The GW Eagles opened the 2019 playoffs last Friday with a sluggish offensive performance.  But it was more than offset by a stellar defense and one big special teams play.  The Eagles went on the road and beat the Halifax County Blue Comets 27-6 to advance to Round Two.
 

            The Eagles threw down the gauntlet quickly.  Before most of the fans got settled into their seats, Shawn Watlington took the opening kickoff at the 12, squirted through a narrow seam in the middle, and outran the Comets for an 88-yard touchdown.  A missed extra point kept the score 6-0.
 

            While the GW defense was keeping the Comets at bay, their offense struggled.  Senior tailback Wesley Graves was still showing the effects of an ankle injury.  The Eagles also missed a sure touchdown when a pass to a streaking Shy Watlington was overthrown by mere inches.
 

            The Eagles stretched it out to a two-score lead when Graves rumbled in from seven yards out midway through the second quarter.  Meantime, the Eagle defense got interceptions from Kendrell McClary and Watlington to keep the Comets off the board.
 

            GW closed out the first half with a short drive that ended with a diving, one-yard plunge from quarterback Shakobe Hairston.  They led 20-0 at halftime.
 

            The Comets got the ball to open and second half and picked up first downs moving into the Eagles’ red zone.  But the GW defense stiffened on a fourth down and the Comets had no points to show for a seven-and-a-half minute drive. The Eagles offense got the ball back and had their best drive of the night.  It ended with a seven-yard scoring pass from Hairston to Zavion King.
 

            The Eagles kept their 27-0 edge though most of the fourth quarter.  A Comet touchdown with 1.6 seconds left on the clock prevented GW from recording their first back-to-back shutouts in four years.

The win improves the Eagles record to 8-3.  This Friday they’ll travel to Salem Stadium to take on the top-ranked Salam Spartans. It will be the third time in the last six seasons they’ve met in the playoffs.  Salem won the previous two meetings in 2014 and 2017.

	G.W.	OPP.
First Downs	14	10
Rushes-Yds	33-144	36-132
Pass YDs	132	66
C-A-I	11-15-0	6-13-2
Total Yards	276	198

RUSHING	Att.	Yds.	Avg.	TDs.
Graves	14	56	4.0	1
Edmunds	5	36	7.2	0
Sn.Watlington	3	33	11.0	0
Hairston	11	19	1.9	2

PASSING	ATT.	Comp.	Yds	TDs.	Int.
Hairston	15	11	132	1	1

RECEIVING	NO.	YDS.	Avg.	TDs.
Sn.Watlington	3	51	17.0	0
Howard	2	39	19.5	0
Sy.Watlington	2	32	16.0	0
King	2	9	4.5	1
McClary	1	7	7.0	0
Pritchett	1	-2	-2.0	0

KICKING	XPM-XPA	FGM-FGA	Pts.
Deandrea	3-4	0-0	3

INT.	No.		SACKS	No.
Sn.Watlington	1		Williamson	2
McClary	1

SCORING	Rushing	Receiving	Return	XP	FG	Sf.	Points
Hairston	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
Sn.Watlington	0	0	1	0	0	0	6
Graves	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
King	0	1	0	0	0	0	6
Deandrea	0	0	0	3	0	0	3