Terry Simmons didn’t have a lot of experience going into the season. He still didn’t by the time week eight rolled around.
Suddenly, by halftime of Greenbrier West’s game with Midland Trail, Simmons was in, ready or not.
With injuries to starting tailback Brian Gray and quarterback-turned-tailback David Thomas, Simmons was the next option. It was a move coaches had hoped to avoid, not because they didn’t like his ability, but because he just didn’t have many game reps to speak of.
“One of the reasons, instead of just putting him right in there when Brian got hurt and we moved David to tailback, was because of Terry’s lack of experience,” head coach Lewis McClung said.
The results were not great at first, but Simmons turned in a performance last week that makes it look like the move paid off.
With the Cavaliers playing in a game they had to win to get into the playoffs, Simmons rushed for 120 yards in a 13-6 win at Pendleton County.
The victory ensured Greenbrier West a postseason berth. That first-round game will be played tonight when the No. 12 Cavaliers (7-3) travel to No. 5 Fayetteville (9-1). Kickoff from Fletcher Arritt Stadium will be 7:30 p.m.
Simmons, a 5-foot-8, 150-pound senior, said the effort against Pendleton was a matter of basic preparation.
“I just got some sleep, got well and got ready to play,” Simmons said.
He certainly picked a good time to come up big.
Simmons decided not to play football his first two years of high school. He didn’t even play at the junior high level, meaning the last time he wore a uniform was when he played for the Vikings of the Western Greenbrier Midget League.
But Simmons decided to give it a try last season. He was obviously behind everyone else.
“People get ahead of you,” he said. “Just in those two years they just played more than I did.”
Simmons played on the Cavaliers’ JV squad as a junior.
“He tried hard, he played hard, he ran hard,” McClung said. “We liked him and he came back out this year.”
Simmons said the year of JV ball has helped him in his 2 1/2 games to date.
“It helped me get used to the plays and everything else,” he said. “Now I’ve got all the plays in my head, so I know it all now.”
McClung coaches the running backs, and says while Simmons doesn’t make the cuts most backs make, he does other things well.
“What I look for in a running back is a guy who explodes through the hole and gets north-south,” McClung said. “Terry does that.”
And he’s coming off a career night.
“He had,” McClung said, “what we hope was a breakout game.”
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Simmons comes up big
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