CHARMCO- If it wasn’t already known before, it most certainly is now, and that is Greenbrier West is an elite Class A football team in West Virginia.
The Cavaliers secured a spot in next weekend’s 2023 state playoff semifinals after a gutsy, hard-fought 22-20 victory over the Wahama White Falcons, another power in the class, and also battled the cold and rainy weather that seemed destined to wreak havoc on Cavalier Stadium.
West went up 7-0 on a 43-yard catch-and-run touchdown pass from Cole Vandall to Jake Pate, but the White Falcons answered later in the period with a 12-yard TD catch by Conner Lambert from Sawyer VanMatre. VanMatre scored on the 2-point try and put Wahama up 8-7 with just three seconds left in the opening quarter.
Vandall then scored on a tough 5-yard run right before halftime to put the Cavs up 14-8 at the break.
The score was knotted at 14-all after three. In that quarter, VanMatre scored on a 10-yard scamper, but the White Falcons failed the 2-point try.
The fourth quarter was something to behold.
A perfect strike from Vandall to Tucker Lilly for a 27-yard touchdown put the Cavaliers up 20-14. Then a reverse on a surprising 2-point attempt saw Pate take the snap, flip it to Ethan Holliday who found Vandall wide open in the end zone for an important 22-14 lead with just over seven minutes to play in the game.
VanMatre, as he did most of the night, answered with another 10-yard run to cut the deficit to two points, 22-20, with just 2:12 to play. However, the critical 2-point attempt pass was picked off by Pate.
West eventually punted the ball back to the White Falcons, but the Cavaliers got real defensive. A sack from Cameron White killed all the momentum for Wahama, and then on a 4th-and-15, Jacob Nutter blew up a screen pass attempt and jarred the ball loose from Lambert and the Cavaliers celebrated their victory with country roads blaring through the sound system.
With the win, Greenbrier West will face the James Monroe Mavericks next weekend in the state playoff semifinals in Lindside. West beat James Monroe 25-8 just a few weeks ago at home.
As always, look for a full recap of Wahama and an in-depth James Monroe preview this week from Michael Goddard.
Scoring Plays:
First Quarter:
3:02 Jake Pate 43-yd TD catch from Cole Vandall (Hayden Ridgeway kick)
3.4 Conner Lambert 12-yd TD catch from Sawyer VanMatre (VanMatre 2-pt run)
Second Quarter:
15.5 Vandall 5-yd TD run (Ridgeway kick)
Third Quarter:
6:11 VanMatre 10-yd run (2-pt failed)
Fourth Quarter:
7:36 Tucker Lilly 27-yd TD catch from Vandall (Vandall 2-pt catch)
2:12 VanMatre 10-yd TD run (2-pt failed)
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