That's what I call filling in

Big ups to Jordan Bates racking up 263 yrd rushing and carrying the load left by not having Sproles again.



BY LLOYD COMBS
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
Published: September 20, 2008

GRUNDY, Va. ? An early scoring binge set the tone, but the offensive line set the table.

Jordan Bates rushed for 263 yards and three touchdowns and J.J. Kelly ran wild over Grundy, handing the Golden Wave a 49-27 setback in non-district play Friday night at Nelson Memorial Field.

A 75-yard TD run by Bates in the first quarter started an amazing run of 15 points in 22 seconds spurt by the Indians (4-1). Kelly got a safety when Grundy quarterback Jon Kelly fell on a bad snap in the end zone and Robert Smith returned a free kick 66 yards for a touchdown.

The Kelly running game did the rest, finishing with 454 yards in 46 plays, mostly on trap plays that opened big holes for virtually everyone who carried the ball.

Three backs ran for 100 or more yards for the Indians. Fullback Lukas Kerns added 102 yards and two touchdowns, and Chris Dotson gained 100 yards on just five tries, including a 58-yard run that set up Bates' third and final TD.

After sitting out time with an injury, Bates was dying for an opportunity to run, and he made the most of it.

"I watched the holes the offensive line opened up for everyone else,"? Bates said. "I was jealous. I wanted a chance to get out there."?

Bates ran for 216 yards in the first half alone, adding a 50-yard scoring run to his 75-yard effort as the Indians took a 29-13 halftime lead and held off Grundy, despite the absence of leading rusher Devan Sproles, who was limited to punting duties by a shoulder injury.

"Devan Sproles is our go-to guy,"? explained quarterback Matt Dotson, who added a 2-yard TD run in the third quarter, picked off a pass on defense and handled kicking duties for the Indians. "But you could tell Jordan (Bates) was ready to play. You could tell he was a little excited."?

Grundy (1-3) got within striking distance with two touchdowns in the final 2:35 of the first half. Josh Lindsay ran for 127 yards and a touchdown, Tyler Berglowe had a 14-yard TD run and Kelly was 16-of-30 passing for 151 yards, including two TD passes to Cody Justus.

"I was pleased, pleased, pleased with our offense, and I was pleased with special teams,"? J.J. Kelly coach B.I. Salyers said. "But we have to learn to defend the pass better. (Jon) Kelly did a great job for Grundy and the Justus kid made some big plays."?

Sounds like a big night for Jordan!

Any word of when Sproles will be back?

With Haysi wining the BDD, it looks like Kelly is well on there way to the playoffs.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: cvcgrad</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Sounds like a big night for Jordan!

Any word of when Sproles will be back?

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He could have played last night but they held him out as a precautionary measure.

Would be nice to see. It's been way too long.

A one playoff game weekend would be huge for Wise's program. Help buy alot of tape for next year.

Classy post (as expected). There are alot of fine folk from Clintwood though. Anyways back to what the thread was intended to be now...

I wouldnt really call it filling in, Bates has always been a starter.

agreed,but Sproles has always been the workhorse. Perhaps I should have titled it carrying the load instead. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif[/img]

No, not really. When Sproles does get back in the game, it will be the one, two punch we had at the beginning of the season. Two very good players who can run the ball anywhere they please. The defense won't know which way the QB will be going. But as it is, Jordan is doing a great job taking up the slack until the boss gives Devon the green light.