Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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August 25, 2007

Offensive line pushes Mavs past Wave

By BILL ARCHER

NARROWS, Va. — It took about a quarter for James Monroe High School to get untracked on an emotional Friday night in Narrows, but once they did, the Mavericks proved equal to their high ranking in West Virginia Class AA, and defeated a gutsy Narrows High School Green Wave team 47-19 in intrastate play.

JMHS used its single-wing power running and effective counter plays to pound away at the Narrows defense and wait for big-play openings to develop.

Narrows held the vaunted Maverick office in check for one quarter, but on the second play of the second quarter, Nick Kisiel spun 5 yards for a touchdown, and Logan Ray’s point after gave the Mavs the lead for good. The Mavs scored four unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter to take command.

“We were a little flat when we came out and that turnover in our first possession hurt us, but we got ourselves together in the second quarter,” David Witt, JMHS head football coach said.

Witt complimented the play of Green Wave signal-caller Corey Lowe, who was making effective reads out of the Wave’s shotgun formation, and finding his receivers in the passing game.

Still, Witt was pleased with the Mavericks’ offensive line play and with the team’s condition, playing on a hot, humid summer night. “We have worked hard on our conditioning,” Witt said. “I think that helped us.”

The Mavs were driving on their first possession until Josh Hollie, a defensive back for the Green Wave pounced on a fumble.

Corey Lowe directed a 13-play drive that included a combination of key runs by Chad McCroskey and Lowe, as well as a pair of Lowe aerials to Brett Buracker and Aaron Blankenship, that set the stage for a 1-yard Lowe quarterback sneak with 3:19 left in the first quarter. Derrick Reed’s kick was blocked.

James Monroe pounded away at the Green Wave with power runs by Ernie Tincher, Kisiel and Taylor Robertson setting up the inside blocking to open up the counter play featuring Tincher to set up Kisiel’s first score.

JMHS’s second score came off a one-play drive following a long Josh Hollie punt that put the Mavericks back at their own 10 yard line.

On the first play from scrimmage, Tincher took the ball off right tackle, busted into the secondary and galloped 90 yards for a score with 7:40 left in the half. Ray’s kick sailed wide right.

About 3 minutes later, Kisiel found a big hole on the left of the Narrows defense and ran 61 yards for a score with 4:30 left in the half.

Ray’s kick went wide left on this try, but the Mavs were back in business again following a fumble on the first play from scrimmage after the ensuing kick-off but the visitors on the Green Wave 14.

Robertson’s 3-yard dive with 2:18 left in the half moved the margin to 26-6 when Ray’s kick cleared the uprights.

But the Mavs weren’t done. Narrows mishandled the ball and JMHS recovered on the Wave’s 23 yard line. Four plays later, Robertson followed his blockers for a 24-yard scoring run. Ray’s point after was good with 30 seconds left in the half.

The Mavericks struck early in the second half when Kisiel ran nearly 60 yards for a score with 10:02 left in the third quarter. Braxton Thompson closed out the scoring for the Mavericks with 11:48 remaining in the fourth quarter. Ray’s point after kick was good.

The Green Wave scored twice off of Lowe passes with time running off the clock in the fourth quarter.

Lowe hit Blankenship on a 7-yard touchdown pass with 7:15 left in the game. Lowe hit Derrick Reed with a 10-yard scoring toss with 3:53 left in the contest. Reed connected on his point after touchdown attempt following Blankenship’s score, but not after his TD.

The 1-0 Mavericks travel to Shady Spring next Friday while the 0-1 Green Wave will play host to Eastern Montgomery.



At Ragsdale Field

Narrows (0-1).....................6 0 0 13 — 19

James Monroe (1-0)..........0 33 7 7 — 47

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