George Wythe defeats Patrick Henry 35-7

By JIM CUNNINGHAM/Staff

The George Wythe Maroons won their second game in a row and their first district game by pounding the Patrick Henry Rebels 35-7 in a Hogoheegee District football game played Friday night at GWHS.
The victory also gave GW Head Coach Donnie Pruitt the school record for the most football wins in the school’s history. His 75th win (against 23 losses) surpassed the previous mark of 74 wins held by Larry Russell, who is now the head football coach at Chilhowie High School.
When asked about the record, Pruitt seemed more concerned with his team’s two game winning streak. “We’ve won twice in one week; that’s just like a basketball team.”
The coach was referring to its win the previous Monday night over Fort Chiswell; the game was moved to Monday due to rain.
GW improves to 1-0 in the district and to 2-4 overall. Patrick Henry drops to 0-2 in the district and 2-5 overall.
Pruitt said a key to his team’s win was its diversity. “We ran the ball well and we threw the ball well. When you can do that, the other team doesn’t know what to expect.”
The coach also liked his team’s defensive effort, especially in containing Rebel running back Ronnie Groves. “I knew we had to stop him,” said Pruitt.
Groves scored PH’s only touchdown and led the Rebels in rushing with 88 yards on 13 carries.
The Maroons were led in rushing by Will Sawyers with 113 yards on 12 carries. Jonathan Turpin added 101 yards on 15 carries and scored a touchdown. Tyler Wood ran for 34 yards on four carries and a TD; he also caught three passes for 63 yards. Brandon Atwell caught nine passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns; he also kicked all five extra points. Quarterback Jacob Sharitz completed 14 of his 21 passes for 252 yards; he threw two touchdown passes.
Both teams punted the ball away on their first possessions of the game.
The Maroons got things going on their next series when Sawyers ripped off about 30 yards on a first down carry.
Sharitz passed to Tyler Wood for another first down to the PH 20. One play later, Wood carried it over the goal line from 17 yards out. Atwell kicked the PAT to make it 7-0 with 5:13 left in the first quarter.
The Maroon defense got the ball back when it stopped the Rebels on a fourth and one play to take over on downs.
Sharitz passed to Atwell for about 11 yards for the drive’s initial first down. Atwell caught three more passes during the possession and Wood carried it seven yards to put the ball on the seven, first and goal as the first quarter came to an end.
On the second play of the second quarter, Sharitz took it over from four yards away. Atwell’s PAT kick made it 14-0 with 11:10 left in the first half.
PH’s next possession ended quickly on an interception by Sawyers who took it back to the Rebel 19-yard line.
Despite the good field position, the GW offense had trouble moving the ball and settled for a 34-yard field goal attempt by Michael Jones, which missed the mark.
Again PH’s possession was ended on an interception, this time by Michael Mills as GW took over near midfield.
The Maroons worked their way down to the PH 15, but Groves came up with an interception and nearly took the ball back the length of the field.
The Rebels started the drive on the GW eight, first and goal.
But the GW defense held strong and pushed the Rebels back. They tried a field goal that missed.
The Maroons took over on their own 20 with less than three minutes left in the half. It was more than enough time as Sharitz connected with Atwell for a 66-yard scoring pass play. Atwell also kicked the PAT to put GW up 21-0 with 1:03 left in the half.
The Rebels got on the scoreboard quickly in the second half when Groves rambled 58 yards on the second play from scrimmage. Caleb Frye kicked the extra point to cut the GW lead to 21-7 with 11:19 left in the third quarter.
Both teams punted on their next possession, and the Maroons got it back on an interception by Atwell. GW then went on another scoring drive that was highlighted on runs by Wood, Sawyers and Turpin and pass receptions by Atwell and Wood. The drive was culminated on a six-yard run by Turpin. Atwell kicked the extra point to extend GW’s lead to 28-7 with 0:14 left in the third quarter.
PH’s next possession was ended again on an interception by Atwell, and the Maroons went back to work in the fourth quarter. Atwell did the honors this time by getting wide open and catching a pass from Sharitz for a 38-yard TD. He kicked the PAT extra point to make it 35-7 with 10:23 left in the game.
The Rebels had to punt on their next series, but got quickly got it back on an interception by Groves.
The GW defense held strong, however, and took over on downs and then the offense ran out the clock.

Patrick Henry 0 0 7 0 – 7
George Wythe 7 14 7 7 – 35

Scoring:
GW – Tyler Wood 17 run (Atwell kick)
GW – Jacob Sharitz 4 run (Atwell kick)
GW – Brandon Atwell 66 pass from Sharitz (Atwell kick)
PH – Ronnie Groves 58 run (Frye kick)
GW – Jonathan Turpin 6 run (Atwell kick)
GW – Brandon Atwell 38 pass from Sharitz (Atwell kick)

Team PH GW
First downs 4 18
Yards rushing 28-119 44-289
Yards passing 21 252
Comp-Att-Int 3-15-4 14-21-2
Punts-avg. 3-38.7 2-40.0
Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-1
Penalties-yds. 5-35 8-65
(Stats courtesy of Kenny Sayers)
(T – 2:26)