EVHS makes a stand

By Shane Mettlen

Published: October 10, 2008

Blake Smith stood on the Eastern View sideline with less than nine minutes remaining against Madison County and made a declaration.

“This is where the game is won.”

Even he didn’t know how right he was. The Cyclones linebacker, who was serving a suspension after being ejected from last week’s loss to Caroline, watched his team score 14 points in a span of 10 seconds and pull away for a 34-20 victory over the previously unbeaten Mountaineers.

EVHS was nursing a seven-point lead when Smith made his prediction, but on the very next play running back Stevie Strother busted through the line and gained 41 of his 314 rushing yards, scoring his third touchdown of the night.

Madison mishandled the ensuing kickoff and Leroy Amankrah recovered at the Mountianeers’ 7-yard line for the Cyclones, who scored on the next play to take a 34-14 lead.

“I felt very proud of the way we took advantage of some of the change of possessions and made them pay for some turnovers,” EVHS coach Greg Hatfield said. “We talked about how Madison doesn’t turn the ball over very much, so when they do you have to take advantage of it.”

The Mountaineers (5-1) turned the ball over more than usual, losing three fumbles and an interception, and with Strother running wild that was more than enough to tip the scales toward Eastern View. Strother, who eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season, had touchdown runs of 57, 71 and 41 yards.

Cody Whitlock also made big plays for the Cyclones (4-2). The senior quarterback completed just three passes for 22 yards and had an interception in the first half, but completed seven passes in a row in the second half to finish with 72 yards and two touchdowns.

“Cody’s gotten better,” Hatfield said. “Unfortunately, the last couple of weeks his numbers haven’t looked as good as he played because we had some drops.”
But for all the Cyclones explosiveness on offense, it was the defense that made some of the biggest plays of the night. Madison drove 43 yards in the closing minutes of the first half, but the Eastern View defense was able to stop running back Devon Boone at the goal line as the clock ran out and the Cyclones went into the break with a 13-6 lead.

EVHS was also able to keep both of Madison’s prolific running backs under 100 yards, thanks in large part to linebacker Belial Williams and defensive end Lewis Wilkins, who consistently got in to the Mountaineers backfield.

“It was real important for us to get in the backfield because our best linebacker (Smith) was out,” Williams said. “I knew I had to step up my game and when they sent me on my blitzes I went 100-percent on them.”

Boone finished with 77 yards on 18 carries and Logan Terrell had 90 yards on 16 carries. Terrell finished with 153 yards of total offense for the Mountaineers, making five catches for 63 yards and a touchdown.

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

Eastern View 34, Madison 20

MC   6   0   0   14 -  20
EV   13 0   7   14 -  34
Scoring summary
First quarter
Madison – Will Taylor to Logan Terrell 21 pass. PAT missed. 5:49
Eastern View – Stevie Strother 57 run. PAT missed. 4:49
Eastern View – Strother 71 run. PAT Schubert kick. 0:36
Third quarter
Eastern View – Cody Whitlock to Connor Settle 30 pass. PAT Schubert kick. 7:58
Fourth quarter
Madison – Devon Boone run 1. PAT kick. 9:11
Eastern View – Strother 41 run. PAT Schubert kick. 8:34
Easten View – Whitlock to Mo Safren pass. PAT Schubert kick. 8:24
Madison – Taylor 31 run. PAT kick. 6:25.

Individual stats
Rushing: EV – Strother 24-314, Whitlock 3- (-6), Schubert 1-0, Minor 2-10. MC – Terrell 16-90, Boone 18-77, Taylor 4-46, Fincham 2-10.
Passing: EV – Whitlock 10-14-72-1. MC – Taylor 11-21-129-1, Terrell 0-1-0-0.
Receiving: EV – Safren 3-25, Schubert 1-4, Apperson 1-3, Settle 3-44, Young 1-3, Strother 1- (-8), Hardison 1-10. MC – Banks 3-29, Terrell 5-63, Boone 2-16, Shifflette 1-18.