SUMMERSVILLE- The Greenbrier East Spartans got off to such a slow start that they had the team’s WRON radio crew questioning if the team was asleep at the proverbial wheel at Nicholas County on Friday night, October 17.
Well, those thoughts were put to rest as the game went on as Greenbrier East settled in, settled down, and eventually cruised to a 42-14 victory behind the legs of running back AJ Godfrey.
During the early part of the sleepwalking process, East tried a little squib kick to open the game which the Grizzlies recovered and got good field position out of it. Nicholas’ star running back Devin Nash would finish the drive just a few plays later with a 13-yard touchdown run and gave his Grizzlies an early 7-0 lead.
The Spartans (5-2) got absolutely nothing out of their first possession and gave the ball back to Nicholas County and fortunately, the Grizzlies returned the favor with a three-and-out that was fueled by a big sack from Spartan lineman Jackson Morgan.
Morgan’s play seemed to ignite the Spartans whole energy and got them to finally shut off the alarm clock as their subsequent possession–even though it started at their own 11-yard line– was a good one and one that concluded with a score.
On the third play and on a third-down-and-9, Brody Hamric connected with Kaden Stone on a beautiful 35-yard strike. Two plays later, Jy Green made a tough catch in traffic for nine yards and then Nate Suttle grabbed a 22-yarder. Finally, Godfrey ended the drive with a 1-yard TD run and the Spartans tied the game at 7-all with 2:44 left in the opening quarter.
After forcing the Grizzlies (2-5) into a turnover on downs after a long, methodical drive, the Spartans came right back out and took advantage.
Along the way to another score was a 13-yard run from Godfrey and a 31-yard reception from Grant Burdette. Then, on the 11th play, Godfrey found paydirt from four yards out for his second score of the night and East led 14-7 with 6:01 left in the first half.
Hamric added a 1-yard sneak TD right before the half to cap a 12-play, 81-yard drive to give the Spartans a 20-7 lead. Following that score, the Grizzlies fumbled deep in their own territory with just six seconds left and Brayden Brown scooped it up for his fourth recovery of the season and set East up with a first-and-goal at the 4-yard line.
The Spartans attempted a field goal, but a high snap ended the half with East holding that 20-7 advantage.
In that first half, the Spartans converted three critical third downs on all three scoring possessions.
With the exception of a few plays in the second half, Greenbrier East hiked up to the railroad tracks and took a seat on the train that is Godfrey.
The senior basically controlled the entire half and was almost the sole reason the clock moved rather quickly. Following a bad snap on a punt attempt from the Grizzlies that gave East the ball on the Nicholas 6-yard line, Godfrey took a handoff and plunged into the end zone for the 6-yard score. That run made the score 28-7, Spartans, after Godfrey also ran the 2-point attempt in.
The Grizzlies did get a score in impressive fashion when quarterback Coleton Hellems heaved a long pass down the field that Lucas Milam hauled in by his fingertips. Nicholas County cut the deficit to 28-14 at that point, but that was all she wrote for them on the evening.
Godfrey scored his fourth touchdown of the night soon after that on another 6-yard scamper. His score made it 35-14 and gave him the second most rushing touchdowns in a single game in school history.
A few possessions later and he is now tied for first as the school’s all-time leader when he scored his fifth TD of the night with :58 seconds left and gave his Greenbrier East Spartans their final score of the night. He tied former Spartans Ian Cline (2021) and Jason Hoke (2001).
Stone and Suttle each had an interception in the second half.
The Spartans gained 339 yards and held Nicholas to 201.
Godfrey carried 32 times for 124 yards and five touchdowns. Hamric completed 13-of-24 passes for 177 yards and ran for 40 more. Burdette caught four passes for 75 yards.
Next week, the Spartans return home for a huge game with the Bluefield Beavers. Bluefield has played well lately and is coming off a 39-0 win over Pikeview.
Stats courtesy of 103.1, WRON.
