HINTON- Nothing came easy and not much went as predicted, but in the end, the Greenbrier East Spartans gutted out a 34-26 victory over the Summers County Bobcats on Friday, Oct. 25 at Garten Stadium in Hinton.
It was a matchup of wits and opposites with Greenbrier East flashing their passing game and the Bobcats pounding the ball on the ground consistently all night long.
East’s Kaedin McNeeley jumped on a Summers County fumble on the games opening drive, and it did not take long for East to capitalize.
The Spartans used just three plays and capped the drive with a 49-yard touchdown pass from Brody Hamric to Don Don Penn and the Spartans led 7-0 just three-and-a half minutes into the game.
But Summers got on track shortly thereafter.
After some tough runs between the tackles, Tyson Adkins broke free and broke tackles in the process on a 53-yard scoring run. The 2-point try was no good, however, and the Spartans kept a slim 7-6 lead.
On the ensuing Spartan drive, Brady ripped off 23 yards on two rushing attempts but on his second one, he got hurt, was helped of the field, and spent the rest of the night on crutches. So with the Spartans (3-5) workhorse on the sideline, Hamric went back to the air and found Penn again, this time from 23 yards out, and Greenbrier East took a 14-6 lead with 3:23 to go still in the opening quarter.
The scoring halted over the next quarter or so until the very end of the second. Summers County (2-6) used a long, methodical drive that chewed up a bunch of clock and with Adkins finding the end zone again from 1-yard out. Franklin McClaugherty ran in the 2-point try this time and the Bobcats tied the game at 14-apiece with only 31 seconds until halftime.
That’s when the Spartans offense woke up again. Nate Suttle caught a 22-yard pass on the first play of a drive that started on the Bobcats 37-yard line. On the following play, Suttle caught a 15-yarder that he turned into a touchdown and in just two plays, the Spartans regained the lead at halftime, 20-14.
The only score of the third period came when McClaugherty capped another long sustaining drive from his Bobcats when he scored on a 3-yards run. The 2-point try failed, and the game was locked up again at 20-20.
East took the ball back and during their drive, the third quarter ended. Then, on the first play of the fourth, Suttle got open in the middle of the field and hailed in a 35-yard touchdown pass from Hamric and the Spartans went up 28-20 after Kaden Stone converted the 2-point attempt.
But the Bobcats kept fighting. The scrappy Class A squad fed their top player, Adkins, again and he reciprocated with a 5-yard touchdown run. The East defense stuffed the 2-point attempt though, and held on to a 28-26 lead midway through the fourth.
Just for good measure, the Spartans scored again. Penn took a direct snap out of the shotgun and raced to the right front corner of the end zone for an 8-yard TD run—his third score of the night— and East seemed to be in control with a 34-26 lead with just 1:21 left to play.
Summers County moved the ball with a 37-yard completion to start the drive on the subsequent series, but a few plays later, Jacob Smith dropped two consecutive wide-open passes that most likely would have gone for touchdowns, then on the third pass attempt from Elijah Franklin, East’s Kaden Stone picked it out of the air and sealed the victory for the Spartans.
Hamric threw for 196 yards and four touchdowns. Suttle grabbed six catches for 124 yards and two TDs, and Penn had two receptions, 72 yards, and three total scores.
For the Bobcats, Adkins amassed 204 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 34 carries. McClaugherty gained 96 yards on 20 totes and scored once.
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