James Monroe goes retro to blast ahead into the future

Aug. 30—LINDSIDE — While Bluefield and Graham battled out yet another highly-publicized and epic season opener at historic Mitchell Stadium on Friday night, the James Monroe Mavericks were over at Lindside doing what they had grown accustomed to doing under John Mustain and his Monroe County predecessors.

The Mavericks (1-0) opened the season in more bucolic surroundings with a resounding 41-6 victory over visiting Sherman.

The COVID-19 pandemic was exceedingly cruel to Monroe County in general and James Monroe athletics in specific. The return of the veteran Mustain to the football coaching ranks is refocusing some statewide attention on a Mavericks football program that in recent years had been relegated to living in the shadows of JM's now-defending Class A state champion basketball team.

In some corners of the state, confidence in Mustain's Mavs is already running high. James Monroe ranks in the Top 10 is No. 5 in this week's WV Metro Class A Power Rankings — Mount View is No. and Wheeling Central is No. 1 — and Mavericks football is once again buzzworthy on a big stage.

Bluefield — a longtime fixture of the Power Rankings — remains at No. 3 in the Class AA rankings in spite of Friday's 29-25 loss to the G-Men.

For Mustain, the reassuring thing about Friday's win over the Tide was not the final score. It was the all-around execution displayed by his football team.

"Sherman's got a young team. They've got some talent out there. But there are a lot of time you play teams that are young and you don't perform so well, but I thought overall we did very well," said Mustain.

Cooper Ridgeway had a standout night for the Mavs, scoring from the air and on the ground. Brady Carr and Ethan Ganoe also had solid rushing performances, along with some younger kids who saw the field. What really pleased Mustain was his defense — and his offensive front.

"I thought we got to our blocks pretty well. There were a few times where we had some breakdowns and maybe didn't do as good a job maintaining our blocks, but I thought all-in-all we had a pretty good game," said Mustain, who had to replace two starters up front, including all-stater Jacoby Meadows

"We've got two senior starters this year, so we still have a pretty decent crop even after this year coming back. and we've got some younger kids coming that got some time Friday night that I think are going to help us next year ... and I think we'll have a pretty decent group of freshmen linemen next year, too," he said.

"To me, that's more important than what kind of running back you have. If you have guys up front that are hitting their blocks and you can get that running back pointed in the right direction, you can at least get some positive yards out of them," the Mavericks head coach said.

James Monroe hits the road this week, traveling to Pendleton County for Friday's game.

Here's a review of key scores from Friday's high season openers in West Virginia and Virginia:

Friday's Scores

WEST VIRGINIA SCORES

Bridgeport 63, Buckhannon-Upshur 7

Cameron 41, West Greene, Pa. 31

Chapmanville 43, Sissonville 26

Doddridge County 25, South Harrison 6

East Hardy 73, Gilmer County 12

Fairmont Senior 42, Lewis County 6

Frankfort 51, Moorefield 0

Graham, Va. 29, Bluefield 25

Greenbrier West 33, Buffalo 0

Hampshire 28, Preston 20

Hurricane 48, Winfield 21

James Monroe 41, Sherman 6

Jefferson 27, Millbrook, Va. 22

Keyser 35, Robert C. Byrd 21

Liberty Harrison 21, Elkins 20

Lincoln 68, Braxton County 20

Martinsburg 40, Salem, Va. 7

Nitro 27, Poca 26

Parkersburg 55, St. Albans 0

Parkersburg South 59, Capital 0

Philip Barbour 52, Grafton 7

Princeton 53, Lincoln County 8

Ravenswood 48, Magnolia 0

Roane County 30, St. Marys 20

Scott 34, Herbert Hoover 19

Spring Valley 29, Huntington 28

Summers County 49, PikeView 14

Tucker County 34, Pocahontas County 12

University 16, John Marshall 14

Valley Wetzel 37, Tygarts Valley 0

Wahama 53, Racine Southern, Ohio 0

Webster County 28, Richwood 20

Westside 28, Wyoming East 20

Wheeling Central 24, Ambridge, Pa. 7

Wheeling Park 42, St. Clairsville, Ohio 14

Williamstown 46, Waterford, Ohio 22

Wirt County 53, Calhoun County 8

Woodrow Wilson 31, Riverside 28

VIRGINIA SCORES

Abingdon 47, John Battle 6

Alleghany 40, Roanoke Catholic 12

Appomattox 37, Buckingham County 24

Bath County 21, Covington 20

Brookville 35, Patrick Henry-Roanoke 27

Carroll County 56, Patrick County 25

Castlewood 49, North Greene, Tenn. 20

Cave Spring 37, Hidden Valley 0

Central — Wise 41, Eastside 7

Craig County 20, Bland County 14

Cumberland Gap, Tenn. 50, Thomas Walker 36

E.C. Glass 28, Lord Botetourt 14

Giles 35, Blacksburg 14

Grayson County 20, Alleghany County, N.C. 7

Holston 21, Eastern Montgomery 0

Marion 29, Chilhowie 0

Narrows 51, Auburn 7

Richlands 27, Gate City 13

Ridgeview 42, J.I. Burton 8

Rockbridge County 32, Parry McCluer 29

Rural Retreat 27, Fort Chiswell 9

Rye Cove 26, Hurley 24

Salem-Va. Beach 15, Bayside 8

Tazewell 46, Virginia High 21

Twin Springs 28, Northwood 8

Union 48, Lee High 7