UNSTOPPABLE?: Gretna rolls into state title game

GRETNA — The Gretna High football team could have a date with history this afternoon.

If the Hawks can defeat Floyd County in the Group A Division 2 state championship game at Salem Stadium, they will capture the school’s fourth Virginia High School League title in the last six years.

They will have also gone back-to-back for the second time. Gretna wore the state crown in 2003 and 2004, then endured a two-year drought before getting back to the finals in 2007 and trouncing Gate City 52-0. The Hawks have 20 players returning from that squad who will be looking to successfully defend their title.

First, however, they will have to contend with the unbeaten Buffaloes, the champions of the Three Rivers District and Region C. Led by senior quarterback Luke Harris, Floyd County has won all 13 games it has played while displaying a knack for surviving close calls. Four of the Buffaloes’ victories have been by three points or less.

“When you play those guys, you have to get after them, try to take the life out of them,” Gretna coach Chris Thurman said earlier this week. “And if you don’t, and if you let them hang around, you’re in trouble.”

Gretna, which won the Dogwood District and Region B crowns, is 74-4 during its six-year run, including 12-1 this season.

With the exception of a 34-18 loss to William Campbell in October, the Hawks have dominated most of their opponents, averaging more than 41 points per game while allowing just more than 15 points per contest.

Just two of Gretna’s 12 wins have been by fewer than 20 points. One of those was last week’s 45-40 semifinal victory over Essex, a game in which the Hawks watched a 19-point lead slip away, then rallied in the second half and stopped the Trojans on fourth down in the final seconds deep in Gretna territory.

“It took something out of me,” Thurman said, “and I know they were whipped. I was tired when I left; I felt like I had played. … These kids are winners. That’s really all they’ve ever known. If you push, they’ll push back, and if you score, they’re going to try their best to score on you. When we have to call a timeout and go out there and get after them, they’ll respond, and they always have.”

The Hawks were outgained 579-469 by the Trojans, but lived to fight another day because senior lineman D.J. Stone and junior linebacker Steven Payne tackled Essex quarterback Lyndon Garner at the 11-yard line.

“We have won here with defense since I’ve been here,” Thurman said. “Granted, we didn’t play our best game, but we may have played our best offensive opponent since I’ve been here. … They had answers for the moves we were making, and it was just kind of a cat-and-mouse thing all the way down the stretch.”

Floyd County also overcame adversity to reach the finals. The Buffaloes trailed Lebanon in the fourth quarter before Harris engineered a late touchdown drive that produced a 14-13 victory.

According to Thurman, Floyd County is similar to Gate City, last year’s title game opponent, in that both like to run their offenses out of several different formations.

“They’re about 50-50 (run versus pass),” he said, “or close to it. That Luke Harris makes all of it work for them. He throws the ball accurately, runs the ball well. It all revolves around him, and if we let him sit back there and have all day, he’s going to make connections. So we’ve got to try to put a little heat on him, move him around a little bit in the pocket. Because he’s proven, if you leave him back there, he’ll make you pay for it.”

Gretna is led by senior quarterback Jayme Barksdale, who has thrown for 1,788 yards and 21 touchdowns while also running for 1,771 yards and 30 scores. Running backs Andre Dickerson and Kwame Berger have compiled 700 and 562 yards, respectively. Commillious Waller is the Hawks’ top receiver with 591 yards and eight touchdowns.

Salem Stadium has a FieldTurf playing surface, which Thurman believes is ideally suited to his team’s speed. “Anything that makes us faster, I enjoy that tremendously,” he said.

The Buffaloes are trying to take home their first state championship in school history. Floyd County has qualified for the playoffs eight times in the past, reaching the semifinals three times without capturing the title.

Gretna, on the other hand, needed just nine postseason berths and four semifinal appearances to claim its three championships.