Graham pulls away from Bulldogs
Graham (34) vs. Tazewell (15)
Written: Sep 04, 2012
By LARRY HYPES
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
TAZEWELL, Va. — It was a numbers game guaranteed to drive coaches crazy and keep fans on their feet.
Despite 16 penalties for more than 100 yards, the surging Graham G-Men (2-0) used five first half turnovers by Tazewell to build momentum en route to an exciting 34-15 non-district triumph over the battling Bulldogs (0-2) Friday night.
Spencer Sheets neatly folded the Dogs with two key touchdowns in the second half to settle the issue, including scoring runs of 40 and one yards as Graham rallied to break open a tight contest when Tazewell moved to within 14-9 in the second half.
Cody Hatfield brought the Graham crowd to its fee with a 30-yard fumble return for the first touchdown with 6:09 remaining in the opening stanza.
Hatfield raced down the right sideline with the pigskin following a hard hit by his teammate Hunter Cook, who knocked the ball loose from a THS runner. Samuel Stowers drilled the PAT and Graham took a 7-0 lead.
G-Men coach Mike Williams stunned the Dogs when he called for an onside kick following the touchdown and when Stowers kicked the pigskin past a couple of Tazewell defenders GHS grabbed the ball on the 35 before an unsportsmanlike conduct flag moved the ball to the 20-yard stripe.
Fullback Michael Thompson powered forward for 14 yards, giving the G-Men a first-and-goal, then added three more before Brennan Wheeler capped the four-play march with a three-yard TD scamper. That came with 4:48 left in the opening quarter and Stowers’ kick made it 14-0.
Wheeler, who made some splendid plays for the G-Men during both halves, then recovered a fumble on the ensuing series on a snap exchange but Graham was unable to capitalize.
Tazewell’s first points of the season came when the G-Men snapped the ball out of the endzone with 2:20 to go before the break, making the score 14-2.
Malik Davis, who picked up all 83 of his rushing yards in the second half, got the initial Tazewell touchdown of the 2012 campaign on a nifty 15-yard excursion around left end as he high-stepped 15 yards for the score with 7:26 left in the third stanza.
Jacob McReynolds slammed the extra point kick home and the Dogs closed to within five points, at 14-9, to finish a 7-play, 64-yard drive.
“I got on the outside, the hole was there, and I found room to outrun the defense,” noted Davis, who nearly became the first Bulldog runner in more than a year to crack the 100-yard mark.
Graham’s clever quarterback, held to four yards in the first half, then took command. After an 8-run run by Hatfield, Sheets called his own number and outran everybody down the left sideline for a 40-yard score at the 1:52 mark of the third quarter, going in on just the third snap. Stowers’ kick made it 21-9.
Sheets, who carried seven times for 85 yards, slipped in for a one-yard score on Graham’s next possession, following good runs by Hatfield and Thompson. Hatfield also had 85 yards overall (13 carries) on the ground.
Jalen Jordan blocked the extra point kick, leaving GHS in front 27-9.
Moments later, McCann had a nifty pump fake and then raced up the middle 10 yards for the next Tazewell touchdown. The Dogs tried a muddle huddle as Davis passed incomplete to McCann trying for the two-point conversion. Still, Tazewell, which did not score in week one, pulled to within 27-15.
“My offensive line is getting better and better,” said McCann. “That was a great opening and I just headed for open territory. We are going to keep improving.”
Thaddeus Hess recovered an onside kick attempt by Tazewell at the 45-yard line to set up Graham’s final score. Hatfield picked up 19, Sheets raced 29 yards for a first-and-goal at the six, and then Hatfield sealed the deal with the six-yard TD run before Stowers kicked the point after for the final margin.
Graham outrushed the Bulldogs 231-145, and led in total yards 291-257.
McCann passed for 112 yards for THS and Sheets had 60 yards passing.
Hess made the highlight play grab between a pair of Tazewell defensive backs, hauling in a Sheets pass for 36 yards in the first half.
Jessee Mountain nearly equaled the feat with a dandy catch of his own for the Bulldogs when he caught and ran with a McCann aerial caught over his left shoulder which resulted in a 29-yard gain.
Hess led Graham with 36 receiving yards and Mountain took game catching honors with a pair of receptions totaling 44 yards.
Thompson and Wheeler sparkled up front defensively for Graham, ably aided by hard-hitting Jake Tibbs, Cook, and Hess, among others.
Tazewell had solid efforts from both Nick Goad and Guye Turner on the defensive line, coupled with a strong game by Mikey Wright, Cody Horn, Davis and Carter Rasnick.
The Bulldogs who had 9 penalties of their own, led 14-11 in first downs.
“You can’t turn the ball over like we’ve been doing and win,” said THS coach Shane Allen. “We did some good things but Graham hit us hard and we lost the ball too many times to take ourselves out of scoring opportunities. Graham took advantage of that and got some easy scores.
“We’ll work hard in practice on keeping possession and try to avoid those mistakes this week.”
Graham will play another big county rival, the defending Southwest District champion Richlands Blue Tornado, Friday at Mitchell Stadium.
Tazewell will Blacksburg in a non-district matchup Friday and both games will begin at 7:30.
At Bulldog Stadium/Witten Field
Graham..............14 0 7 13 — 34
Tazewell..............0 2 7 6 — 15
First Quarter
G- Hatfield, 30 yd. fumble return (Stowers kick) 6:09
G- Wheeler, 3-yard run (Stowers kick) 4:48
Second Quarter
T – safety (snap out of end zone) 2:20
Third Quarter
T – Davis, 15-yard run (McReynolds kick) 7:26
G – Sheets, 40-yard run (Stowers kick) 1:52
Fourth Quarter
G- Sheets, 1-yard run (kick blocked) 8:26
T- McCann, 10-yard run (pass failed) 6:25
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