Spartans dominate battle for Giles County

By JONATHAN GREENE

For the Daily Telegraph

NARROWS, Va. — Giles came into Narrows with a mission — come out with a victory.

Two fourth-down touchdowns set the tone early and Ian Mann paced the Spartans with three touchdowns to guide Giles to a 49-6 victory over the Green Wave Friday night at Ragsdale Field.

“It’s a good victory and big victory for us,” Giles head coach Jeff Williams said. “You never know about game like this. The crowd’s pumped up, the kids are pumped up. Narrows is always going to be up for the game.

“We got off to a slow start in the beginning, but once we got things clicking, we played pretty good.”

Mann rumbled for three touchdowns and 153 yards in the first half to pace Giles’ ground attack. The Spartans (3-1) nearly doubled Narrows (0-4) in the first half, 281yard to 146, as they built a commanding lead.

“Giles is really good up front. They’ve got some ball carries who are tough runners and well coached,” Narrows head coach Kelly Lowe said.

The Green Wave kept battling in the second half despite the margin. Narrows marched down the field on their second drive behind Kelly Dent and Trevor Hart.

Dent gashed the Giles defense for 47 yards while Hart added 18. After three stops by the Spartans’ defense at the goal line, Narrows finally broke through with a Rodney Perdue one-yard touchdown.

“Our kids didn’t give up,” Lowe commented. “They didn’t quit. Maybe a couple stops in the first half when he had them on fourth and short could have swung the momentum our way. We could never get our defense off the field and that was hard.”

Giles won the toss and elected to receive to start the game. The Spartans kept their opening drive alive with a Brett Whitlow eight-yard rush on fourth down. Four plays later, on fourth and inches at the 43-yard line, Hunter Mathias broke free for a touchdown.

After a three-and-out by Narrows, the Green Wave had the Spartans on fourth down again. Just like the previous drive, Giles converted in a big way. Mann found an opening and sprinted 41 yards for the score to make it 14-0.

“Our kids came out and battled really hard,” Lowe said. “We had them twice on forth down — had them on fourth down a lot in the first half. We never could get the stop that we needed.

“I think our defense played well. That’s a pretty good football team right there.”

The Spartans made it 3-for-3 scoring on drives before the end of the first quarter as Whitlow trotted in from 13 yards out.

“Anytime you can get up [on] somebody, it’s great,” Williams said. “That’s what you want to do and that’s what you want to come out and do. You have to keep grinding away. You have to keep going.

“Sometimes the kids can get complacent and you have to keep them going. That’s what happened tonight. We didn’t get complacent after that first score. The kids played hard and we got some big plays.”

Mann added two more scores in the second quarter on runs of 13 and 54 yards to break open the game.

Giles defense got in on the action as Garrett Lee picked off Rodney Perdue and sprinted 41 yards for a touchdown.

Narrows put together their best drive of the half in the final minutes.

Perdue connected with Chandler Burton on a broken play for a 57-yard gain. The Green Wave pushed the ball inside the 30 two plays later and on third and long, it looked as if Perdue had connected with Burton again. However, the Spartans were ready and broke up the pass.

With the game firmly in Giles’ grasp, the teams went to their benches in the second half which featured a running clock.

Williams said, “You hate situations like this, but I understand the rule and purpose. It’s a good rule, but sometimes the clock runs too fast. I’m sure they wanted to get some kids in there and play just like us. I think we got all of our kids in there which was a plus.”

Tyler Perdue scored the Spartans final touchdown on a 31-yard dash in the third quarter.

Narrows finally was able to get on the scoreboard in the forth when Rodney Perdue crossed the goal line for a one-yard score.

Giles finished with 335 yards of offense, all on the ground. They attempted two passes, but both were overthrown.

“When you have four days to prepare for it and you’ve been preparing for different offenses the rest of the time, it is a different,” Lowe said of stopping the single wing. “They do it so well. I’m really proud of the kids though.

“We hung in there and played hard for four quarters. If we could got a couple stops there early, it could have been a different outcome.”

Dent led Narrows with 47 yards rushing. Hart added 34. Rodney Perdue added 115 yards through the air. Chandler Burton had three catches for 96 yards.

Mann led Giles with 153 yards. Mathias backed him with 64 yards. Ten different Spartans had a carry.

“With the way our kids block up front, our offensive line did a great job tonight,” Willaims said. “They don’t get talked about lot. Ian’s a great back in there and they know that.

“They’re going to block and he’s one of those athletes who can make some big plays. We have several kids in there that can run the ball and get big plays for us.”

Giles welcomes Tazewell next Friday while the Green Wave host Rural Retreat.

At Ragsdale Field

Giles....................................................21 21 7 0 — 49

Narrows................................................0 0 0 6 — 6

First Quarter

G - Hunter Mathias 43 rush (Garrett Lee kick), 6:31

G - Ian Mann 41 rush (Lee kick), 3:42

G - Brett Whitlow 13 rush (Lee kick), :17

Second Quarter

G - Mann 13 rush (Lee kick), 6:14

G - Mann 54 rush (Lee kick), 4:30

G - Lee 41 interception return (Lee kick), 3:25

Third Quarter

G - Tyler Perdue 31 rush (Lee kick), 7:45

Fourth Quarter

N - Rodney Perdue 1 rush (PAT Failed), 7:45

———

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - Giles, Ian Mann 9-153, Brett Whitlow 5-46, Garrett Lee 1-4, Hunter Mathias 5-64, Dusty Boggess 2-14, Tyler Perdue 2-35, Hunter Smith 2-3, Tanner Martin 2-14, Joseph Lucas 2-5, Kyle Holt 1-2, TEAM 2-(-2); Narrows, Terrance Martin 4-10, Trevor Hart 7-34, Gaven Givens 2-15, Rodney Perdue 4-4, Zachary Skeens 1-2, Kelly Dent 6-47.

PASSING - G, Man 0-1-0-0-0, T. Perdue 0-1-0-0-0; N, R. Perdue 5-19-1-115-0.

RECEIVING - G, none; N, Chandler Burton 3-96, Hart 1-4, Jacob Ballard 1-15.