to Tucker Lilly. Lilly quickly got to the right edge after a chip block from Trent Parker and turned on the jets. Lilly’s catch went for a gain of 30 yards, setting the Cavaliers up at the Petersburg 30-yard line. Going back to Pate, the Cavaliers picked up a gain of 19 yards as the whirling dervish took a pitch to the left and weaved through three defenders before being face masked to the turf at the 11-yard line. The accompanying penalty yardage set the Cavaliers up with a first and goal at Petersburg’s six-yard line. After an apparent touchdown pass to Dunbar was called back on a personal foul, Vandall took matters into his own hands, or feet if you will, and barreled 17 yards for the score on West’s next play. Ridgeway’s PAT capped a seven-play scoring drive with 5:23 left in the first quarter.
Petersburg found moderate success on their next drive, but a near interception on second down and a fourth down tackle for loss, both by Marcus Adkins, slammed the door on the Vikings’ possession. Petersburg would get the ball back quickly, however, when the Cavaliers turned the ball over with a fumble after only two plays. Armed with their best field position of the night, the Vikings began to generate a little offense. After a loss of two on first down, Petersburg earned a first down on a 13-yard swing pass from Arbaugh to Kuhn. Trace Rohrbaugh wiggled to the right for 14 yards, giving the Vikings a first down at Greenbrier West’s 30-yard line. After firing incomplete on first down, Arbaugh sliced up the middle for a gain of six yards. Arbaugh tried to duplicate his successful carry on third down, but Trent Parker denied the running lane while Vandall and Ethan Hamons tackled him for a three-yard loss.
Petersburg, already trailing 13-0, now faced and fourth and seven as the second quarter began. Arbaugh was flushed from the pocket as Jacob Whitt and C.W. Sturgell gave pursuit. Arbaugh fired a pass to Kuhn that Pate darted in front of and intercepted, but the pass was ruled out of bounds. The turnover on downs turned out to be a better stop, giving West the ball back at their own 27 rather than the 15-yard line.
Relentless in their approach, the Cavaliers attacked the reeling Petersburg defensive unit. Pate took a short push pass from Vandall into Viking territory for a gain of 24 yards on first down. Pate motioned to the left on the next play and Vandall zipped the ball to him on the snap. Evading the first tackler, Pate stiff-armed his way to an 11-yard gain. Motioning to his right on the next play, Pate drew the eyes of the Viking defenders in his direction. Rohrbaugh, the free safety, bit hard on the pump fake to Pate and ran past Lilly who was streaking down the right hash. Vandall hit Lilly in stride and the senior wideout scurried to the 11-yard line before being slung down. A holding call on West’s next play backed the unit up to the 22-yard line, but much like their last scoring drive, the penalty yardage only added to the subsequent scoring play. Starting left to right, Pate got a nice block from Dunbar on the edge. A hard jump cut to the left cleared Pate of Viking linebacker Luke Adkins. Rambling to his left, Pate gave a hard up and out move to the cornerback Taylor, then fed the senior defender a hard stiff-arm at the 11-yard line before cruising into the endzone, leaving Vance and Rohrbaugh in his wake for a 22-yard touchdown. Ridgeway chipped in the extra point for a 20-0 lead with 9:54 remaining in the first half.
The hill was getting steeper to climb for Petersburg the longer the first half played out. Needing a little consistency, Petersburg turned to the run game to try to stop the bleeding. Two runs generated a Viking first down, and a third straight carry moved the ball to the 47-yard line. The success would be short-lived, however, as Petersburg tried to go back to the passing game. Arbaugh began to rock back in his shotgun stance as the ball was snapped low and to the left of the Viking signal caller. As Arbaugh swatted at the ball, he batted it forward and into the arms of Cameron White, turning the ball over in Viking territory.
The Cavaliers went for broke on first down. Vandall fired a deep ball to Holliday that was narrowly incomplete. Vandall dumped the ball in the right flat to Dunbar on second down for a short gain, then fired deep to Pate on third down. Pate extended for the ball, but it was just out of his reach. Facing a fourth and eight from the Petersburg 39-yard line, the Cavaliers decided to go for it rather than punt. Pate motioned out of the backfield to his left, and once again, the decoy worked. Vandall dropped and looked to his left, as Petersburg sent a blitz off the left edge. Setting up the screen pass, the West offensive linemen let the Viking defensive line pass with little resistance. Vandall lofted a short pass across the middle to Dunbar, and the sophomore tight end did the rest. Racing up the right hash, Dunbar didn’t encounter a Petersburg defender until he reached the two-yard line. Taylor, a senior defensive back, tried to halt Dunbar’s momentum. Instead, he was once again victimized by the stiff-arm as Dunbar rolled into the endzone for a 39-yard touchdown reception. Ridgeway’s kick was true for a 27-0 bulge with 6:57 left until halftime.
The scoring pass was a record-breaking toss. Vandall broke the single-season touchdown pass record set by B.J. Adams in 1997. Adams threw 15 touchdown passes in that, his senior season, breaking the previous record of 12 set by Harold Wicks in 1977 and tied by Chris Vaughan in 1991. To say Vandall joined some elite company in the annals of Cavalier football history would be an understatement.
Petersburg’s next drive was a nine-play effort that resulted in a magnificent, 60-yard punt to the Greenbrier West one-yard line. West’s first play resulted in a turnover, but the field position flipped in a big way as the Vikings regained possession at their own 37-yard line. A short drive that included a successful fake punt by Petersburg wasn’t enough, however, and the half ended with the Cavaliers in charge 27-0.
During a third quarter that was largely played between the two 35-yard lines, Greenbrier West would threaten to score late in period. A two-yard Holliday touchdown run was called back for a hold and the Cavalier drive fizzled at the four-yard line. Petersburg fared no better, and the score remained 27-0 after three quarters.
The Vikings punted the ball away from their two-yard line as the fourth quarter commenced. Giving the Cavaliers a short field to work with has been detrimental to every Greenbrier West opponent in. Starting at the Petersburg 37-yard line, Lilly pulled down a 12-yard pass from Vandall in front of the Cavalier sideline. Holliday followed up by bulling his way up the middle for an eight-yard gain. Petersburg’s defensive unit strung Vandall out for a loss of one yard, but the Cavaliers once again dangled the carrot in front of the Viking defense. On third and three from the 18-yard line, Pate motioned left behind two West flankers. Dunbar took advantage, zipping down the middle of the field and splitting the safeties. Vandall’s pass landed in the outstretched hands of Dunbar for the score. Ridgeway continued to be consistent, knocking down the PAT for a 34-0 lead with 9:58 to go in the game.
The Cavaliers iced the cake on win number seven with an 11-play, 63-yard drive that included runs by Adkins, Isaac Agee, Holliday, and Vandall. Agee made a spectacular catch-and-run on an improvised throw from Vandall who had been chased out of the pocket. Agee stayed on his feet after sitting on his tackler, advancing the ball to the six-yard line. Two plays later, senior Austin Baker scored his first career touchdown, a three-yard run behind Peyton Ford and Logan Berry. It was an extra-special score for Baker, as the game was part of the West Virginia Army National Guard’s Gridiron Series. Baker and teammate Roy Loudermilk joined the National Guard last spring and completed ten weeks of basic training this past summer, rejoining their West teammates in late August. The Cavaliers wore special camouflage jerseys provided by the National Guard in the game, their second year of participating in the program.
Vandall surpassed two more passing records in the win. Vandall completed 16-22 passes for 318 yards, breaking the school’s 28-year-old single-game record of 268 yards set by B.J. Adams on September 20, 1996. Needless to say, it’s the first 300-yard passing game in Greenbrier West history. Vandall also bested a school record set by his head coach in 1983. Vandall’s 15 completions are a single-game record, toppling Kelly Vaughan’s record of 13 completions set on October 7, 1983.
Baker and Loudermilk were recognized prior to the game for their commitment to the National Guard. A moment of remembrance and silence was also observed for the passing of Coach Wallace Jones on Tuesday, October 10. Jones was the athletic director, an assistant football coach, and a teacher at Greenbrier West from 1969-1987. Jones’ impact on Greenbrier West athletics is indelible.
On a night that his quarterback broke one of his personal, long-established, school records, head coach Kelly Vaughan broke the school record for the most consecutive coaching wins to open a career with seven. Lewis McClung, Vaughan’s teammate in 1983 and Cavalier head coach from 2002-16, began his inaugural season as head coach with a 6-0 start. I erroneously added Coach Howard Hylton to that list in the James Monroe recap. Hylton started his West career with a 4-0 start but started Vaughan’s sophomore season 6-0. Corrected!
Greenbrier West heads to Sherman this Friday to battle the 4-3 Tide at 7:30. Petersburg is on the road for the second game of a three-game road trip, heading to Uniontown, PA.