By BOB REDD

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BLUEFIELD, Va. — “Win, lose or draw, at the end of the day as long as I know I did my all and my teammates did their all, it’s a good game.”

Those are the words of Graham High School senior Kyshon Lee. Lee felt great this past Friday as he ran for 136 yards and a touchdown and had 19 tackles on defense as he and the Graham G-Men defeated the Bland County Bears.

As a result of his performance Lee, who was moved to fullback after halftime, is the latest Pocahontas Coal Association/Bluefield Daily Telegraph Player of the Week.

“He (Head coach Mike Williams) walked up to me and said, ‘Kyshon, I need you to run the rock. I was like ‘Yes, sir,’” Lee said. “I am used to running the ball. At the beginning of the year I was tailback and a little fullback too, so I already knew the fullback position. I knew where the holes were, where to go. I knew basically everything about fullback and tailback. He just told me he needed me to run the rock.”

The G-Men have been decimated by injuries this season. With only six seniors on the roster, three have fallen to injury and Williams turned to Lee for leadership.

“Kyshon has really taken on a leadership role in the absence of our two four-year seniors,” Williams noted. “Because of their injuries we have had to move him on defense from defensive end to linebacker. He’s sort of assumed that role as quarterback of the defense.”

Lee accepted the challenge of running the ball and being the playmaker on defense.

“What made me step up and go as hard as I did is the fact that whenever I went in at halftime, my coaches told me, ‘You’re one of our last active seniors without any injuries. We would love for you to step up and basically lead the team,’” Lee remembered. “They told me I could lead the team to a victory. It was already a close game, but he (Coach Williams) told me I could lead the team to victory. As a senior I feel like whenever Coach tells me I can lead something, with everything in me, I am going to try to lead, try to do everything I can for my team so we can win the game.

“I felt as a senior and as a captain, Coach came to me with faith in me. He has always had faith in me, but he really had a lot of faith in my this game. He looked at me and said, ‘You’re going to run the rock.’ I did everything that I could. The feeling I got after we won, knowing that I did everything that I could, my team did everything they could, in the end it worked out for us and I just felt great.”

Unlike many of his teammates, Lee did not get his start in the youth leagues. His first football action came in the eighth grade at Bluefield Middle School when his friend and current teammate Ahmad Wilson talked him into hitting the gridiron.

“I loved it. I loved and love to run the ball,” Lee said. “I love it when someone tries to tackle me and sometimes when I am running the ball, if I see someone coming, I’ll smile. I can’t help but smile and get ready because he is going to hit me really hard, or I am going to just keep running. You’re either going to take me down or I am going to keep going.”

Lee, who would like to wrestle or play football in college, and who would like to also become a counselor, said he has learned quite a bit by being an athlete.

“Football taught me how to be tough. It taught me a lot, honestly,” Lee confessed. “It has taught me how to be fundamentally sound. It has taught me basically everything I need to know in life as far as being respectful to your coaches, listening to what they say, doing things they say to do that you probably don’t want to do but you have to do it anyway — coming to practice every day on time, being consistent with it because everything in football is going to lad to the real world.

“Whenever I get a job I am going to need to be consistent in that job. I am going to need to come on time. My boss might say something I may not like, but I am going to have to do. I took football as a job and at the same time I am having fun doing my job.”

— Contact Bob Redd at bredd@bdtonline, Twitter @bdtredd.

Pocahontas Coal Association/Daily Telegraph Player of the Week

Honorable Mention

Bland County (lost 33-12 to Graham) — Mason Christian 12-83 rush, Isaiah Boyd 11-69 rush, 2-5 receiving.

Bluefield (beat Oak Hill 77-14) — D.J. Stewart 4-161, 2 TD rush. Corey Coppola 7-71, 1 TD rush. Carlos Reed 4-57, 1 TD rush; 79 punt ret for TD. R.J. Bourne 122 passing yd, 2 TD.

Giles (beat Radford 63-15) — Brian Mann 15-221, 4 TD rush. Brett Whitlow 12-209, 2 TD rush, 8 XP kicks.

Graham (won 33-12 at Bland County) — Kyshon Lee 15-130, 1 TD rush. Israel Harris 12-57, 1 TD rush; interception.

Grundy (lost 38-0 to Tazewell) — no information.

Haysi (beat Hurley 49-7) — Jalen Sykes 5 TD passes. Hunter Sutherland 4-108 receiving, 3 TD. Tristan Yates 9-137 rush, 1 TD. Ryan Turner 11-146 rush, 1 TD. Robbie Yates, 6 tackles.

Honaker (won 42-8 at Castlewood) — Casey Dye, 2 TD rush, 1 TD pass, 103 passing yd. Chase Johnson 2 TD runs.

Hurley (lost 49-7 to Hurley) — Tray Oliver 71 kickoff return for TD.

James Monroe (lost 39-21 at Liberty) — Reed McNeer 2 TD rush, 1 passing TD. Seth Havens 45 pass catch for TD.

Mount View (lost 49-34 at Summers Co.) — Timothy Nowlin 250 yd passing, 1 TD; 21-113 rush, 2 TD. Jaquan Imes 5-228 receiving. Joseph Hayes 18-149, 1 TD rush.

Narrows (lost 49-13 to Galax) — Jackson Blankenship 94 yds passing, 1 TD; 12-83 rush, 1 TD.

PikeView (lost 58-21 to Meadow Bridge) — Ty Hoston 8-104 rush, 1 TD. Joe Jennings 13-70 rush, 1 TD. Hunter Mitchelson 4-17 rush, 1 TD; 48-yd reception.

Princeton (lost 34-7 at Woodrow Wilson) — Jay Palmer 28-131 rush, 1 TD. Zach Standifur 15-58 rush.

Richlands (lost 37-23 at Abingdon) — Zeke Vance 86 kickoff return for TD, 60 reception for TD. River Michaels 11-19-126 passing, 1 TD; 1 TD rush. Canaan Addison tackle for a safety.

Summers County (beat Mount View 49-34) — Matt Ryan 9-121 rush, 2 TD; 74 passing yd. Donte Ellis, fumble recovery, interception, 2-pt conversion. Tucker Lilly 85 kick return for TD.

River View (lost 54-26 to Westside) — Jordan Wilson 15-73, 1 TD rush, 2-16, 1 TD receiving. Tyree Baker 10-14-93 yd passing, 1 TD; 14-47, 1 TD rush. Cody Howie 5-79 receiving. Jeremy Crigger 24 fumble return for TD.

Tazewell (won 38-0 at Grundy) — Malik Davis 190 yd passing, 4 TDs. Chris Hall 24-140, 2 TD rush. Juwan Jordan 121 yd receiving, 3 TD; interception. Diante Cecil fumble recovery.

Twin Valley (beat Rye Cove 55-14) — Jake Kowalski 5-196, 3 TD rush. Austin Shortridge 7-147, 2 TDs rush.

2014 Winners

Week 1: Corey Coppola, Bluefield

Week 2: Malik Davis, Tazewell

Week 3: Nick Blankenship, Tazewell

Week 4: Cody Howie, River View

Week 5: River Michaels, Richlands

Week 6: Brett Whitlow, Giles

Week 7: Jay Palmer, Princeton

Week 8: D.J. Stewart, Bluefield

Week 9: Kyshon Lee, Graham