The Greenbrier East Spartans football team will look to rebound this week with a victory after a rather shocking 42-23 defeat at the hands of the Jefferson Cougars last Friday, September 11.
Three turnovers, two of which led to 14 Jefferson points, doomed East in that contest and taking care of the ball will be one of the top priorities this coming Friday night, September 18, when the Spartans host the Wyoming East Warriors at Spartan Stadium.
The Warriors (0-2) are a young team this season and that has shown in the results of their first two games. They were shutout by Pendleton County, 28-0 in their opener and suffered a tough 16-14 loss last Friday to Nicholas County after a late safety.
Wyoming East starts freshman Jackson Danielson at quarterback and the youngster has struggled through his first two varsity games. He has thrown for just 47 yards combined although he has attempted just nine passes.
The Spartans (1-1) strategy this week is simple; stop Caleb Bower.
Bower, the Warriors standout senior running back, is the only weapon on that offense so far this season. Last year he ran for 2,034 yards and had 26 touchdowns. Against Nicholas County last week, Bower broke out with 195 yards and two scores after just a 37-yard output against Pendleton County.
The Warriors will look to run early and often with Bower against the Spartans, so East will try to stack the box to keep him from breaking long runs to the outside. However, the Spartans also cannot let this be the game that Danielson breaks out and completes some passes because he will have to throw it at least a handful of times to keep them somewhat honest.
Still, stopping Bower will be the main priority.
East will counter on offense with a running game of Colby Piner, Monquelle Davis, Quentin Wilson and Nate Baker. The Spartans average 279 yards per game running the football.
Piner ran for 55 and had 109 receiving yards in the loss to the Cougars. In his first two games he has 150 rushing yards, 171 receiving and has also returned a kickoff for a score.
Davis was not as efficient throwing the ball last week as he was in Week one against Beckley, but the dynamic sophomore still presents challenges to opposing defenses every week with his dual threat ability, and has 402 yards of total offense and five TD’s.
Baker had two touchdowns against Jefferson and Wilson ran for 103 yards and is the leading rusher so far with a 119.5 per game average. Both players look to keep that momentum going this weekend.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
East will have their senior night festivities as well in case COVID-19 happens to force an early cancelation to the season.
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