Published: November 07, 2009 09:15 pm      

G-Men clinch playoff berth with win

BLUEFIELD — That 0-5 start is now just a memory. The season continues for the Graham G-Men.

Tied at 14 with a half to go, the G-Men were facing what could have been their final two quarters of its season. Instead, Graham scored 21 second half points and defeated Southwest District foe Carroll County 35-14 on a lovely Saturday afternoon at Mitchell Stadium.

Graham (4-6) earned a Region IV, Division 3 playoff spot with the win, eliminating Patrick County in the process.

“The light at the end of the tunnel was getting smaller by the day, but we kept fighting,” Graham senior David Marrs said. “That was our team motto from week four, from then on, we just fought, fought and fought and it pays off right now.

“We are 0-0 and we’re on equal terms with everybody else. If we keep fighting, hopefully good things will happen.”

The G-Men were expecting a first round trip next weekend to Tazewell. Graham coach Doug Marrs didn’t care who, where and when they would play.

“It doesn’t matter, we’re playing, we played our way right back in,” Marrs said. “I don’t care who we play, as long as we’re at practice Monday, that’s all I know is we’ve got practice Monday.”

Graham took the lead for good in the third quarter, driving the ball 99 yards on 14 plays, taking up 5:22 of the clock. On a 3rd-and-5 from the 6, Marrs ran for 22 yards. He added a 19-yard run, Tanner Howell dashed for 19 more and Marrs connected with Torren Byrd on passes of 10 and 18 yards before eventually scoring on a 1-yard plunge for the 20-14 lead.

David Pelts, who made all five of his extra point attempts, would make it 21-14 with 3:02 left in the third quarter.

“I didn’t even realize it was 99 yards, actually it was like 99 and two-quarter yards,” Doug Marrs said. “You don’t get many of those because they don’t exist, but it was just a nice job. We had our backs against the wall and we just bowed up and came out of there.”

Carroll County (6-4), which still qualified for the Region IV, Division 4 playoffs, turned the ball over three times in the final period, and the G-Men added two more scores to beat the Cavaliers for the 13th time in the last 15 meetings.

“We’ve got to play with a little more enthusiasm, I can’t put my finger on it, but Richlands got us twice, basically is what happened,” said Carroll County coach Tom Hale, whose Cavaliers lost to Richlands last Friday in what amounted to the SWD title game. “They were so sky high last week and this week we didn’t come out near that type of intensity.

“Graham is too good, they’ve gotten better as the year has gone on, you can’t do that against that kind of team.”

That improvement is what has Graham back in the postseason for a 12th straight season, and 19th time in the last 20 years. While the G-Men heard all the talk from area cynics, his squad simply kept working, and will enter the playoffs having won four of its last five games.

“We took advantage of the moment, this is our last time playing up here, this place has been great to us, we had great fan support today, we really appreciate that,” David Marrs said. “We wanted to do it for our school and for our town and for those people that have supported us all year through this tough season, and thankfully we were able to do the job today.”

Graham dominated the first quarter, taking a 14-0 lead on a 53-yard run by Tanner Howell and an 11-yard scoring pass from Marrs to Byrd. The G-Men out-gained the Cavaliers 100-19 in the opening period, and forced three punts, and another on the first play of the next period.

Carroll County scored twice in the second quarter, with the first touchdown coming after Marrs attempted to run for a first down on a punt attempt deep in Graham territory, but Zack Surratt tackled him at the 14. Two plays later, Surratt scored from the seven, and Mason King added the extra point to pull within 14-7.

The Cavaliers added another score late in the period on a Surratt 24-yard run. The King conversion kick tied the score at 14.

David Marrs had his share of struggles in the opening half, also losing a fumble and nearly another on a badly-timed pitch.

“They were bone-head individual mistakes, I take full blame for that, but the thing is we’ve got a great group of seniors and their leadership, they picked me up, kicked me in the rear end and that was exactly what I needed,” Marrs said. “That gave me an extra boost to help these guys win and I give all the credit to the linemen, the backs, the defense, there was a team effort today and it showed on the scoreboard.”

Graham, which ran for 246 yards and threw for another 138, mixed up the plays on the 99-yard drive. Marrs completed 9-of-15 passes, and also ran for 97. Howell added 74 yards on the ground, while Byrd snagged six passes for 82 yards.

“We stick with what we do best and that is we get off the line and hit somebody in the mouth and good things are going to happen for us,” Marrs said. “We stuck with it, took our losses and then it turned into positive plays and that’s what we look for.”

Jacob Bowling then recovered a Carroll County fumble in Graham territory, leading to a 10-yard scoring run by Marrs. That score was set up by a 39-yard catch from Aderrius Jackson, who out-fought Glen Love for the ball.

Marrs followed with his own key defensive play, picking off a ball and returning it 37 yards. Mickel scored from four yards out for the final points.

Jackson picked off another Carroll County pass with 51 seconds left, and the G-Men could celebrate a turnaround that resulted in a postseason berth in the expanded six-team Region IV playoffs.

“I’m just real proud of our kids. It doesn’t take any talent to be a critic, all you’ve got to do is be able to breathe, and they haven’t listened to them,” Marrs said. “They have hung in there and they have fought, they’ve had their backs against the wall so many daggum times and by golly I am just proud of them.

“I’m proud of the job our coaches did, our coaches did a heck of a job keeping them together when they were 0-5.”

David Marrs hopes that momentum continues against the Bulldogs, whom the G-Men defeated 46-20 earlier this season.

“That is going to be a tough contest,” Marrs said. “They are going to be ready for us this time, but hopefully if we just keep sticking with what we do, we’ll able to take care of business and hopefully go another week.”

—Contact Brian Woodson

at bwoodson@bdtonline.com



at Mitchell Stadium

Carroll County...............................0 14 0 0 — 14

Graham........................................14 0 7 14 — 35

Scoring

First Quarter

GR—Tanner Howell 53 run (David Pelts kick) 9:32

GR—Torren Byrd 11 pass from David Marrs (Pelts kick) 6:25

Second Quarter

CC—Zack Surratt 7 run (Mason King kick) 8:18

CC—Zack Surratt 24 run (King kick) :28

Third Quarter

GR—Marrs 1 run (Pelts kick) 3:02

Fourth Quarter

GR—Marrs 10 run (Pelts kick) 8:50

GR—Zack Mickel 4 run (Pelts kick) 1:22

———

Team Statistics

First Downs: CC 10; GR 19. Rush-Yards: CC 37-117; GR 50-246. Pass Yards : CC 104; GR 138. Comp-Att-Int: CC 6-12-2; GR 9-15-0. Fumbles-Lost: CC 1-1; GR 2-1. Penalty-Yards: CC 5-30; GR 3-30. Punts-Avg: CC 5-37.2; GR 1-38.

———

Individual Statistics

Rushing: CC—Zack Surrett 14-82, Ulises Moreno 6-26, Dillion Caviness 6-23, Brandon Huff 1-1, Blake Bowman 4-(-4); GR—David Marrs 16-97, Tanner Howell 11-74, Zack Mickel 11-35, Aderrius Jackson 11-29, Spencer Sheets 2-(-2-).

Passing: CC—Blake Bowman 6-12-0-104-2, Dillion Caviness 1-0-0-0-0; GR—David Marrs 9-15-1-138-0.

Receiving: CC—Tyler Reavis 4-88, Zack Surrett 2-16; GR—Torren Byrd 6-82, Aderrius Jackson 1-39, Austin Bokish 2-21.