The Glenvar Highlanders were scheduled to play what might have been their first Wednesday night game ever this week as they prepared to host Grayson County at Highlander Stadium.
The game was originally scheduled for Friday night, but moved due to the threat of bad weather caused by Hurricane Florence, which was scheduled to bash the east coast this weekend.
Most of the high schools in the area moved their games to Thursday, but Glenvar went a step farther. “It’s supposed to hit land Wednesday or Thursday, so why wait?” said Glenvar coach Kevin Clifford. “I made the decision. Brett(Grayson coach McPherson) doesn’t want to lose a game either, and if you wait till Monday then you start effecting next week’s game.” Clifford adjusted his practice schedule to compensate. “We won’t have a lot of contact, but we usually don’t anyway during the season,” he said.
“This is a big game. We’re both Class 2 teams.” Both teams are 3-0 coming in. The Highlanders fell behind early against Cave Spring at Bogle Field last Friday but regrouped for a 41-12 win. The Knights scored first on a 12 yard pass play but missed the extra point. That gave Glenvar a chance to get back on top when Christian Smith bulled over from the one and Kaid Fuhrman’s kick was good for a 7-6 Glenvar lead after one quarter.
The Highlanders put up 20 points in the second half to take a 27-12 halftime lead. Landry Gerbers hit Justice Forster for a 45 yard TD pass play. Cave Spring countered with a touchdown to make it 14-12 but failed on a two point conversion. Glenvar then finished the half strong. Cody Gibson picked off a pass and returned it 48 yards for a touchdown, then Bradey Loder scored the first of his three touchdowns on a 24 yard run and the Highlanders were up 15 at the half.
Defense took over in the second half as the Highanders shut out the Knights. Glenvar added two fourth period touchdowns, both on runs by Loder including a 70 yards romp and a two yard run. Bradey finished with 241 yards rushing on 28 carries and he now has 626 rushing yards in three games, and average of 208 yards per game. He’ll be counted on to continue to carry the load as Christian Smith was lost for the season with a torn ACL last week. Gerbers completed five of six passes for 144 yards, three to Forster for 89 and a score. Nick Sebolt had one catch for 49 yards and Blake Custer had one for 14. On defense Colby Street was all over the field. He finished with 16 tackles. Maxx Philpott had four tackles for losses and a sack, Custer had 11 tackles and Forster and Billy Alexander had interceptions.
This week the Highlanders will have to contend with Grayson’s veer offense. The Blue Devils are 3-0 like Glenvar, but the Highlanders have played the tougher schedule. Grayson has beaten Alleghany, Carroll County and Rural Retreat while the Highlanders have beaten Galax, Covington and Cave Spring. “We need to win this game,” said Clifford. “We’ll have to play well. He does a good job and they have tough kids.”
