Unstoppable Strother

By Shane Mettlen

Published: October 17, 2008

Stevie Strother walked out of the Eastern View locker room after the Cyclones defeated George Mason 47-28 Friday night at Cyclone Stadium and was met by a group of small children asking for his autograph.

It was a first for the EVHS senior, but if he continues running the way he has lately, it won’t be a last.

Strother rushed 21 times for 287 yards and four touchdowns, following a 314-yard performance against Madison a week ago. With Strother running wild once again and the Cyclones (5-2) defense forcing turnovers it added up to an easy homecoming victory that secured at least a .500 record for the fledgling program.

“I think we have worked really hard for everything we got,” Strother said after the game. “I worked really hard in the offseason to come out here and perform like I have the last couple of weeks. There are a lot of things that go into games like that. It feels really good to be a .500 team, but we don’t want to stop.”

It was the Mustangs (1-6) who struck first, methodically driving down the field on their opening drive. Mason picked up 51 yards, all on the ground, on the first possession and capped it with a nine-yard touchdown run by John Mann.

But the lead didn’t last long as Eastern View took advantage of Mason turnovers and the resulting field position. One play after the Cyclones recovered a fumble on the Mustangs’ 20-yard line, Strother raced in for the score.

Eastern View started even closer on its next drive after Mo Safren picked off a pass from GMHS quarterback George Kalantzis and returned it 25 yards to the Mustangs’ five-yard line, which set up Strother’s second touchdown run and gave EVHS a 14-7 lead.

In addition to his fifth interception this season, Safren also made two catches for 25 yards and a touchdown.

“Mo Safren is really starting to come into his own,” EVHS coach Greg Hatfield said. “He’s starting to become a ball hawk back there and he’s playing well offensively too.”

The Cyclones added to the lead in the second quarter after taking over twice more in Mason territory with Cody Whitlock throwing a touchdown pass to Safren and then sneaking across the goal line from one yard out to make it 27-7 at the half.

“I think their game plan was to take away our big play,” Hatfield said. “They took their safeties and they set those guys back there and I think they were willing to give Stevie a 10 or 15 yard-run, but they didn’t want to give up the long run.”

The game plan was working to a degree until the start of the second half when Strother busted loose for touchdown runs of 39 and 65 yards, helping the Cyclones build a 41-14 lead with less than five minutes to go in the third quarter.

But the Mustangs weren’t about to be blown off the field. Mason racked up 322 yards on the ground and had two backs crack the 100-yard mark. John Mann rushed for 139 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries and bruising fullback Charlie Mann picked up 113 on 19 attempts.

“I was happy with the way we played offensively, defensively I wasn’t very happy,” Hatfield said. “We’re still young up front and we’ve got to get stronger up front. The kids play hard, I think we just had to be more patient offensively.”

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