'We had to get it done': Garaway linebacker leads dominant defense against West Muskingum

SUGARCREEK — West Muskingum viewed its road game with Garaway as a litmus test for a team with lofty expectations.

Payton Keller and the Pirate defense showed the Tornadoes that there is still plenty of work remaining.

Keller, a hybrid safety/linebacker, was a force in all facets, playing a key role as a rusher and cover man, as the Pirates contained Rashid Sesay and never looked back in a 28-0 nonleague win.

First-year starting quarterback Brady Geiber, a transfer from Dalton, hit 9 of 11 passes for 193 yards with a pair of touchdowns in the first half alone.

But it was the play of the Garaway defense, which has yielded only 18 points in three games, that continues to turn heads.

West, averaging 43 points per game in wins against Lakewood and Marietta, managed just 107 yards in the first half and 221 overall. Sesay was held to 57 yards on the ground, with 24 coming on consecutive plays in the third quarter with the game out of reach.

Keller had a first-half sack and two other tackles-for-loss in that span, as the Tornadoes struggled with his rangy build and quickness on the perimeter.

"I thought the effort was phenomenal (on defense)," Keller said. "We were coming off a game that wasn't that great. We won (40-12 at Waynedale) but the effort wasn't there and the energy wasn't there. We knew we had to get it done. The energy was high and guys were flying around."

Garaway's slanting line tormented the Tornadoes' offensive front and prevented the ever-explosive Sesay from breaking the big gains that have been his hallmark. Whether lined up at quarterback with Carter Winland in tow or in the slot as a receiver, he was a marked man.

Keller often played the role of bloodhound.

"It was different today" Keller said of his role. "Sometimes I was down (in the box) and other times I was helping out in coverage. I'm normally an outside linebacker. That's why I was at safety today. I had to keep (Sesay) inside, because he's really fast."

The Pirates led just 7-0, and West was driving at the Pirate 46-yard line after Jake Anton found Carter Smith in the flat for 9-yard first down. But a delay of game penalty on a third-and-5 led to a punt two plays later with 5:05 left until the half.

That's when everything changed.

The Pirates drove 77 yards in six plays, fueled by completions of 26 and 31 yards from Geibel that set up Dillon Soehnlen's 3-yard sweep for a score. The extra point made it 14-0.

One play later, Smith caught a screen pass and took a hit that dislodged the ball. Jackson Reifenschneider, all 6-3, 240 pounds of him, scooped it up and sprinted down the sideline for a 23-yard touchdown.

Suddenly, it was 21-0 with 2:02 still left in the half. And the Tornadoes were stunned.

They were flat-out demoralized when a quick three-and-out led to a short field and another Pirate score before the half — the 6-4, 195-pound Geibel's 12-yard scoring toss to senior Jenson Garber with 5.3 seconds left. Garber caught a 32-yard screen pass two plays earlier.

Nary another point was scored, even as the starters for both teams played the entire second half.

West M coach Nathan Brownrigg urged his team to stay positive and stressed that all of their season goals remain, including another run at the Muskingum Valley League-Small School Division title. A road trip to the team that won it last season, New Lexington, looms in Week 4.

He was encouraged by the second-half defense.

"That game came down to five or six plays that made that score what it was," West Muskingum coach Nathan Brownrigg said. "We had chances to make some plays and didn't."

sblackbu@gannett.com; Twitter: @SamBlackburnTR

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: 'We had to get it done': Garaway linebacker leads dominant defense against West Muskingum