By Dave Morrison
CHARMCO – With several former Greenbrier West coaches in attendance, coach Kelly Vaughan went to the way back machine to construct the defense that would shut down offensive juggernaut James Monroe Friday night at Cavaliers Stadium.
No. 4 Greenbrier West scored 25 straight points, 15 without James Monroe touching the football between the end of the first half and opening two minutes of the third quarter and held James Monroe to 38 second half yards in a 25-8 win against No. 1 James Monroe.
One of the coaches in attendance was Vaughan’s coach at West and later his coaching mentor, Howard Hylton, who had to be proud of his former pupil.
Vaughan talked about using a defense he called “trap the trapper.” It was a defense he fully understood.
“Back in the day when I did play, I was in that position and I can honestly say I didn’t like doing trap the trapper, but in order to stop those counters and traps, you’ve got to attack it,” Vaughan said. “You can’t stand or get up field and create seams for them.”
And Vaughan thought his team did what they had to do in holding the Mavericks team that averaged 408 yards offense per game to just 146 yards.
“I really thought our ends, or our 5 techniques as some people would call them, really did a great job of what we call trap the trapper,” Vaughan said. “We knew they were going to trap up inside and we had our five techniques staying on the line of scrimmage as much as they could. I hate saying ‘don’t be aggressive’ because that’s an oxymoron when you’re dealing with playing football. But Trent Parker did a fantastic job of squeezing down the line of scrimmage. We tried to bounce them and bounce them. They got us a couple times. Their kids are ball players too. But all in all, I thought our ends and especially Trent Parker, did a fantastic job of trapping the trapper and maintaining his position.”
James Monroe coach John Mustain agreed
“I think ultimately they outquicked us,” Mustain said. “They had a really good scheme, and they attacked our primary holes, their linebackers did. I tip my had to them.”
The game really turned late in the first half, due to a situation that almost didn’t happen, save for a big return from Jake Pate.
After James Monroe scored on a 10-yard pass from Layton Dowdy to Chaz Boggs to make it 8-0 with :41 remaining in the half, Pate took the opening kick back deep into James Monroe territory. It was partially called back due to a penalty but near midfield, Vaughan decided it was close enough to make a shot rather than kneel out the half and make halftime adjustments with West scheduled to receive the second half kick.
“I feel like we stole a possession there after Jake had a nice return,” Vaughan said. “We had a penalty on the darned thing. I was a little hesitant because we only had 30 seconds. We thought let’s just try one play and we threw a little fade route and (Ethan) Holliday made a great catch and Cole (Vandall) made a great throw. At that point we said let’s give it a shot.”
It was a shot. The 26-yard gainer to Holliday set up a 34-yarder for a touchdown with nine seconds to go in the half.
“I think that gave them a lot of momentum coming out in the second half,” Mustain said. “They just outpowered us and outquicked us all night. We had a couple times where I thought things looked better for us offensively. They had a really good scheme and everything they did tonight seemed to work for them.”
“I strongly believe that Ethan Holliday is one of the best receivers on the state of West Virginia,” said Vandall, who upped his TD pass total to 14. “He runs some good routes. I feel like I can put it up to him and he’s going to go catch it. That was a big momentum turn.”
Like the first drive of the second half, when Vandall, who now has 14 touchdown passes on the season, hooked up with Colton Dunbar on a 22-yard touchdown pass. That made it 15-8 before James Monroe touched the ball again after leading 8-0 late in the first half.
After another hold, when Jacob Whitt had a huge sack of Dowdy back at the JM four-yard line on a third-and-long play, the Cavs were set up at the Cavaliers 26. A few plays later Vandall completed his third touchdown pass to a third different receiver, this one to Tucker Lilly, to make it 22-8.
Hayden Ridgeway, who holds the distinction of being the only Greenbrier West player to only be listed as a kicker on the roster, had a 27-yard field goal to end the scoring midway through the fourth.
Vandall was 10 of 15 passing for 129 yards and those three touchdowns. He also had 73 yards rushing mostly on a quarterback draw that was put into the game plan this week.
Cooper Ridgeway, averaging 163.3 yards rushing per game, was limited to 55.
“The kids played extremely hard,” Vaughan said. “They executed like they were supposed to. The crowd was behind them. What a beautiful evening in Charmco to play a high school football game. This is a top five, top 10 win in Charmco. We just have to take it and grow and move forward.”
The win stopped James Monroe’s an eight-game winning streak in the series dating back to 2000. The two didn’t play between 2004-2017. No. 4 Greenbrier West (6-0) hosts Petersburg next Friday. James Monroe (4-1) hosts Midland Trail.
Greenbrier West 25, James Monroe
James Monroe 0 8 0 0 – 8
Greenbrier West 0 8 14 3 – 25
Second quarter
JM – safety Gavin French tackled punter in end zone.
JM – Chaz Boggs 11 pass from Layton Dowdy (kick failed)
GW – Ethan Holliday 34 pass from Cole Vandall (Holliday run)
Third quarter
GW – Colten Dunbar 22 pass from Vandall (Hayden Ridgeway kick), 10:08
GW – Tucker Lilly 6 pass from Vandall (Ridgeway kick), 6:03
Fourth quarter
GW – Ridgeway 27 field goal, 8:46
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – JM: Frederick Parker 9-31, Cooper Ridgeway 17-55, Layton Dowdy 10 (-12), Chaz Boggs 4-22. GW: Cole Vandall 16-73, Jake Pate 7-24, Ethan Holliday 2 (-2), Isaac Agee 1-(-1).
Passing – JM: Dowdy 4-14-0-50-1, GW: Vandall 10-15-0-129—3
Receiving – JM: Chaz Boggs 4-50-1. GW: Holliday 4-71-1, Dunbar 3-37-1, Tucker Lilly 1-6-1, Pate 2-15,