Giles defeats George Wythe

By JESSE DINGER/Correspondent

In a rematch of the 2007 Region C, Division 2 championship game, the Giles Spartans were able to revenge their overtime loss, beating George Wythe Maroons, 44-34, in a non-district contest held Friday night in Pearisburg.
Both offenses had exceptional evenings, as they combined to tally 933 total yards.  Each team took a different approach to gaining those yards, however, as GW passed for 415 of its 499 yards, while Giles used its run based single wing attack to gain all 434 yards on the ground, and failed to complete any of its three pass attempts.
For the second straight week, Brandon Atwell broke the school record for receiving yards in one game.  After setting the bar at 201 yards last week against Floyd, he put up 219 yards against the Spartans on 12 catches, two going for touchdowns.
Jacob Sharitz also set a new school record for passing yards in a single game, throwing for 415 yards.  He reached this mark completing 25 of 41 pass attempts, and also had four touchdowns.  On the season, Sharitz has already thrown for 1100 yards and eight touchdowns in only four games.
Seniors Tyler Wood, Levi Lanter, and Will Sawyers also had productive nights for the Maroons (0-4 overall.)  Wood caught three passes for 90 yards and a touchdown.  Lanter had six catches for 74 yards and a touchdown, while Sawyers rushed for 56 yards on 13 carries, and had a touchdown.
Giles (2-2) had four running backs do all of their work.  Cody Journell, who has verbally committed to Virginia Tech to be a kicker next fall, showed that he can also run the football, as he picked up 135 yards on 19 carries and had two touchdowns.  Justin Gautier had 22 attempts for 170 yards.  Travis Robertson had 85 yards rushing, and scored three touchdowns on only four attempts.  Matt Bane also contributed 44 yards on 7 carries and had a touchdown.
The Spartans received the opening kickoff and quickly began driving down the field and after eight plays got down to the 13 yard line. Bane finished off the drive getting into the end zone.  Giles missed the extra point kick, however, and led 6-0 with 7:43 left in the first quarter.
GW’s first possession failed to move the chains for a first down, and ultimately punted.  The Maroons defense was able to hold the Spartans to a three and out as well, and GW got the ball back on its own 10 yard line.
After two running plays gained 14 yards, Sharitz was able to find Wood for a pass, and Wood was able to make several Giles defenders miss, and sprinted his way to pay dirt from 76 yards out.  Atwell added the extra point, giving the Maroons a 7-6 lead with 3:10 left in the opening quarter.
The Spartans got a good kick return, and took over in GW territory, and after five plays, Robertson scored from four yards out.  Gautier ran for a two-point conversion, swinging the lead back to Giles, 14-7 with only a few seconds left in the first period.
GW failed to get anything going on its next possession, and punted to the Spartans, who were easily able to move down the field and let Robertson punch in another four yard touchdown run.  A Maroon penalty convinced Giles to go for two on the PAT try from the one yard line, and Robertson again carried, and got in, putting Giles up 22-7 halfway through the second quarter.
The Maroons then took over on their own 20 yard line, but were able to move the ball down the field as Sawyers had three carries for 18 yards and Atwell had two catches for 16 yards, putting the ball at the Spartans 46 yard line. On a second down play, Sharitz hit Atwell again, and Atwell sprang loose to find the end zone.  Atwell then added the extra point attempt, making it 22-14 in Giles favor with just under 3 minutes remaining in the half.
Giles got the ball back, and a huge 43 yard run by Bane put the Spartans inside the red zone, where two plays later, Journell was able to score from 19 yards out.  Bane then ran in a two point conversion, putting the home team up 30-14, which was the final score before halftime.
A fired up GW team came out of the locker room for the second half, and had an impressive 12 play, 72 yard drive that resulted in Sawyers plunging into the end zone from four yards out.  Sharitz then hit Sawyers with a pass for a successful two-point conversion attempt, cutting the Giles lead to 30-22 with eight minutes left in the third quarter.
Giles went three plays and out, giving the Maroons the ball back on their own 35.  After a false start penalty moved the Maroons back to the 30 yard line, Sharitz hit Atwell for a 70 yard touchdown strike.  A personal foul after the score moved GW’s PAT attempt back to the 18 yard line, and Sharitz got sacked on the conversion attempt, but the Maroons were within 2 points, 30-28, with just under six minutes left.
The Spartans took over on their own 32 yard line, but after eight plays had gotten to the GW 35 and were facing a fourth down and fived to go.  Instead of settling on a long field goal attempt, they decided to go for the first down, which they converted, and a few plays later, Journell scored from five yards out.  After the extra point attempt sailed through the uprights, Giles led 37-28 with just over a minute left in the third frame.
GW quickly moved the ball down the field, getting to the Spartans 21 yard line before a penalty killed its momentum, as the drive ultimately died on a 4th and 18 pass that fell incomplete.
Giles turned around and scored on its next possession, a 31 yard run by Robertson, and after Journell booted in the PAT, the Maroons found themselves down 44-28 with 8:50 left in the game.
GW’s next drive started off promising, as it was in Giles territory after just one play, but the drive stalled on another 4th down attempt, this time from the 36 yard line.  The Maroons defense stepped up huge, and forced Giles to punt, and only lost 1:34 off the clock.
With 4:56 left in the game, GW took over on its own 36.  On three different occasions throughout the drive, the Maroons were faced with a fourth down, and were able to convert it.  On a fourth and two play from the Giles 45, Sawyers was able to gain eight yards and pick up the first down.  Then after only gaining five yards on the next three plays, Rural Retreat transfer Michael Mills was able to make a circus catch after the ball had been tipped by a Spartan defender, which gained 10 yards for the Maroons.
Then the Maroons actually went backwards over the next three plays, but on a fourth and 14 from the 26 yard line, Sharitz was able to find Lanter for a touchdown connection.  On the two-point conversion attempt, a Sharitz pass fell to the ground incomplete, leaving the Maroons looking at a two possession game at 44-34, with 2:21 left
GW attempted an onside kick to recover the ball, but Giles was able to fall on it and subsequently run out the clock.
George Wythe is now scheduled to host county rival Fort Chiswell this Friday night, which will serve as the Maroons final non-district game.

George Wythe 7 7 14 6—34
Giles 14 16 7 7—44

Scoring
GHS-Matt Bane 13 run (kick failed)
GW-Tyler Wood 76 pass from Jacob Sharitz (Brandon Atwell kick)
GHS-Travis Robertson 4 run (Justin Gautier run)
GHS-Robertson 4 run (Robertson run)
GW-Atwell 46 pass from Sharitz (Atwell kick)
GHS-Cody Journell 19 run (Bane run)
GW-Will Sawyers 4 run (Sawyers pass from Sharitz)
GW-Atwell 70 pass from Sharitz (pass failed)
GHS-Journell 5 run (Journell kick)
GHS-Robertson 31 run (Journell kick)
GW-Levi Lanter 26 pass from Sharitz (pass failed)

Stats GW Giles
First Downs 18 18
Rushing Att. 20 52
Rushing Yards 84 434
Att-Comp-Int 41-25-0 3-0-0
Passing Yards 415 0
Punts-Avg. 3-33.3 3-35
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards 9-74 5-55
(Stats courtesy of Kenny Sayers)