LEWISBURG (WVDN) – The Greenbrier East Spartans will face their toughest test of the season this Friday, Oct. 2, when they host the top ranked team in West Virginia, the Parkersburg South Patriots.
The Patriots have spent all season ranked in the top five and after Musselman lost last week, they jumped right back into the number one spot and deservedly so.
The Patriots obviously are talented, and they have the ability to score at any point from anywhere on the field. They are averaging 51.3 points per game and are allowing their opponents to score just 18.7.
Some of their impressive victories are over Capital 59-0, University 78-14, Parkersburg 55-7 and Morgantown 44-41 last week. They lost 28-20 to powerhouse Bridgeport three weeks ago.
Both the Spartans and the Patriots have played one common opponent and that was the Woodrow Wilson Flying Eagles. PSHS beat them 48-25 while the Spartans lost 48-21.
Parkersburg South has a large fan base and will show up in Fairlea ready to go from kickoff.
Key Players for Parkersburg South:
Gage Wright
Robert Shockey
Cyrus Traugh
Turner Garretson
The Patriots’ offense is as explosive as it gets in the entire state. In the University victory they scored their 78 points in three quarters, and Wright is a big reason why. Wright is capable of running for 200-300 yards every Friday, but he rarely plays fourth quarters because the Patriots typically always have a big lead. He ran for 147 yards against Woodrow on just seven attempts and scored two TDs. In the thriller over the Mohigans of Morgantown last week, he racked up 133 yards.
At quarterback, Shockey is also a playmaker. He can run it exceptionally well, but he passes it too. In an earlier season game against John Marshall, Shockey threw for 274 yards and five touchdowns, and added 72 yards on the ground and an additional TD. He played all game in that contest, but like Wright and most of the other starters, sits out most fourth quarters which makes it hard to get a read on South’s players from a stats perspective.
The Spartans come in facing a must win-task and that will be a challenge, to say the least. Monquelle Davis had his best game of the season last week when he threw for 135 yards and three TDs and ran for 88 more and another score. The senior was aggressive and will need to play that same style against the Patriots.
Ian Cline will see a healthy dose of carries as well as the senior has really picked up steam over the last few weeks. He ran for 151 yards and three touchdowns against Ripley and has hit his stride at the perfect time. For the season, Cline is up to 742 yards and 11 scores.
Lucas McCallister may see some balls thrown his way and is the leading pass catcher on the team with 19 receptions for 283 yards and two TDs. He and Jake Pate will have opportunities, but they must take advantage of each one.
The Spartan defense has played much better of late but will be extremely tested in this contest.
Keys to the Game:
For East to have a chance at what would be arguably the biggest upset in school history, they will need to play mistake free football and hope the Patriots are as rusty as they have been all season. Even then, Parkersburg South has so much talent that they would still be tough to beat.
East cannot just focus on stopping a couple of players for the Patriots. They have a plethora of guys that can play at a high level.
This game will go one of two ways. Either the Spartans will be right there for an upset chance at the end, or the Patriots will end the game in the first half in blowout fashion. Let’s hope the former is the one that shows its face on Friday night.
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