WHO: AA #9 James Monroe (6-2) at AAA #8 Greenbrier East (5-3)
WHEN: Friday, October 31 at 7:45 PM
WHERE: Spartan Stadium in Fairlea
LAST WEEK: JM (defeated Westside 34-18) GE (lost to Bluefield 27-13)
LAST MEETING: Greenbrier East defeated James Monroe 26-14 in 2019
For the first time in six years, the Greenbrier East Spartans and James Monroe Mavericks–separated by a county line and about 35 minutes– will meet on the football field for a special Halloween night contest at Spartan Stadium this Friday.
The Mavericks and coach John Mustain will roll into Fairlea as winners of four of their last five games and with a spot inside the top 10 in Class AA. James Monroe is a historically good program and that has been no different this season. The Mavericks have a couple good wins, and their two losses have come to Bluefield (Class AA #3) and Midland Trail (Class AA #7). With talent at each level on both sides of the ball, James Monroe will look for an upset and will most likely bring a huge crowd to Greenbrier County that will fill the away side bleachers.
Players to Watch for Greenbrier East:
Brody Hamric: 101-of-181, 1,286 yds, 14 TD, 3 INT
AJ Godfrey: 205 carries, 922 yds, 15 TD
Grant Burdette: 33 rec, 437 yds, 5 TD
Kaden Stone: 17 rec, 266 yds, 5 total TD
Gage Blevins: OL/DL
Keshawn Bland: LB- leading tackler
Braylen Godfrey: 3 rec, 101 yds TD– Safety
The Spartans have been led by a plethora of players this season, but none more than AJ Godfrey. Godfrey is approaching that coveted 1,000-yard mark and will be counted on to get between the tackles with authority in this game. As much as Godfrey has meant to the offense, Hamric means just as much. After throwing three interceptions early in the year, the senior has not thrown any in the last five games but is adding up the TD passes to his resume’ each week. Burdette has been Mr. Consistent this season with Stone and Nate Suttle, and Braylen Godfrey is starting to come on as a receiving threat.
Players to Watch for James Monroe:
Ryan Mann: 1,630 pass yards
Kadyn Hines: 500+ receiving yards, 7 TD
Brock Parker: four games of at least 77 yards rushing, had 163 a couple weeks ago
Bryce Gardinier: 5 catches, 130 yds, 2 TD last week
Jayden Miller
Andrew Weikle
Like the Spartans, the Mavericks are deep and have a great quarterback in Mann. He is what keeps the James Monroe engine going and with Parker in the backfield as well, the Mavs have been lethal back there all year. Hines, the 6-foot-5-inch WVU baseball commit is a player that impacts the game on both sides of the ball whether he is catching touchdown passes on offense or snagging leaping one-handed interceptions on defense like he did against Greenbrier West. Gardinier, Weikle, and Miller have all had moments this year and cannot be overlooked by the Spartan defense whatsoever.
Tale of the Tape Outlook:
James Monroe:
Offense PPG: 32.5
Defense PPG: 18.6
Greenbrier East:
Offense PPG: 31.1
Defense PPG: 20.7
Both of these teams are evenly matched with the points for and allowed almost even. The Spartans will get an advantage with the game at home, but the Mavs will bring a lot of rowdy fans who will rival the East spectators in loudness.
Something to Watch:
For East, it’s senior night and it’s Halloween. That’s a heck of a combo. This should be one of the more fun nights at Spartan Stadium in a long time. There will be tables set up for trick-or-treaters (Don’t forget traditional trick-or-treating though from 6-8!) and my guess–and hope– is that the stands are packed full of people dressed up and ready to rumble. If I don’t see Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Kruger, Chucky, or Art the Clown in the stands, I’m going to be extremely disappointed in the whole thing.
So, bundle up, dress up, honor the Spartan seniors, and prepare for what hopes to be a memorable contest between two really good teams that are separated by a sign on the side of the road just a little past Organ Cave. Oh, and those playoff aspirations are still there for each squad as well.
