FAIRLEA- After a promising start for the Greenbrier East Spartans, things went south quickly in what eventually would be a 56-14 loss to the Ripley Vikings.
Greenbrier East opened the scoring on Friday night when Sam Gabbert found Braylen Godfrey for a 10-yard touchdown pass, but Ripley closed the first half with three unanswered touchdowns to take a 21-6 lead into the break. The two-point conversion failed, leaving Greenbrier East ahead 6-0 with 6:56 remaining in the first quarter.
Ripley (5-4) threatened to answer, but Mykal Breckenridge recovered an Ethan Layton fumble with 3:57 left in the quarter. East later drove into Ripley territory, though the defense stopped the Spartans on fourth down.
Ripley took the lead with 7:58 left in the first half.
After Jackson Moore completed a 41-yard pass to Payton Keller, Jagger Melhorn gained 26 yards on fourth-and-16 to keep the drive alive. Moore finished it with a 10-yard touchdown run, and the extra point put Ripley in front 7-6.
Moore added a 58-yard touchdown run on Ripley’s next possession, a three-play, 65-yard drive that made it 14-6 with 4:14 remaining. After an interception on East’s following possession, Ripley scored again on Jordan Adkins’ 2-yard run with 17 seconds left in the half.
The score at the break was Ripley 21, Greenbrier East 6.
Ripley continued to make plays and add to its lead in the second half, keeping Greenbrier East (1-8) from closing the gap. The Spartans’ highlight came in the third quarter, when Gabbert connected again with Godfrey on a 73-yard touchdown pass.
But Ripley went on to win rather easily.
Godfrey finished with five catches for 112 yards and two touchdowns. Gabbert completed 11 of 21 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns, with two interceptions. Freshman Peyton Ervin carried 25 times for a career-high 87 yards.
Ripley ran for 479 yards.
Greenbrier East will conclude its season next Friday, November 6, when it hosts Independence on Senior Night.
Stats courtesy of 103.1, Radio Greenbrier.
