Mavericks gallop through Green Wave
James Monroe (35) vs. Narrows (6)
Written: Aug 26, 2011
By JONATHAN GREENE Bluefield Daily Telegraph
NARROWS, Va. — The border clash between James Monroe and Narrows was suppose to be between just them.
Before the game and during most of the first quarter, Mother Nature made her presence known causing problems for both the Mavericks and Green Wave.
Yet once the rain settled down, James Monroe (1-0) found their footing in rout to a 34-6 victory over Narrows (0-1) on Friday night at Ragsdale Field.
“Kind of wet,” James Monroe head coach Donnie Jackson said after the game. “We made some mistakes. That rain at first was unbelievable. The field was slick.
“(Matt) Romanello had a little trouble getting going. Overall, I think we did okay. I was pleased.”
Despite having to battle the conditions, Romanello was a force the Green Wave couldn’t contain. The senior rushed for 145 yards and two touchdowns and threw for another score.
“He’s had a super preseason for us,” Jackson said. “He’s very talented and sees the field well. He’s got speed.
“He’s perfecting his passing a little bit. We’re going to have do a little bit of that.”
Narrows had trouble early on with the rain as they fumbled the center-quarterback exchange five times on their two drives.
James Monroe had a little more luck on its opening drive as Trevor Fullen scored on a three-yard rush.
“I thought James Monroe came out and took care of a wet football,” Narrows head coach Kelly Lowe said. “They ran ball exceptional well. We didn’t have answer for them.”
The Mavericks racked up 244 yards on the ground while Narrows was held to 137 total yards of offense.
The big difference was ball control as the Green Wave had 11 fumbles in the game, losing three of them.
“It messes up your rhythm,” Lowe said. “It’s one of those things we’ll work on. We’ll fix it and get better at it.”
Lowe would not blame the problems on the weather either.
“They didn’t have any problems,” he said. “I’m not going to make any excuses about the weather. We had some opportunities and let them slip up.
“Coach Jackson does a great job at James Monroe. They took advantage of our mistakes.”
Narrows was able to take advantage of one Maverick miscue on a botched punt that put the ball almost on the Green Wave’s goal line.
With just four yards to go, it took Adrian Parcell one rush up the middle to score, making it 8-6 in the second quarter.
Then the rain began to lighten and Romanello found his footing.
After Narrows’ score, the Mavericks went to Romanello who burst through the Green Wave defense for a big 33-yard rush up the left side. A few plays later, he found the back of the endzone on a four yard rumble.
On James Monroe’s next series, it to two plays as Romanello bolted for a 48-yard touchdown.
“They caught us a couple times over pursing and they would cut back and get a big play,” Lowe said. “That’s one of those thing you’ve got to work out. We’ll get better at.
The Mavericks capped off a 19-point second quarter when Fullen scored his second touchdown after Narrows fumbled at the 8-yard line. Romanello rushed for five to setup the 185-pound senior for a three-yard score.
“They’re pretty good,” Jackson said. “Both started last year. Our offensive line is improved a lot.
“We’re playing more people and got more subs in. Eventually, I think we’re going to get to two-platoon all of our linemen which will really help us.”
The Mavericks added another touchdown in the fourth quarter when Romanello went to the air for a 27-yard touchdown pass to John Mustain.
Fullen paced Romanello’s performance with 71 yards of his own. Mustain had six carries for six yards and was 2-for-3 throwing for 13 yards.
Wyatt Robertson led the Green Wave with 43 yards on the ground. Parcell finished with 27 while Joe Butler had 26. Brad Bryson made an impact with his two rushes going 34 yards.
Green Wave sophomore quarterback Joe Hall was 1-for-4 throwing for 9 yards and was involved in most of the quarterback-center miscues.
“He’s going to be a good one,” Lowe said. “That’s a tough way to have your first start of your high school career. He’ll learn from it and he’ll get better like we all will.”
Narrows welcomes Eastern Montgomery Friday while James Monroe hosts Summers County.
“I think was,” said Jackson of the importance of getting off to a good start. “Our schedule gets progressively tougher toward the end. We got nine more games here that our going to be very, very hard for us. We just got to get better each week.”
— Contact Jonathan Greene at
jgreene@bdtonline.com
At Ragsdale Field
James Monroe......................................................8 19 0 7 — 34
Narrows.................................................................0 6 0 0 — 6
First Quarter
JM – Trevor Fullen 3 rush (Fullen rush), 7:59
Second Quarter
NAR – Adrian Parcell (PAT fail), 11:06
JM – Matt Romanello 4 rush (Ryan Wickline kick), 7:04
JM – Romanello 48 rush (Wickline kick blocked), 4:14
JM – Fullen 3 rush (Wickline kick failed), 2:24
Fourth Quarter
JM – John Mustain 27 pass from Romanello (Wickline kick), 10:36
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — James Monroe, Matt Romanello 16-145-2td, Trevor Fullen 14-71-2td, John Mustain 6-6, Ryan Payne 2-15, TEAM 2-7; Narrows, Adrian Parcell 10-27, Wyatt Robertson 10-43, Joe Butler 9-26, Joe Hall 3-(-3), Brad Bryson 2-36, Drew Stowers 1-(-1)
PASSING — JM, Romanello 1-3-27-1td, Mustain 2-3-13, Joe Hall 0-2-0; NAR, Hall 1-4-9.
RECEIVING — JM, Romanello 2-13, Mustain 1-27; NAR, Taylor Craft 1-9.
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