FAIRLEA, W.Va. — Josh Gorrell has seen it before. His senior running back Jeremiah King found the end zone three times and racked up 330 yards on 30 carries to lead No. 2 Robert C. Byrd past Greenbrier East, 31-16.
“When you see it time and time again, you expect it. He is a special kid and he is a great back,” Gorrell said. “He didn’t do it all on his own. Those guys up front did what they were supposed to do. I am pleased to take a trip down here. Give Greenbrier East credit. They are physical and they are tough.”
On King’s first carry of the game, a 52-yard run, he surpassed the 5,000-yard mark in his brilliant career. King capped the drive with a 15-yard run to put the Flying Eagles up 7-0.
Greenbrier East scored the next ten points to take the lead. Monquelle Davis connected with Lucas McCallister on a 23-yard touchdown. Noah Dotson added a 31-yard field goal to give the Spartans a 10-7 lead.
Those would be the last points RCB (2-0) would allow until the final three minutes of the game.
“We aligned right, started fixing the coverages and did what we were supposed to. We were jumpy a bit in the first half, honestly.”
King broke off touchdown runs of 81 and 78 yards to give the Eagles a 21-10 lead. With just over a minute to play in the first half, Nick George connected with Nathaniel Junkins on an 85-yard touchdown pass, giving RCB a 31-10 lead at halftime.
“It was huge. It was a great ball and a great catch by Nathaniel. Any time you can put points on the board in that sudden change, it is huge. We have to get better at throwing the football. When they are giving us more in the box, we have to get that cleaned up and throw the football.”
Gorrell expects to see further improvement from his squad with quality Big 10 Conference opponents soon ahead.
“You cut down on the mistakes. You cut down on the penalties and clean the passing game up. We have to become dynamic on offense running the football and throwing the football. I realize that and the kids realize that.”