George Washington's Dustin Crouser reaches across the goal line for the first touchdown of Friday night's showdown between the Patriots and South Charleston.
This time, George Washington did not let opportunity slip through its hands.
Felix Mollett ran for 174 yards and a touchdown on 33 carries Friday night and the Patriots made the plays to close out a 21-7 victory over South Charleston in front of an overflow crowd of about 4,000 at Oakes Field.
It marked GW's first win over the two-time defending Class AAA champion Black Eagles since the 2007 regular season. SC had beaten the Patriots three straight times, including the 2008 state finals.
"I thought our kids came to play tonight,'' said GW coach Steve Edwards Jr. "It helped that we played four quarters. We haven't been able to do that [against SC] in a long time. I'm really happy we were able to do that. We showed some maturity tonight.
"Everybody contributed. I kept telling our guys that when you're in a heavyweight fight, you're going to have to go 15 rounds. You've always got to knock the champ out.''
South Charleston (1-1) frittered away several potential scoring chances during the game, four times getting first downs inside GW's 20-yard line without putting points on the board, including two in the fourth quarter.
Last year, GW was primed to knock off the Black Eagles, leading 21-14 and getting the ball with just over four minutes remaining. However, things started to unravel at that point and the Patriots wound up losing 28-21.
This time, George Washington (2-0) set the tone early, hammering away with its running game in general and Mollett in particular. Fourteen of its first 15 play calls were runs, and Mollett carried on 10 of those plays.
The Patriots didn't score on that elongated first possession (18 plays, 78 yards, 7:40 off the clock, six first downs), but they certainly got the attention of the SC defense.
"We felt like we were going to come in and establish some kind of running game and try to get up on them,'' Edwards said. "We didn't try to do much of anything else. We threw a few times and we mixed it up a little bit. But we were able to execute the game plan, and that was really trying to control the football and put the ball in the hands of the triple-A all-stater and let him work, and everybody else get in the way.''
Mollett was the closer this time around, after GW dodged another SC chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter.
With the Patriots ahead 14-7 and SC running a third-and-goal play from the GW 6, Ray Coleman absorbed a crushing tackle at the 1 and fumbled into the end zone, where it was covered by the Patriots' Eric Aluise.
The Patriots, who had thrown an interception on their previous offensive play (in an attempt to go for the jugular with a long ball), didn't trust anyone but Mollett on this series.
Mollett burst for a 35-yard gain on the first snap and carried on all nine plays of the drive, capping it with a 9-yard TD run with 1:50 left.
It was Mollett's second straight monster game against SC. Last year, he rushed for 171 yards and three TDs in the loss.
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GW knocks off SC 21-7
Mollett rushes for 174 yards as Patriots down defending champs
This time, George Washington did not let opportunity slip through its hands.
Felix Mollett ran for 174 yards and a touchdown on 33 carries Friday night and the Patriots made the plays to close out a 21-7 victory over South Charleston in front of an overflow crowd of about 4,000 at Oakes Field.
It marked GW's first win over the two-time defending Class AAA champion Black Eagles since the 2007 regular season. SC had beaten the Patriots three straight times, including the 2008 state finals.
"I thought our kids came to play tonight,'' said GW coach Steve Edwards Jr. "It helped that we played four quarters. We haven't been able to do that [against SC] in a long time. I'm really happy we were able to do that. We showed some maturity tonight.
"Everybody contributed. I kept telling our guys that when you're in a heavyweight fight, you're going to have to go 15 rounds. You've always got to knock the champ out.''
South Charleston (1-1) frittered away several potential scoring chances during the game, four times getting first downs inside GW's 20-yard line without putting points on the board, including two in the fourth quarter.
Last year, GW was primed to knock off the Black Eagles, leading 21-14 and getting the ball with just over four minutes remaining. However, things started to unravel at that point and the Patriots wound up losing 28-21.
This time, George Washington (2-0) set the tone early, hammering away with its running game in general and Mollett in particular. Fourteen of its first 15 play calls were runs, and Mollett carried on 10 of those plays.
The Patriots didn't score on that elongated first possession (18 plays, 78 yards, 7:40 off the clock, six first downs), but they certainly got the attention of the SC defense.
"We felt like we were going to come in and establish some kind of running game and try to get up on them,'' Edwards said. "We didn't try to do much of anything else. We threw a few times and we mixed it up a little bit. But we were able to execute the game plan, and that was really trying to control the football and put the ball in the hands of the triple-A all-stater and let him work, and everybody else get in the way.''
Mollett was the closer this time around, after GW dodged another SC chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter.
With the Patriots ahead 14-7 and SC running a third-and-goal play from the GW 6, Ray Coleman absorbed a crushing tackle at the 1 and fumbled into the end zone, where it was covered by the Patriots' Eric Aluise.
The Patriots, who had thrown an interception on their previous offensive play (in an attempt to go for the jugular with a long ball), didn't trust anyone but Mollett on this series.
Mollett burst for a 35-yard gain on the first snap and carried on all nine plays of the drive, capping it with a 9-yard TD run with 1:50 left.
It was Mollett's second straight monster game against SC. Last year, he rushed for 171 yards and three TDs in the loss.
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This time, George Washington did not let opportunity slip through its hands.
Felix Mollett ran for 174 yards and a touchdown on 33 carries Friday night and the Patriots made the plays to close out a 21-7 victory over South Charleston in front of an overflow crowd of about 4,000 at Oakes Field.
It marked GW's first win over the two-time defending Class AAA champion Black Eagles since the 2007 regular season. SC had beaten the Patriots three straight times, including the 2008 state finals.
"I thought our kids came to play tonight,'' said GW coach Steve Edwards Jr. "It helped that we played four quarters. We haven't been able to do that [against SC] in a long time. I'm really happy we were able to do that. We showed some maturity tonight.
"Everybody contributed. I kept telling our guys that when you're in a heavyweight fight, you're going to have to go 15 rounds. You've always got to knock the champ out.''
South Charleston (1-1) frittered away several potential scoring chances during the game, four times getting first downs inside GW's 20-yard line without putting points on the board, including two in the fourth quarter.
Last year, GW was primed to knock off the Black Eagles, leading 21-14 and getting the ball with just over four minutes remaining. However, things started to unravel at that point and the Patriots wound up losing 28-21.
This time, George Washington (2-0) set the tone early, hammering away with its running game in general and Mollett in particular. Fourteen of its first 15 play calls were runs, and Mollett carried on 10 of those plays.
The Patriots didn't score on that elongated first possession (18 plays, 78 yards, 7:40 off the clock, six first downs), but they certainly got the attention of the SC defense.
"We felt like we were going to come in and establish some kind of running game and try to get up on them,'' Edwards said. "We didn't try to do much of anything else. We threw a few times and we mixed it up a little bit. But we were able to execute the game plan, and that was really trying to control the football and put the ball in the hands of the triple-A all-stater and let him work, and everybody else get in the way.''
Mollett was the closer this time around, after GW dodged another SC chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter.
With the Patriots ahead 14-7 and SC running a third-and-goal play from the GW 6, Ray Coleman absorbed a crushing tackle at the 1 and fumbled into the end zone, where it was covered by the Patriots' Eric Aluise.
The Patriots, who had thrown an interception on their previous offensive play (in an attempt to go for the jugular with a long ball), didn't trust anyone but Mollett on this series.
Mollett burst for a 35-yard gain on the first snap and carried on all nine plays of the drive, capping it with a 9-yard TD run with 1:50 left.
It was Mollett's second straight monster game against SC. Last year, he rushed for 171 yards and three TDs in the loss.
"They just came out and ran the ball down our throats,'' said SC coach John Messinger. "They took that momentum.
"I thought this game would be decided by the offensive lines and, truthfully, their offensive line was better than us. They played hard and did everything they were asked to do. They were just a better team than us tonight. It's nothing to be ashamed of - losing to GW. We knew coming in they were a pretty good football team. We know we're still a good football team.''
GW's other scores came on an 18-yard run by fullback Dustin Crouser in the first period and a 15-yard hookup from Nick Britton to Cody Clay that broke a 7-all tie with 5:42 left in the third quarter and put the Patriots up for good.
That played looked a bit awkward, with Britton rolling to his left, stopping and firing back across the field to a leaping Clay in the end zone. The ball somehow got over the hands of SC's 6-foot-3 Pierria' Henry and into the hands of the 6-4 Clay.
"It was supposed to go to the [left] corner,'' Clay said, "but the safety was over there, and I just stayed over here. I don't know how Nick knew I was over there. It just worked out.
"We still made our mistakes, but we were able to help ourselves and come back from it, and that helped a lot. Last year, we didn't come back from our mistakes, and that hurt us. This year, we were able to come back.''
SC's only score came on a 7-yard Tyler Harris pass to Coleman with 7:54 left in the second quarter. But the Black Eagles had plenty of other opportunities.
After a first down at the GW 19 in the second quarter, Harris was picked off by Ryan Switzer in the end zone on a deflected ball ("That was kind of an unearned run right there,'' Messinger said).
Henry returned the second-half kickoff 68 yards to the GW 24, but SC later gave up the ball on downs.
Then came Coleman's fumble after SC had picked a first-and-goal at the GW 9.
Finally, an Eagles' last-gasp drive reached the Patriots 4 with a first down, but four straight incompletions served to end the game.
Harris, last year's Kennedy Award winner, finished with one of his worst statistical lines in some time, completing 11-of-27 passes for 116 yards with three interceptions. He led SC's rushing, though, with 86 yards on 14 carries. Coleman, who twice had to leave with leg cramps, added 50 yards on 12 attempts and caught four passes for 44 yards. Henry had four receptions for 49 yards.
"That killed us,'' Messinger said of Coleman's cramping. "He didn't practice all week. He's got a sprained ankle, but that's no excuse. He was ready to play and he played. We just could not get it done offensively. We felt like we could run the football, and we did run it some.''
This article is available only to our premium digital content subscribers.
GW knocks off SC 21-7
Mollett rushes for 174 yards as Patriots down defending champs
This time, George Washington did not let opportunity slip through its hands.
Felix Mollett ran for 174 yards and a touchdown on 33 carries Friday night and the Patriots made the plays to close out a 21-7 victory over South Charleston in front of an overflow crowd of about 4,000 at Oakes Field.
It marked GW's first win over the two-time defending Class AAA champion Black Eagles since the 2007 regular season. SC had beaten the Patriots three straight times, including the 2008 state finals.
"I thought our kids came to play tonight,'' said GW coach Steve Edwards Jr. "It helped that we played four quarters. We haven't been able to do that [against SC] in a long time. I'm really happy we were able to do that. We showed some maturity tonight.
"Everybody contributed. I kept telling our guys that when you're in a heavyweight fight, you're going to have to go 15 rounds. You've always got to knock the champ out.''
South Charleston (1-1) frittered away several potential scoring chances during the game, four times getting first downs inside GW's 20-yard line without putting points on the board, including two in the fourth quarter.
Last year, GW was primed to knock off the Black Eagles, leading 21-14 and getting the ball with just over four minutes remaining. However, things started to unravel at that point and the Patriots wound up losing 28-21.
This time, George Washington (2-0) set the tone early, hammering away with its running game in general and Mollett in particular. Fourteen of its first 15 play calls were runs, and Mollett carried on 10 of those plays.
The Patriots didn't score on that elongated first possession (18 plays, 78 yards, 7:40 off the clock, six first downs), but they certainly got the attention of the SC defense.
"We felt like we were going to come in and establish some kind of running game and try to get up on them,'' Edwards said. "We didn't try to do much of anything else. We threw a few times and we mixed it up a little bit. But we were able to execute the game plan, and that was really trying to control the football and put the ball in the hands of the triple-A all-stater and let him work, and everybody else get in the way.''
Mollett was the closer this time around, after GW dodged another SC chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter.
With the Patriots ahead 14-7 and SC running a third-and-goal play from the GW 6, Ray Coleman absorbed a crushing tackle at the 1 and fumbled into the end zone, where it was covered by the Patriots' Eric Aluise.
The Patriots, who had thrown an interception on their previous offensive play (in an attempt to go for the jugular with a long ball), didn't trust anyone but Mollett on this series.
Mollett burst for a 35-yard gain on the first snap and carried on all nine plays of the drive, capping it with a 9-yard TD run with 1:50 left.
It was Mollett's second straight monster game against SC. Last year, he rushed for 171 yards and three TDs in the loss.
