Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
Close calls EVHS' calling card
Close doesn’t count except in horseshoes or hand grenades, the old saying goes. That’s been the story of Eastern View High School football team's inaugural season in many ways, most of them positive.
The Cyclones have kept it close in three of the four games this season, pulling out a 28-21 win over William Monroe and a 12-7 squeaker over Clarke County High School and hanging tough against Louisa County High School in the season opener before falling, 27-20. Last week, Eastern View took that big step toward becoming a great team by thumping a school they were expected to thump, winless Kettle Run High School, 40-7, behind running back Stevie Strother’s five touchdowns. Most of these players toiled for Culpeper County High School last year on a 2-8 season that ended with close-but-no-cigar losses to C.D. Hylton (15-12), Osbourn Park (28-22), Liberty (38-31), Battlefield (47-33) and Stonewall Jackson (20-13).
“We’re getting there,” said Eastern View coach Greg Hatfield. “None of these kids have ever won more than two varsity games in a season. We’ve hit three, and that was a big step for us as far as climbing the ladder. I was nervous about this one coming in, because it’s difficult to do something you’ve never done before.”
The corollary to that, of course, is that it’s easy to do something you’ve done before, which is where touchdown machine Strother comes in. The senior is a case of “close” making the man, as Strother’s trademark is to let defenders grab his jersey and shoulder pads in an attempt to bring down, but then suddenly break free and find the end zone.
Cyclone fans first got a taste of this in the Aug. 22 Culpeper scrimmage when the senior cannonballed his way out of a scrum one yard behind the line of scrimmage and into an explosive 10-yard TD run. It was the recipe for success near the end of a game-winning scamper versus Clarke County two weeks ago, with Strother about to be dragged down by his shoulder pads from behind before bursting through for the final 15 yards and the game-winning score. Most recently against Kettle Run, Strother found a new way to break out of a trap, reversing field on a dead-ended pitchout and racing around the corner to paydirt for a 46-yard TD. He has 722 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns this season.
“They knew the play that was coming and they shifted to the right,” said Strother of the latter touchdown, “so when I got the pitch, I could see that the whole team was to the right, so I just cut back and used my speed.”
Said Hatfield: “Obviously, Stevie is a special player. He’s just hard to get a good hit on and his field vision is so good.”
On the not-so-good side of things, Eastern View's propensity for cutting things close came back to haunt them against Louisa. What should have been a big momentum-shifter heading into halftime against Louisa – the Cyclones’ first-ever touchdown, a Cody Whitlock strike to DeShawn Robinson – quickly gave way to a third-down defensive breakdown that cost them the game. Louisa appeared to be the running the clock out on itself when it took over at its own 43-yard line with 2:02 to go and called a pair of time-wasting running plays. But Dillon Hollins’ 24-yard pass to Kerry Wynn on third-and-two put the Lions in business at the Eastern View 26, and the two hooked up a second time with 7.6 seconds remaining in the half for a decisive touchdown.
Defensive breakdowns didn’t factor into the Kettle Run win – the Cougars gained zero yards in the first half and just 40 all night, a nice change of pace from the bend-don’t-break EV defense that held Clarke County scoreless in three second-half trips inside the Cyclones 25 – but Eastern View’s passing was another story. While Whitlock did find a wide-open Matt Case from 40 yards out for the Cyclones’ second touchdown, the passing game was inconsistent, and sometimes downright nerve-wracking. Case in point: the second-quarter series in which Whitlock narrowly avoided throwing an interception that likely would have been returned for a touchdown, and then was the victim of drops by Moe Saffren and Connor Settle. With a tougher Caroline High School squad coming into town Friday night, Hatfield knows his team must improve.
“We’re still working on our consistency,” said Hatfield. “We need to get there. But tonight was a huge step for us.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.