FAIRLEA- It was a rainy and chilly night at Spartan Stadium on Friday, October 16 when the Greenbrier East Spartans played host to the Nicholas County Grizzlies.
The Spartans also had their homecoming festivities and did not let the weather disrupt those plans.
However, the Grizzlies–coming off a lopsided 62-7 loss to Bluefield last week–spoiled all the fun and left Fairlea with a gritty 26-12-win over Greenbrier East.
The Spartans trimmed Nicholas County’s lead to one point in the third quarter, but the Grizzlies answered with two fourth-quarter touchdowns to earn
The result moved Nicholas County to 4-3, while the Spartans fell to 1-6.
Nicholas County took an early lead when Landon Keenan scored on a 12-yard run. The Grizzlies then recovered an onside kick and capitalized with a 47-yard touchdown pass from Spencer Keiper to Hayden Neff, building a 13-0 advantage. Greenbrier East responded with an 18-yard touchdown run by Keshawn Bland, and Paul Kucera’s 32-yard field goal in the second quarter brought the Spartans within 13-10.
A tackle by Greenbrier East’s Brady Tomlinson in the end zone produced a safety in the third quarter, cutting Nicholas County’s lead to 13-12, but no matter the momentum East obtained at any point, the Grizzlies always seemed to make a big play, and eventually pulled away in the fourth, with Brennon Smith scoring on touchdowns of 17 and 36 yards.
Keenan finished with 122 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while Keiper added 73 yards on the ground. Tanner Evans recorded three interceptions for Nicholas County. For Greenbrier East, Braylen Godfrey had seven catches for 81 yards and also intercepted three passes on defense.
Bland carried 16 times for 58 yards and a touchdown.
The Spartans allowed 285 rushing yards and gained just 189 themselves.
Cason Brown and Bailey Carter took home king and queen honors at halftime.
Next week, the Spartans will have a tough task with the aforementioned Bluefield Beavers coming to town. The Beavers are a top 6 team in AA and have at least three Division-1 prospects and are led by quarterback Max Simpson and receiver Pax Calhoun.
Stats courtesy of WRON, Radio Greenbrier.
