Christ School still winless after being flattened by Rabun Gap 37-13
James Crabtree-Hannigan
Asheville Citizen Times
ARDEN — Familiar with Christ School’s reputation for physical play, Rabun Gap coach Joe Sturdivant spend the week before Friday's game against the Greenies emphasizing the importance of bringing the fight and not backing down in the trenches.
The message got through.
Rabun Gap's loaded group of linemen mauled Christ School in a 37-13 win Friday, dropping the Greenies to 0-3 and showing the challenges they'll face defending their state championship in an undivided NCISAA playoff bracket this season.
"They just out-physicalled us," Christ School coach Chad Walker said. "Plain and simple."
The disparity was apparent immediately: Christ School's first run play went backwards and first pass play ended with a sack by Vanderbilt commit Linus Zunk. After a near-safety completed the three-and-out, Rabun Gap scored in three plays for a 6-0 lead.
"We were preaching all week ... not to let them psych us out with their physicality," Sturdivant said. "I felt like we did that."
It wasn't until the second quarter that the Greenies began to find a footing in the game. Bryce Sain jumpstarted the offense by returning a kickoff to midfield, and quarterback Tray Mauney moved the offense to the 16-yard line before hitting Zack Myers in the corner of the end zone to cut the Eagles lead to 13-6.
For the second consecutive week, Mauney received the majority of snaps for Christ School, squeezing AJ Simpkins out of the rotation.
Simpkins, who threw for nearly 2,000 yards en route to a state championship last year, struggled to handle the Eagles' relentless pass rush compared to the more mobile Mauney. But the senior did lead the team's second touchdown drive, late in the third quarter.
"[Mauney] was making his reads, and he's mobile in the pocket. He's been pretty efficient, him and AJ both," Walker said. "They've been in a competition since we started Week 1, and it's going to continue until somebody separates himself one way or another."
Rabun Gap sacked Christ School six times.
Both signal-callers ended the game on the sideline nursing knee injuries, and though neither seemed too severe, they were part of a pattern for the Greenies. Lineman Brady Ioannidis went down early, and he was soon joined on the trainer's table by a rotating group of his teammates.
"When you create pressure on the quarterback, it keeps them off their rhythm," Sturdivant said. "When you play an offense that has really good skill guys, you can't let them get the ball off. Hopefully you can keep enough coverage to get the pressure there, and they did an incredible job at that."
While most of the Eagles' offense came on the ground (227 rushing yards on 38 carries), they turned to Tucker Holloway when they did take to the air. The Virginia Tech commit and former Andrews star had five receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown to go with 41 rushing yards.
His touchdown catch rivalled Myers' toe-tapping feat from earlier in the game, rising above a double team on the sideline and coming down with the ball.
"That's probably the best I've seen our line play," Holloway said. "They do that, and it makes our job a lot easier as skill players. ... Getting the ball, being an athlete and making a play is what I try to do. I put in the work, and that's just the work paying off."
Plays such as that one were the insult to injury on a night the Greenies felt their fair share of both.
Five weeks into the season, Christ School didn't expect to be 0-3. But with COVID-19 shifting the schedule around, the Greenies can take solace in having played three very tough teams.
Unfortunately, those are the same caliber of teams that are standing in the way of their state championship defense. And Friday showed there's plenty of work to do to match them.
"Rabun Gap's a great school, obviously," Christ School running back Bryce Sain said. "We just have to continue to stay positive. That's what it really is."
♦♦♦
Rabun Gap 37, Christ School 13
Rabun Gap 6 | 14 | 14 | 3 — 37
Christ School 0 | 6 | 7 | 0 — 13
First Quarter
RG - Yunas Altincinar 19 run (kick fail)
Second Quarter
RG - Clement Niyokindi 12 run (Marlin Klein kick)
CS - Zack Myers 16 pass from Tray Mauney (kick fail)
RG - Tucker Holloway 5 pass from Aiden Semo (Klein kick)
Third Quarter
RG - Altincinar 8 run (Klein kick)
RG - Niyokindi 5 run (Klein kick)
CS - JoVaughn Hudson 7 pass from AJ Simpkins (Matthew Hammel kick)
Fourth Quarter
RG - Klein 22 field goal
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – RG: Altincinar 19-96, Niyokindi 14-78, Holloway 2-41. CS: Bryce Sain 7-42, Mauney 5-21, Simpkins 2-14.
PASSING – RG: Semo 4-6-0-45, Konrad Vandborg 3-4-0-44. CS: Mauney 6-12-0-59, Simpkins 4-9-0-28.
James Crabtree-Hannigan
Asheville Citizen Times
ARDEN — Familiar with Christ School’s reputation for physical play, Rabun Gap coach Joe Sturdivant spend the week before Friday's game against the Greenies emphasizing the importance of bringing the fight and not backing down in the trenches.
The message got through.
Rabun Gap's loaded group of linemen mauled Christ School in a 37-13 win Friday, dropping the Greenies to 0-3 and showing the challenges they'll face defending their state championship in an undivided NCISAA playoff bracket this season.
"They just out-physicalled us," Christ School coach Chad Walker said. "Plain and simple."
The disparity was apparent immediately: Christ School's first run play went backwards and first pass play ended with a sack by Vanderbilt commit Linus Zunk. After a near-safety completed the three-and-out, Rabun Gap scored in three plays for a 6-0 lead.
"We were preaching all week ... not to let them psych us out with their physicality," Sturdivant said. "I felt like we did that."
It wasn't until the second quarter that the Greenies began to find a footing in the game. Bryce Sain jumpstarted the offense by returning a kickoff to midfield, and quarterback Tray Mauney moved the offense to the 16-yard line before hitting Zack Myers in the corner of the end zone to cut the Eagles lead to 13-6.
For the second consecutive week, Mauney received the majority of snaps for Christ School, squeezing AJ Simpkins out of the rotation.
Simpkins, who threw for nearly 2,000 yards en route to a state championship last year, struggled to handle the Eagles' relentless pass rush compared to the more mobile Mauney. But the senior did lead the team's second touchdown drive, late in the third quarter.
"[Mauney] was making his reads, and he's mobile in the pocket. He's been pretty efficient, him and AJ both," Walker said. "They've been in a competition since we started Week 1, and it's going to continue until somebody separates himself one way or another."
Rabun Gap sacked Christ School six times.
Both signal-callers ended the game on the sideline nursing knee injuries, and though neither seemed too severe, they were part of a pattern for the Greenies. Lineman Brady Ioannidis went down early, and he was soon joined on the trainer's table by a rotating group of his teammates.
"When you create pressure on the quarterback, it keeps them off their rhythm," Sturdivant said. "When you play an offense that has really good skill guys, you can't let them get the ball off. Hopefully you can keep enough coverage to get the pressure there, and they did an incredible job at that."
While most of the Eagles' offense came on the ground (227 rushing yards on 38 carries), they turned to Tucker Holloway when they did take to the air. The Virginia Tech commit and former Andrews star had five receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown to go with 41 rushing yards.
His touchdown catch rivalled Myers' toe-tapping feat from earlier in the game, rising above a double team on the sideline and coming down with the ball.
"That's probably the best I've seen our line play," Holloway said. "They do that, and it makes our job a lot easier as skill players. ... Getting the ball, being an athlete and making a play is what I try to do. I put in the work, and that's just the work paying off."
Plays such as that one were the insult to injury on a night the Greenies felt their fair share of both.
Five weeks into the season, Christ School didn't expect to be 0-3. But with COVID-19 shifting the schedule around, the Greenies can take solace in having played three very tough teams.
Unfortunately, those are the same caliber of teams that are standing in the way of their state championship defense. And Friday showed there's plenty of work to do to match them.
"Rabun Gap's a great school, obviously," Christ School running back Bryce Sain said. "We just have to continue to stay positive. That's what it really is."
♦♦♦
Rabun Gap 37, Christ School 13
Rabun Gap 6 | 14 | 14 | 3 — 37
Christ School 0 | 6 | 7 | 0 — 13
First Quarter
RG - Yunas Altincinar 19 run (kick fail)
Second Quarter
RG - Clement Niyokindi 12 run (Marlin Klein kick)
CS - Zack Myers 16 pass from Tray Mauney (kick fail)
RG - Tucker Holloway 5 pass from Aiden Semo (Klein kick)
Third Quarter
RG - Altincinar 8 run (Klein kick)
RG - Niyokindi 5 run (Klein kick)
CS - JoVaughn Hudson 7 pass from AJ Simpkins (Matthew Hammel kick)
Fourth Quarter
RG - Klein 22 field goal
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – RG: Altincinar 19-96, Niyokindi 14-78, Holloway 2-41. CS: Bryce Sain 7-42, Mauney 5-21, Simpkins 2-14.
PASSING – RG: Semo 4-6-0-45, Konrad Vandborg 3-4-0-44. CS: Mauney 6-12-0-59, Simpkins 4-9-0-28.
