DUNMORE – One week after suffering their first defeat of the season, Greenbrier West was looking for a spark to get them back on track. The young man that serves this team with all of his ability, Ben Butler, was more than happy to oblige. The result was a resounding 44-8 win over Pocahontas County. Butler’s performance was epic in the annals of Greenbrier West’s long and storied football tradition. More on that in a moment!
Pinned back at their own three-yard line to start the game, the Cavaliers wasted no time getting out of harm’s way. Two short runs by Butler had West facing a third and five situation. That’s when history started happening. Bolting through a beautifully blocked running lane off the right side, Butler raced 92 yards down the center of field for the game’s first score. The rising junior tailback then took an option pitch from quarterback Vaxton Vaughan and beat the Warrior defenders to the pylon for an 8-0 lead. The game was barely a minute and a half old.
A quick three-and-out series and a short punt gave the Cavaliers a much better starting position for their second drive. Butler’s backfield mates, Isaiah Coleman and Ty Pate got in on the action to ignite the drive. Coleman bulled his way up the middle for a six-yard gain followed by a nine-yard rumble from Pate. A fifteen-yard completion from Vaughan to senior tight end Scott McClung positioned West at the thirteen-yard line, and Butler did the rest. After a nice edge block from Logan Burdette, Butler scooted into the endzone off the right side, running over a defender at the goal line for good measure for his second touchdown of the night. On only his sixth carry of the night, Butler eclipsed the 100-yard plateau for a fourth consecutive game. Butler added the two-point conversion for a 16-0 advantage with 6:21 to go in the first quarter.
Maintaining a 16-0 lead into the second quarter, the Cavaliers were driving toward another score when the Warriors grabbed momentary momentum. Morgan Beverage leaped in front of wideout Karsten Burns at the two-yard line and picked off a Vaxton Vaughan pass. Beverage returned the ball to the Warrior 40-yard line, giving Pocahontas County the ball and great field position. A nine-yard completion and a facemask penalty pushed the Warriors into West territory at the 38-yard line. The momentum the Warriors had was fleeting, however, and Burns would get his revenge. Pocahontas County’s senior quarterback, Griffen Taylor, faced enormous pressure from Burdette and Colton Caruthers and had to get rid of the ball. Taylor launched the ball to his left in the direction of Beverage who was blanketed on the play by cornerback Elijah McDaniel. Burns was playing centerfield from his safety position, stepped in front of McDaniel and Beverage and high-pointed the football. Burns sprinted down the Cavalier sideline for an 82-yard pick six. Butler added his third conversion run of the first half for a 24-8 lead with 5:53 to go in the half.
The Warriors still had some fight in them and answered with a ten-play, 64-yard scoring drive that culminated with a Taylor to Dominick Barnes seven-yard touchdown pass. Taylor and Beverage carried the load for Pocahontas County on the drive, and it was Taylor who added the conversion run, cutting the Warriors’ deficit to 16 with 1:08 left in the first half.
Pocahontas County received the ball to start the second half and almost cut deeper into the Greenbrier West lead. Warrior slot receiver Gavin Jordan broke free down the seam and got behind the Cavalier secondary. Taylor rolled to his right and heaved the ball downfield but short of Jordan’s reach. The incompletion was a lost opportunity as the Warriors ended up punting the ball away five plays later.
Greenbrier West would make Pocahontas County pay dearly for the opportunity they failed to capitalize on. Taylor pinned the Cavaliers back at their own six-yard line with a 45-yard punt, but deja-vu was in the humid Dunmore air. Once again starting inside their own ten-yard line, the Cavaliers had a plan. Butler service. Getting all the key blocks he needed, Butler galloped for a 94-yard touchdown. The one-play scoring drive recaptured the game’s momentum for the Cavaliers, who now led 30-8 with 9:01 to go in the third quarter.
The Warriors had put themselves in a one-dimensional hole, forcing themselves to pass the ball on almost every down in an attempt to forge a comeback. This played into the hands of the aggressive and opportunistic West defense. Elijah McDaniel stuffed the next Warrior drive with a textbook interception on a Taylor to Logan Keatley pass at the Cavalier 28-yard line. McDaniel weaved in and out of Warrior traffic and returned the ball eight yards, giving West the ball with 4:48 to go in the third quarter.
All the Cavaliers needed was the football back in their possession. Running off the right side one more time, Butler sliced in front of a would-be tackler with a jump cut and turned on the jets. 64 yards later, he found himself in familiar territory, the Pocahontas County endzone. Vinson Vaughan lugged the ball in for the conversion and boosted the West lead to 38-8 with 4:37 left in the third. The Cavaliers had possessed the ball for a grand total of 25 seconds at this point, just two plays total in the third quarter, and had increased their lead by 14 points.
On the Warriors’ last drive of the third quarter, they advanced the ball to the West 35-yard line when Logan Burdette hammered the football away from tailback Brom Koerber. Scott McClung dove on the loose ball to give the Cavalier defenders their third turnover of the night and effectively seal the win.
Butler capped his historic performance with a pair of carries to begin the fourth quarter that put the tailback in rare company. Unofficially, Butler finished the night with 16 carries for 312 yards, four touchdowns, and three two-point conversions. Only two other running backs had ever gained over 300 yards in a game in West’s long and storied history. Bryan Spitzer first accomplished the feat on October 31, 2003, gaining 319 yards on 18 carries and scoring four touchdowns in a 56-38 win over #6 Fayetteville. Noah Brown bested Spitzer’s output with a 39-carry, 322-yard night on October 11, 2019. Brown scored three touchdowns in a 34-10 win that was, ironically, against Pocahontas County.
Hayden Holliday, another sophomore quarterback on this young Cavalier roster, collected his first career rushing touchdown with 3:30 remaining in the game. Holliday gathered an errant snap to his left and raced around the right side of the Warrior defense. Dominick Barnes had an angle and grabbed Holliday’s jersey at the 13-yard line, but Holliday churned toward the endzone, kept his balance, and tight-roped the sideline for the score. The touchdown capped the score at 44-8 as a running clock ended the game.
Ben Butler’s historic night didn’t just include a 300-yard rushing performance. His four touchdowns and three conversions gave him 30 points scored, tying him with Rick Cline (8/30/1991), Brian Gray (10/3/2008), and Ty Nickell (9/16/2022 and 9/30/2022) for the third most in West’s rich history. Butler is the only player for Greenbrier West to ever score two touchdowns of over 90 yards in the same game, and the only player to have two rushing touchdowns of over 90 yards in their career. The only other player to have two career scores over 90 yards is Dylan Trout (2008-11), and neither of his came on offense. Butler’s 94-yard touchdown run is tied for the fifth-longest scoring play in West history and tied for the fourth-longest rushing touchdown. The 92-yard touchdown run is tied for the sixth longest scoring play and is the fifth-longest rushing touchdown.
Greenbrier West improves to 3-1 and will likely be rated #6 this week when the WVSSAC releases their official playoff ratings. Pocahontas County drops to 1-3 and will find themselves out of the top 16. Up next for Greenbrier West is homecoming week. The 1-2 Man Hillbillies will visit Charmco on Friday, September 25 at 7pm.
