SHADY SPRING- After an off week last Friday, the Greenbrier East Spartans wanted to take the extra practice time to correct some mistakes and get back to the basics of football.
Mission accomplished.
East used a balanced offense, an attacking defense, and good special teams play to defeat the Shady Spring Tigers 34-21 on Friday night, October 4 at H.B. Thomas Field.
And it wasn’t just those three things that stood out either. Both the offensive and defensive lines were stellar, respectively. East manhandled the Tigers in the trenches and helped Brady May run for 125 yards and four touchdowns, and the defensive front helped put pressure on Shady quarterback Cal Culicerto all night long that he never seemed to be at a complete comfort level in the pocket.
Shady Spring got the ball first and was moving it well after a 23-yard pass to Jalon Bailey and some chunk yardage runs from Evan Romage. However, the series would eventually end in a turnover on downs and the Spartans offense took the field looking to capitalize.
East responded with a 15-play, 84-yard drive that chewed six minutes off the clock and ended with a 2-yard touchdown run from May as the Spartans took a 7-0 lead with 1:47 left in the first quarter.
That score remained the same until midway through the second quarter when the Spartans came knocking on the door again.
They took possession with 5:44 left in the first half and this time, it took them just two plays to find paydirt. Nate Suttle caught a 47-yard pass down the right sideline and the very next play, May took a handoff and raced 17 yards across the goal line for his second score of the evening and a 14-0 lead with 5:27 left until the break.
Brayden Brown led the Spartan defense on Shady’s ensuing possession that eventually resulted in another turnover on downs and East got one more chance to add points before halftime, and they did indeed take advantage. May started with an 11-yard run and over the next two plays, Suttle had 13 yards through the air. Two plays later, May got loose yet again and scored his third touchdown of the first half, this time on a 26-yard run, and Greenbrier East held a dominant 21-0 lead at intermission.
On the opening kickoff of the second half, Suttle chased down the ball that got by him, picked it up and ran to the right side, reversed his field to the left side and exploded through a hole and got a 71-yard return when it was all said and done. So, as East scrimmaged from the 14-yard line, it was just a few plays later that May scored touchdown number four with a 2-yard run and the Spartans led 27-0 just a minute-and-58 seconds into the third.
After that score, things went a little off the rocker.
The third went scoreless the rest of the way and just 47 seconds into the fourth, Culicerto hit Nate Easley with a 21-yard touchdown pass to get the Tigers on the scoreboard and they cut their deficit to just 27-7.
East answered quickly when Hamric hit Jysheim Green with a 47-yard scoring strike and the Spartans went back up 34-7 with just eight minutes left in the game.
And at that point, when you thought it was in the books, it wasn’t quite there yet.
Shady then scored quickly when Culicerto hit Jacob Kubow with a 26-yard TD pass and then the Tigers recovered the ensuing onside kick. And it took just 35 seconds for the Tigers to strike again, this time on a 29-yard scoring catch, and still with 5:59 to go, the Tigers cut the Spartan lead to 34-21.
Unbelievably, Shady jumped on another onside kick and drove it all the way to the Spartan 2-yard line, but they tried a double reverse handoff that was fumbled on second-and-goal. The Tigers recovered, but they lost seven yards, and that play proved to be the dagger through their own proverbial hearts. East forced an incomplete pass on fourth down two plays later, took the ball over, and on the last play of the night, took a knee in victory formation to ice the game in their favor.
On top of May’s big performance, Hamric went 18-for-24 with 197 yards and a touchdown. Suttle caught six passes for 81 yards, and Burdette grabbed three passes for 49 yards.
East had 363 yards as a team while Shady gained 320.
Brown, Keshawn Bland, and that whole Spartan defense just stood out all night.
East will hit the road for the fourth straight game next Friday, Oct. 11 when they take on the Oak Hill Red Devils. After that one, three of the final four games will be at home.
Stats courtesy of 103.1, The Bear.
