The Fort Chiswell Pioneers will travel to Graham Friday night to take on the ( 7-1) G-Men. Graham has won five in a row and are averaging 40 points a game, while giving up just under 18. They are led offensively by Jamorya Cousin a 6-1 200 pound senior running back. Quarterback Ben Meade and their other running back Taymon Cooke also are very fast and dangerous players. Graham is coached by Tony Palmer and are very experienced with nine seniors and 13 juniors. They are ranked third in the power ratings in Group 2A West this week.

Pioneer head coach Todd Tiller said, Graham likes to use the spread on offense but they will run as much as they pass. Cousin is as good a running back we will see. He os very physical and likes contact. Meade and Cooke are very good and fast as well.” He then added,” On defense Grahm runs a 34 scheme. Their secondary plays both zone and man-to- man . This is more than likely the fastest team will have faced. The good on offense and defense. Then their special teams are dangerous as well. We will have our hands full come Friday night.”

Fort Chiswell will come into the game in good health and in fact will be getting back Ethan Woods,who’s been out last games. He will back at outside linebackers and see time on punt and kick-offs . The Pioneers are ranked fourth this week in Group 1A West.

Kick-off is slated for 7pm this Friday at Mitchell Stadium in Bluefield.

The Fort Chiswell Pioneers won their fourth straight game as they held on for a 14-13 victory over Grayson Co. After a scoreless first half that Fort Chiswell outplayed the Blue Devils they scored on their first possession of the second half when Sean Morgan rumbled in from six yards out but the point after was wide right. They would score again in the third as Warren Moore sneaked in from one yard out and he would hit Andrew Stoots over the middle for two-point conversion pass for a 14-0 advantage.

Grayson Co. would cut the lead in half seven minutes left in the game as Gage Peoples scored on a three yard run and garrett Wyatt’s kick . They would then hold the Pioneers to three plays and out and on their second play Jake Hollingsworth would hit Seth Phillips on a 32 yard slant for six. The Blu Devils would then line-up for the point after kick but shifted to quarterback under center. Peoples would take the hand off but the Pioneers defense would stop him in his tracks to keep the score at 14-13 with just over a minute remaining. Grayson would then onside kick but Colby Rider would fall on the ball to preserve the victory.

” We played extremely on defense tonight,” said a relieved Pioneer head coach Todd Tiller. ” We held them to just 24 yards rushing and we moved the ball the whole first half but we couldn’t score. I real proud of our defense tonight. It wasn’t the prettiest game but its a win. Thats all that matters.”

The Pioneers improved to (6-2,3-0) in district play, while Grayson falls to( 2-6, 1-2) in the district . The Pioneers will travel to Bluefield next Friday to Mitchell Stadium to take on Graham. Kick off is scheduled for 7pm.

Grayson Co. 0 0 0 13-13

FC 0 0 14 0- 14

Fort Chiswell…The Fort Chiswell Pioneers, coming off an impressive victory over Narrows, will now face the BlueDevils of Grayson Co.

Grayson Co. will come into the game after beating Bland Co. last week 41-21 to improve to 2-5 on the season. Bree McPherson, who’s in his 11th year, coaches them. His overall record is 58-58. Besides the Bland win they also beat Carroll Co. 21-17 in the opener of the season. Grayson had lost four straight until the win last Friday. Their losses are to Alleghany (NC), Tazewell, Glenvar, Floyd Co. and Graham. They were 6-5 last year and made the playoffs, where they lost to Richlands 62-7.

The Blue Devils are scoring at 20 points per game clip, while giving up 33 a game. They are lead by sophomore quarterback Jake Hollingsworth. Running backs will be George Peoples and Crue Cassell both sophomores, as well. The main receiver is the coach’s son, junior Tanner McPherson. Junior Seth Phillips is also a big target for the Blue Devils. He is 6-3, 215 pounds.

On defense Grayson Co. is led upfront by Jared Phillips and Adam Carrico. Seth Phillips, Hollingsworth, McPherson and Tony Osbourne are leaders of the secondary. The Blue Devils are young as they only have five seniors on the squad. They are returning four starters on offense and four on defense.

Fort Chiswell head coach Todd Tiller said, ”Grayson is young but they are also dangerous. They are very well coached. Coach McPherson does a real good job. Offensively they will run from an I-formation. They run some of (or it looks like some of) Galax on film and are very physical.” Coach added, ”They will run double tight ends and pro sets. The Peoples kid is a hard-nosed, hard runner and Tanner (McPherson) is an excellent receiver for them.“

Coach then remarked about Grayson Co. defense by saying, ”They will show us a 52 scheme. They don’t blitz much and their secondary likes to play man-to-man. Phillips (Seth) is their leader in the secondary. Health-wise we are in pretty good shape, but we need to get to work this week.”

Fort Chiswell will go with Logan Smith at center, Grant Milgrim and Devin Newman at guards. The tackles will be Alex Brooks and Jacob Coake. Warren Moore starts at quarterback with Tanner Bailey and Hunter Parrott as the wide receivers. Colby Rider starts at tight end. The “H” back is Andrew Stoots and the tail back will be Tyler Jakubiak. Anthony Morris, Sean Morgan, TJ James, Billy Shrewsberry and Patrick Crawford will see action as well. On defense the Pioneers will start with Brooks, Newman and Crawford up front. The inside linebackers are Rider, Milgrim and Shrewsberry. The outside backers will be Stoots and James. The cornerbacks are Anthony Morris and Logan Newman. Newman has five interceptions on the season. Tanner Bailey is the safety and he has picked off two passes. Coake, Smith, Moore, Morgan ” Loopie” Turpin and Jon Gregory will get into the action also. It will be senior night as the Pioneers will say good-bye to 11 seniors on their last regular season home game. The Pioneers are rated fifth this week in Group 1A West power points ratings.

Kickoff is slated at 7pm at Fort Chiswell High School’s C.F.McKinney Stadium.

Photography courtesy Tina Quesenberry