Published: October 04, 2008 01:35 am            

PikeView makes Homecoming special; Safety decides issue for Warriors

PikeView makes Homecoming special



By BILL ARCHER

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

GARDNER — PikeView High School’s talented sophomore signal-caller, Ben Nester, rushed for a pair of touchdowns and junior tail-back Josh Neal scored twice as well, but Panther Coach Jeff Damewood credited the 12th man — the PikeView fans — for a 25-8 homecoming victory over the visiting Tug Valley High School Panthers.

“The school has been excellent and our fans have been great,” Damewood said. “It’s a different PikeView. All day long (Friday) everyone in the school was excited about the team. We played a good game, but the school and our fans deserve the credit for how they have supported us.”

PikeView took control of the game in the second quarter when Nester rolled right out of a passing set, and scampered into the endzone from 14-yards out with 6:03 remaining in the first quarter. Tommy Symns’ point-after attempt sailed wide right, but the home-standing Panthers were on the scoreboard.

Both defenses played tough throughout the game with Nester, Gary Pritt, Shane Farmer and others contributing, while Tug Valley’s Austin Vance, Chris Estep and Keith Perry were making some big plays for the visiting Panther’s defense.

PikeView introduced a new feature for the 2008 homecoming — a cannon courtesy of Rick Dobbins — that rattled the press box walls on each PikeView Panther score. Nester lit the cannon fuse again with 6:46 left in the second quarter on a five-yard roll-out. Tommy Symns’ point after was true for a 13-0 lead. The cannon roared so loud that even Amos, the Panther mascot appeared surprised.

Neal lit the cannon fuse again with 1:21 left in the half on a 17-yard run behind some solid blocks by Pritt and Josh Blankenship. PikeView attempted a conversion pass that failed.

Solid fundamental football characterized the third quarter with Neal churning up yards behind interior blocking by center David Edwards and Christian Osborne, but Tug Valley’s defense held tough. Neal finished the night with 181 yards on 22 carries, unofficially

While Neal was running, Braxton Hinkle, Tug Valley’s talented freshman quarterback was hitting clutch throw after clutch throw. Hinkle had 139 yards passing on a 9 for 20 night unofficially with no interceptions, with several of the incomplete passes coming in the last couple of drives.

Tug Valley capitalized on the game’s only turn-over — a bad exchange between Nester and Neal that a Tug Valley interior lineman recovered at the PikeView 27. Four plays and a PikeView personal foul later, Estep burst through the middle for a 5-yard touchdown run. Jeremy Newsome ran the sweep right to perfection for the two-point conversion to make the score 19-8 with 9:07 left in the game.

PikeView answered with 2:37 left in the game when Pritt leveled the only defender in Neal’s way, and Neal scampered 32 yards for the game’s final score. Symns kick failed.

PikeView improves to 2-4 on the season and will entertain Westside next Friday. Tug Valley remains winless in the 2008 season and travels to Shelby Valley next week.



PVHS.....................................6 13 0 6 — 25

TVHS.....................................0 0 0 8 — 8

FIRST QUARTER — 6:03; PVHS, B. Nester, 14-yard run. Kick failed.

SECOND QUARTER — 6:46; PVHS, B. Nester, 5-yard run. T. Symns kick. 1:21, PVHS; J. Neal, 17-yard run. Pass failed.

FOURTH QUARTER — 9:07; TVHS, C. Estep, 5-yard run. J. Newsome two-point conversion run. 2:37; J. Neal, 32-yard run. Kick failed.



Safety decides issue for Warriors



By TOM BONE

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

NEW RICHMOND — The defenses were dominant, and the difference came down to the Wyoming East special teams coming up special in the second half.

The Wyoming East Warriors edged the James Monroe Mavericks 8-6 Friday night in a matchup of top-15 teams in Class AA that produced all of its scoring in the fourth quarter and kept the suspense going into the final minute.

Coach Kevin Grogg said, “Typical Wyoming East-James Monroe game. We’ve had a lot of games like this in the history of the two schools, and this is what I expected.”

James Monroe coach Don Jackson said, “They’ve got a very good team, a very physical team. ... We played a real super game tonight. We don’t have anything to be ashamed of. It was a really good game.”

Neither offense could get rolling in the scoreless first half. The ninth-ranked Mavericks had 41 yards and 64 yards in penalties, while the 11th-ranked Warriors attained 30 yards of net offense and 30 penalty yards.

The third quarter was mostly consumed with two long drives, primarily on the ground, that came up empty.

Grogg said, “We thought we got us a weak spot in their defense over there, and we did. We started running the football really well. And we got on the line — the line didn’t do a very good job in the first half.”

Late in the period, the Warriors’ Eli Bookout launched a punt to midfield that a Mavericks returner muffed. Freshman Jordan Lusk fell on the loose ball for Wyoming East. The Warriors were held to a three-and-out, but Bookout’s next punt was downed inside the James Monroe 1.

On the next play, the Warriors’ Travis Smith blitzed up the middle and was the first green jersey to get to running back Andrew Robertson for a safety.

Smith said, “I got the defense together, and I said, ‘We can’t give in. This is it. We’ve come this far. This is where we show the toughness.’ And we just stepped up and got the tackle.”

Jackson said, “I thought the first half, we kind of bogged down there. At halftime, I kind of thought a big play would make the difference in the game. They got that one big punt that put us in the hole.

“I should have probably called a quarterback sneak or something to get it out there. You’ve got to give them credit. They came right up there and jammed it.”

East quarterback Thadd Grogg said, “That’s what won the ballgame for us, there — defense.”

Wyoming East drove the field after the free kick, with Thadd Grogg finding Andrew Bishop open behind the secondary for a 15-yard score. The point-after run failed.

Leading up to the touchdown pass, Kevin Grogg said, “I got a little conservative. That was my fault. We thought that was open, and we were just waiting for a chance to throw it. ... We had to go to the pass, and we did.”

Thadd Grogg said, “I pumped it, and the guy bit, and we threw it deep. ... All game, that was open.”

After several drops in the first half, Grogg said, “It’s a little frustrating, but I’ve learned to deal with it. You’ve got to keep your head up on every play. That’s what it’s all about.”

With six minutes on the clock, the Mavericks went 61 yards in 13 plays. Quarterback John Ballengee tossed the ball to Nick Kisiel, whose second effort took the ball across the goal line with 38.6 seconds left to cut the margin to 8-6.

The East defense, led by Jason Penley, Kyle McGraw and Smith, again stopped Robertson’s two-point conversion attempt to prevent the tie. Lusk recovered the on-side kick try to sew up the win.

Robertson led all rushers with 77 yards on 20 tries, while Rob Hartley gained 69 yards on 15 carries.

Kevin Grogg called Hartley the team’s “workhorse,” and said, “He ran the ball really well tonight.”

Grogg said, “That (win) put us at 4-1, and we did it to a top-ranked team. That gives us a lot of bonus points for the playoffs. And we needed this, to get into the second half of our season.”

Jackson said, “In all, it was a well-played game and a well-coached game. ... You would have liked to have won, but — you don’t win ’em all.”



James Monroe (3-2)................0 0 0 6 — 6

Wyoming East (4-1)................0 0 0 8 — 8

Fourth Quarter

WE: Safety, Travis Smith tackled Taylor Robertson in end zone, 11:41

WE: Andrew Bishop 15 pass from Thadd Grogg (run failed), 6:02

JM: Nick Kisiel 6 pass from John Ballengee (run failed), 0:38

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — WE: Rob Hartley 15-69, Jason Penley 12-33, Thadd Grogg 3-(minus 6), Eli Bookout 1-(minus 25), team 1-(minus 1). JM: Taylor Robertson 20-77, Nick Kisiel 14-57, John Ballengee 7-24, Tanner Tuggle 1-4, Braxton Thompson 1-(minus 20), Lee Triplett 1-6, team 1-(minus 2).

PASSING — WE: Thadd Grogg 8-18-1-1-58 yds. JM: John Ballengee 3-8-1 TD-2 intc.-15 yds., Andrew Evans 0-1-0-0-0, Robertson 1-2-0-0-2.

RECEIVING — WE: Trey Fralin 2-8, Eli Bookout 1-9, J.R. Bishop 2-14, Andrew Bishop 2-24. JM: Logan Ray 2-9, Nick Kisiel 1-6, Braxton Thompson 1-2.

        

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