Image 1 / 2
Either you win or your season ends.
It is as simple and harsh as that.
In another one of his Knute Rockne-like speeches, Scott coach Shane Griffith drove home that point Friday night before his team walked onto Skyhawk Field to face Sissonville in the opening round of the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission’s Class AA playoffs.
“I have stood here now for five years at this moment, with many of you all,” said Griffith, whose program has advanced to the state playoffs in five consecutive seasons (2003-2007). “I have learned one thing over those five years — one thing that now thrives inside of me and burns inside of me: There is no tomorrow.
“It doesn't exist,” the coach continued. “It's not even out there. It doesn't happen. The only thing that happens, the only thing that matters is this moment right now. This moment in time. This is what defines you. This is what determines what you become. This moment. This day. Because tomorrow doesn't exist in our world. When you find something down in your heart that understands that and believes that, then you realize the only way to get a tomorrow is to define it and create it.
“Now, we have been at this door before,” Griffith said. “You can call it destiny. You can call it fate. You can call it whatever you want to call it. I choose to call it through the hard work, commitment, preparation, expectations and desires of young men and a common goal and a family that believes that we are going to go further than we have ever been.
“It's time to put our signature on it,” he added. “It's time to put our stamp on it. It's time to define it in a way it has never been defined. It's time to create a tomorrow. It's time to create one. It's time to make it. It's time to reach your hand out there and grab a hold of destiny and make it what you want it to be.
“But you have to start honestly looking inside yourself and play this game like tomorrow's not in your soul because you have not defined it yet. Define it with passion, love, excitement, energy, hits and Friday night lights. You take one second, you soak it up, all of it that you can get in there, you pull it inside, you let that one second in time exist for 48 minutes, and you play this game the way they didn't even know it could be played. With attitude. Attitude! An Attitude!
“Now, let's get it.”
The fired-up Skyhawks took care of business, advancing to the state quarterfinals with a 40-27 win over the tougher-than-expected Indians.
“They were physical on both sides of the ball,” Griffith told the Coal Valley News.
“They had the Cardinal Conference's leading rusher (in senior tailback Nathan Brill, who entered the game with 1,382 yards and 11 touchdowns on 202 carries). They have a powerful running game that people dismiss because they don't have breakaway speed, but they really pound on you.
“What took control of the game for us,” he added, “was our quick-strike offense. They couldn't maintain (that scoring pace).”
Fifth-ranked Scott improved to 8-3, while 12th-ranked Sissonville dropped to 6-5.
The Skyhawks led 14-7 after the first quarter, 22-13 at halftime and 28-20 after the third quarter, but they trailed once at 7-6 and needed a couple of fourth-quarter touchdowns to thwart the Indians’ upset bid.
Griffith was happy to see his players tested and even happier to see them pass that test.
“We needed a challenge that we could play through and win,” Griffith said. “The guys need to know what it takes to fight through a fourth quarter and walk off the field with a win.
"This is another valuable lesson for us. It's going to help us down the road.”
Next up for Scott is fourth-ranked Berkeley Springs, which is 9-2 after its 55-40 victory over 13th-ranked Logan on Saturday.
The Skyhawks will make a six-hour road trip to Martinsburg High School to face the Indians, whose home field isn’t approved for playoff games.
Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
“What you have done tonight is given yourself tomorrow,” Griffith told his team after the game. “It's that simple. We have one more tomorrow. That's all. The thing about the playoffs is, there is no time to celebrate. You got one more tomorrow.”
The Skyhawks can thank their linemen for their tomorrow. It was Scott’s ability to control the action in the trenches, especially on offense, that made the difference in the game.
“I told the offensive line before the game that I wanted them to be the dagger that pierces the heart, and they were,” Griffith told the Coal Valley News. “They did an awesome job.”
Sophomore left tackle Chase Woodruff said it wasn't easy.
"That was probably the best team we have played on the line of scrimmage," Woodruff said. "They were big, strong and fast. Other teams teams were big or strong or fast. But they had the combination of the three."
Senior standout Jordan Roberts had another record-breaking night running behind the Skyhawks’ eight-man front, which consists of Woodruff, senior formation tackle Greg Parkins, senior left guard Dennis Roberts, junior center Eric Price, junior right guard Ryan Price, junior right tackle Aaron Thompson, junior tight end Drew Runyan and sophomore tight end Tyler Thompson.
Roberts carried 33 times for 368 yards and five touchdowns. His scores came on runs of 5, 10, 11, 25 and 71 yards.
He broke the Class AA playoff record for yards in a game and tied the Class AA playoff record for touchdowns in a game.
Roberts also completed 4-of-8 passes for 69 yards and one touchdown, a 23-yarder to Tyler Thompson. He also added a pair of two-point conversions, running for one and throwing for the other.
Roberts also received the Hammer Award for his bone-crunching hit that knocked out Brill in the third quarter and sidelined him for the rest of the game. He finished with 12 tackles (five solos and seven assists) from his safety position.
“Week in and week out, I expect unbelievable numbers from Jordan Roberts,” Griffith said. “But I was absolutely amazed by what he did tonight.
“I have watched him for two years and I have never seen him do some of the things he did tonight. He made plays and moves that they haven't even created on video games yet.”
Roberts now has 3,263 yards and needs only 325 yards to break former Nitro tailback Josh Culbertson’s single-season state record of 3,587 yards, set in 2005.
Roberts already shattered Culbertson’s regular-season record of 2,744 yards, also set in 2005. Roberts finished the Skyhawks’ 10-game schedule with 2,895 yards.
“He is just an incredible player,” Griffith said of Roberts, a Division I prospect who visited Marshall University on Saturday and watched the Thundering Herd upset East Carolina University that evening.
n n n
One of the Skyhawks’ most loyal and most vocal fans gave them extra incentive to extend their playoff run all the way to Wheeling Island Stadium, which is home to the Super Six state championship games.
Amid the postgame celebration inside the Skyhawks' locker room Friday, Mark Perry told the Scott players he would give up his bushy hair if they get there.
"I have been thinking about this and I have made up my mind," he told them. "If you all, the black-and-gold family, go to Wheeling, you all can name the time and the place and you all can cut my hair off."
There are two conditions, however.
"No Mohawks and the goatee stays," he said.
Contact Managing Editor Jacob Messer at jacobmesser@coalvalleynews.com or 369-1165.
Post a Comment
