HS Football: Greenbrier East shuts down Beckley in the second half for a 28-14 win

Nate Suttle sets a school record with a 100-yard interception return, part of four defensive takeaways for the Spartans

Friday was Greenbrier East head football coach Ray Lee's birthday.

The Spartans gave their leader the best present possible, in football terms, with win over rival Beckley.

Outscoring the home-standing Flying Eagles 14-0 in the second half, Greenbrier East snapped a three-year drought against its Raleigh County rival with a 28-14 win at Van Meter Stadium.

The first half of "The Battle of I-64" saw the momentum switch back and forth between the two rivals.

Greenbrier East struck first on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Brody Hamric to Kaden Stone, only to see the Flying Eagles snatch the momentum from the visitors.

A nine-yard run from Gage Burdette tied the game at the 8:04 mark of the second quarter before quarterback Gage Price found A.J. Thomas for a 23-yard touchdown with just under four minutes to play in the half.

The next two big momentum plays belonged to the Spartans.

With just six seconds left on the first half clock and holding a timeout, Lee elected to take shot at a quick score from the Beckley seven-yard line.

The decision paid full dividends when Stone beat the defender just inside the end zone for his second score of the half from Hamric, tying the game at 14-14.

The crucial play of the drive came on a scramble from Hamric. With his team facing a long yardage situation, Hamric tucked the ball and ran for 34-yards and a critical first down.

Beckley opened the second half with the ball and drove down inside the red zone, exhausting nearly seven off of the clock and was poised to take the lead when Spartans senior Nate Suttle changed the complexion of the game.

Suttle stepped in front of a pass and raced for a school record 100-yard interception return and a 21-14 lead.

A.J. Godfrey sealed the game for Greenbrier East with a touchdown run from three-yards out with 4:10 to play in the game.

The Spartans (2-0) will play its home opener next week when it hosts Alleghany Highlands, VA. Beckley (1-1) will look to bounce back when it travels to Parkersburg South.

Coach Lee gave his thoughts about the Greenbrier East win.

GE: 7 7 7 7 - 28

B: 0 14 0 0 - 14

First quarter

Kaden Stone 22-pass from Brody Hamric (rush failed)

Second quarter

B: Gage Burdette 6 run (Tyler Radford kick)

B: A.J. Thomas 23 pass from Gage Price ( Radford kick)

GE: Stone 7 pass from Hamric (A.J. Godfrey rush)

Third quarter

GE: Nate Suttle 100 INT (Stone kick)

Fourth quarter

GE: Godfrey 3 run (Stone kick)

Stats

Rushing: (GE) Hamric 6-12, Zayir Lee 2-6, Godfrey 25-101-1; (B) Price 3-2, Gage Burdette 14-35-1, Jaheim Miller 1-(-2), Javontae Wynes 1-(-3), A.J. Thomas 2-6.

Passing: (GE) Hamric 7-14-66-2; (B) Price 16-26-208-1-2int

Receiving: (GE) Stone 2-29-2, Suttle 3-17, Grant Burdette 2-20; (B) Wynes 3-62, Burdette 2-26, Thomas 5-79-1, Preston Clary 4-33, Zamir Jones 1-8.