Prep football: First game, first win all in one night for Crusaders
· Yahoo Sports
An idea hatched four months ago came to fruition last Friday night, and with results as successful as anyone could have hoped for.
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Greater Beckley Christian, playing its first football game in 20 years, made the trip to Boone County and earned a 46-12 win over Van.
“To be able to go down and get our first win was a very proud feeling,” Crusaders coach Brian Harmon said. “I’m just really proud for the boys and their hard work that they put into it to get to this point, to get through Week 1.”
“It’s truly a blessing playing for this school, man,” said junior receiver Javonte Spencer. “We’ve just been working harder and harder, and we’ve just been getting to it.”
The Crusaders (1-0) got it done in all three phases, finishing with 465 yards of total offense. And it was a breakout night for Spencer, who apparently knows nothing other than scoring touchdowns. He ran for two and caught three more, finishing with 119 yards rushing and 125 receiving.
Spencer scored all five times he touched the ball.
“We had one called back or it would have been six,” Harmon said.
“I’m very happy, honestly,” Spencer said. “I’m very happy with my line for blocking and giving me holes, and my quarterback for throwing the ball on the money.”
That quarterback is junior J.P. Southern, who completed 5 of 11 passes for 201 yards and the three scores to Spencer. He was intercepted twice.
Harmon said he was impressed with Southern, who also carried four times for 103 yards and a touchdown.
“We have a few things we need to work on, but overall his performance, for a first game, it was surprising to a degree,” Harmon said. “We have a lot of faith in what we’ve seen in the practices with him, too, that he was able to go out and be a quarterback and do the things that quarterbacks do, between scrambling and rushing and getting a good pass off.”
Defensively, the Crusaders came up with six takeaways, including an interception by Jackson Stacy.
Forcing five fumbles was huge, because Harmon said the Bulldogs never gave up despite the lopsided score. Van was playing for the first time since 2023 after canceling last season due to a lack of players.
“That really helped us out in the game and just to stay in it because Van kept coming at us up the middle,” he said. “We just had a hard time getting that stop throughout the night. But just their hustle and pursuit to get to the ball, the ball carriers and trying to be disruptive … I’m really proud of our defensive side of the game.”
Koltin Murphy averaged 46.5 yards on two punts.
As enjoyable a night as it was, it’s time to put the game in the past and get ready for Week 2. And there’s just as much excitement surrounding that one — the Crusaders will play their first home game this Friday against Expression Prep Academy (2-0) out of Huntington. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The game will be played at Mount Hope’s historic Municipal-Lonnie Warwick Stadium.
“It’s our first game at our home field. I’m just very excited,” Spencer said.
“I’m thrilled to be able to bring football back to Mount Hope, bring it back to the Greater Beckley community this week,” Harmon said. “Everyone is so pumped to be at the stadium on Friday night. The first time this generation will be able to experience Friday Night Lights, and some have never experienced it. So it is a really big deal for us to be able to play our first home game at The Castle.”