FAIRLEA- It was a long night in Fairlea at Spartan Stadium on Friday when the Greenbrier East Spartans finished their scrimmage season against the Capital Cougars.
Originally scheduled for 6:00 PM, the action did not get going until 7:48 due to the Cougars bus being delayed.
Once things got going on the field however, it was rather entertaining.
Capital, just 3-8 last season, but with most of the whole team back this year, was impressive for the most part. They had a running back, David Robinson, that was quick and ran with power, a couple quarterbacks–Fernado Valdivia and Peyton Grigsby– that could run and throw, and on defense, Jakori Clark was everywhere.
But the Spartans did some positive things as well. A beautiful play-action pass from Brody Hamric to Donavin Penn resulted in a 62-yard touchdown where Penn got wide open behind the Cougar secondary. The duo almost hooked up again on an almost identical play a little later, but Hamric’s throw was just a couple inches too far beyond Penn’s outstretched arms.
The Spartans used Jysheim Green more tonight and the junior, once he settles in, could be a real weapon as he is shifty and quick. Brady May, who ran well last week against James Monroe had a couple good hard runs, but the Cougars bottled him up for the most part. One play that stood out was when Hamric was being pursued in the backfield by a couple Capital defenders, he rolled out to the right and found Kaden Stone for a nice gain.
The Spartans defense had some good moments and some not so good. Defending Capital was not easy, and they got around the edge a lot in this one. Plus, a 53-yard TD run from Valdivia and an 85-yard scoring pass from Grigsby to Turay Rush highlighted Capital’s big plays on the night.
All-in-all, the Spartans seem ready for the regular season to kickoff and get underway. There is a lot to look forward to this year for East fans and while the team is still relatively young with just five seniors, the junior class has enough talent and experience to make things interesting in 2024.
East will host Riverside on Friday, Aug. 30 to get things started for real. Kickoff is 7:30 PM.
