George Wythe slips past Fort Chiswell 21-18

By JIM CUNNINGHAM/Staff

George Wythe converted its extra point after each touchdown. Fort Chiswell failed on all three of its attempts.
Those three points proved to be the difference as the Maroons held on for a 21-18 victory over the Pioneers in a non-district football game played Monday night at Pendleton Field.
(The game was moved back to Monday from its usual Friday night slot because of rain Friday morning with the forecast for more of the same.)
GW junior receiver Brandon Atwell, who has broken and then re-broken pass reception school records in back-to-back weeks, did not catch a pass Monday night. Instead, Atwell stepped up after each Maroon touchdown to drill the extra point through the uprights.
That proved to be the difference in a game that was close throughout. A large crowd on both sides of the field witnessed a well-played game between two county rivals.
Although George Wythe never lost the lead, Fort Chiswell answered each GW score with one of its own. The Pioneers led in most offensive categories. FC had 19 first downs to GW’s 14 and outgained the Maroons on the ground and in the air for a total yardage of 370 yards to 291.
GW quarterback Jacob Sharitz completed only one pass out of six attempts.
“They took the passing game away from us,” said George Wythe Head Coach Donnie Pruitt. Despite that, the coach was glad his team was able to prevail to get its first win of the season in five tries.
“Defensively, we played well at times,” he said, adding that his team was able to make some big stops at crucial times in the game. And he thought his team played well against another solid team. “Stephen (James) has done a good job. He’s a good coach.”
“We made too many mental errors,” said Fort Chiswell Head Coach Stephen James, who saw his team drop to 2-3 overall on the season. He also gave credit to the play of George Wythe. “George Wythe has got a good football team.”
The Fort Chiswell defense limited George Wythe’s game opening possession to a brief one as the Maroons punted after picking up one first down.
The Pioneers began on their own 21-yard line and behind the running of Chris Rodriguez moved steadily downfield.
Rodriguez was the game’s leading rusher with 210 yards on 29 carries. He also ran for two touchdown and caught a TD pass for the other FC score.
Will Sawyers was GW’s leading rusher with 165 yards on 13 carries. Sawyers scored all three of GW’s TDs on the ground. Tyler Wood picked up 59 yards on five carries for the Maroons and Jonathan Turpin added 31 yards on six carries.
FC quarterback Hody Viars connected with Zach Cook for a 10-yard completion for one first down during the drive. But the possession later stalled near the GW 20, and the Maroons took over on downs.
Both teams traded punts over the rest of the first quarter and the beginning of the second.
The GW defense gave its offense good field position after stopping the Pioneers from getting a first down after they begin the possession on their own one-yard line.
The Maroons took over at the FC 34 after the punt and took just a few plays with Sawyers crashing over from seven yards out. Atwell kicked the PAT to put GW on top 7-0 with 10:56 left in the second quarter.
The Pioneers turned the ball over on downs on their next series, but forced a quick punt and took over at the FC 12.
Fort Chiswell quickly covered the nearly 80 yards on several carries by Rodriguez and a few by Viars.
With time running out, Viars passed to Rodriguez streaking down the middle of the field for a 36-yard touchdown. The PAT kick missed the mark, but with only 0:07 left, the GW lead was cut to 7-6.
The Pioneers had to punt on their first possession of the second half. Sharitz passed to Tyler Wood for a 12-yard completely for one first down to near midfield. Two plays later, Sharitz passed to Sawyers who busted through the FC defense for a 49-yard TD run. Atwell’s kick made it 14-6 with 6:38 left in the third quarter.
The Pioneers answered on their next possession. The drive was capped off on a nine-yard run by Rodriguez with only 39 seconds left in the third quarter. A pass attempt for two-points failed, leaving GW on top at 14-12.
The Maroons came back with another touchdown on their next series. Sawyers ran it over from three yards out, and Atwell kicked the PAT to make it 21-12 with 9:10 left in the game.
The Pioneers then proceeded to make things even more interesting with another scoring drive. Rodriguez did the honors again, this time with an eight-yard run to the end zone. Another pass attempt for the PAT failed as the Pioneers was down 21-18 with 6:57 left in the game.
Fort Chiswell got the ball back with plenty of time after forcing GW to punt.
The Pioneers began the possession on their own 30 with 4:34 remaining. But the GW defense got a sack on Viars and later took over on downs near midfield.
The Maroons were able to run out the clock to win the game.

Fort Chiswell 0 6 6 6 – 18
George Wythe 0 7 7 7 –21

Scoring:
GW – Will Sawyers 7 run (Atwell kick)
FC – Chris Rodriguez 36 pass from Viars (kick failed)
GW – Will Sawyers 49 run (Atwell kick)
FC – Chris Rodriguez 9 run (pass failed)
GW – Will Sawyers 3 run (Atwell kick)
FC – Chris Rodriguez 8 run (run failed)

Team FC GW
First downs 19 14
Yards rushing 49-294 27-279
Yards passing 76 12
Comp-Att-Int 5-14-0 1-6-0
Punts-Avg. 2-31.5 4-41.0
Fumbles-lost 3-0 1-0
Penalties-yds. 9-41 5-25
(Stats courtesy of Kenny Sayers)
(T – 2:19)