WHO: Greenbrier East (0-3) at Midland Trail (1-2)
WHEN: Friday, September 18 at 7:30 PM
WHERE: Roger Eades Field at Patriot Stadium in Hico
LAST WEEK: GE lost to Alleghany 42-6, Midland Trail defeated Braxton County 27-26
Two teams searching for rhythm and an identity will meet Friday night when the Greenbrier East Spartans travel to Midland Trail to face the Patriots.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Midland Trail High School.
Greenbrier East enters the matchup with a 0-3 record following losses to James Monroe, Woodrow Wilson and Alleghany (VA). The Spartans have played hard and left absolutely no doubt about their effort but just haven’t been unable to crack the win column yet.
East has relied heavily on running back Austin Whitt (206 yards, TD), but he missed the Alleghany contest with an injury. In his place, freshman Peyton Ervin ran for 70 yards and a score on 22 carries. If Whitt can’t go again, Ervin will step in for the second week in a row and could have a big day against the young Patriot defense.
Quarterback Sam Gabbert went down midway through the first half last week against the Cougars with an apparent concussion and is listed as questionable, but there’s a slight chance he gets back on the field against Trail. When healthy, he has developed a nice connection with receivers Braylen Godfrey (9 rec, 84 yds, 2 TD) and DP Seams (6 rec, 52 yds, TD). If Gabbert can’t play, James Godby is the backup who filled in last week.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT:
Midland Trail lost their first two games before picking up their first victory last week versus Braxton County. The Patriots lost 41-13 to Clay County in their opener before suffering a 63-21 loss to Wahama. They are averaging 20.3 points per game.
Senior running back and linebacker Aiden Weis is one of the Patriots’ key players on both sides of the ball, but in the win over Braxton, it was junior quarterback Jasper Swafford that stole the show. He ran for 103 yards and passed for 127 more with two TDs in that victory. Weis had a rushing score as well. Brody Jones finished with 102 yards receiving and was the recipient of Swafford’s scoring toss.
Though showing some improvement three weeks in, Midland Trail is still rebuilding after graduating 20 seniors from a team that finished 10-2 and reached the Class AA quarterfinals last season. Greenbrier East is going through a youth movement of its own, making Friday’s matchup an opportunity for one developing team to earn a much-needed victory and build confidence heading into the remainder of the 2026 schedule.
Prediction:
For the Spartans, success will likely depend on controlling the line of scrimmage, avoiding turnovers, and keeping containment on Swafford. And depending on if Gabbert can go or not, coach Ray Lee may feed Ervin the football ala last week to try and get the speedster in space around the edges more often. Swafford can be an issue, but the Patriots do not have a Buddy Leisure-White, the running back from Alleghany who torched East last week with 184 yards and three scores. This week, Greenbrier East gets in the win column and starts to build a little foundation amongst its youth with some much-needed confidence thrown in there too.
Greenbrier East- 26
Midland Trail- 21
