Eastern View’s defense has star power

By Shane Mettlen

Published: October 11, 2008

Madison came into Friday night’s game against Eastern View used to doing just about whatever it wanted on offense, averaging nearly 30 points a game and rolling to a 5-0 record. But the young Eastern View defense gave the Mountaineers a taste of something different.

“The defense played really well,” EVHS coach Greg Hatfield said. “We took advantage of opportunities, which was something we didn’t do last week. We work on turnovers and we work on tackling and it just kind of paid off. “

While EVHS running back Stevie Strother was earning praise all night as he carried the ball 24 times for 314 yards and three touchdowns, there were plenty of stars on the defensive side of the ball.

The Cyclones forced the Mountaineers offense into four turnovers and also came up with a loose ball on a kickoff return. Senior Leroy Amankrah recovered the botched return attempt and also had an interception of Madison quarterback Will Taylor.

“Leroy has gotten better and better,” Hatfield said. “He’s a kid that’s worked hard and is very coachable and made a big impact on the game. He’s playing more and more and more and I’m proud of the way he’s progressed.”

Madison coach Stuart Dean said the turnovers made it nearly impossible for his team to get going offensively.

“When you turn the ball over five times it’s hard to win the game,” Dean said. “We made a lot of mistakes on offense that we hadn’t made before and that was a big determining factor in the game. “

Another huge factor was the play of the Cyclones up front. Madison running backs Devon Boone and Logan Terrell came into the game each averaging near 100 yards rushing per game. Neither back cracked the century mark with Boone, the team’s leading rusher, held to 77 yards on 18 carries.

“We had to go out there and give 100-percent,” EVHS linebacker Belial Williams said. “We knew we couldn’t back down from them, even though they had two good running backs.”

Williams and fellow sophomore Lewis Wilkins did plenty to disrupt the Madison offense, making themselves at home in the Mountaineers’ backfield and making big plays. Williams put pressure on Taylor all evening and it was Wilkins who made a pair of drive killing sacks in the second half.

“Belial Williams played a huge game for us,” Hatfield said. “We didn’t have Blake Smith playing because he was ejected last week. Blake’s been our defensive captain and Belial came in and played in that role. Lewis Wilkins also played a good game for us. I thought all our linebackers picked up their game and our defense played really well.”

Shane Mettlen can be reached at 825-0771, ext. 127 or