File Photo by Greg Barnett
Fairlea –
Team: Greenbrier East
2024 Recap
Injuries and offensive line struggles derailed Greenbrier East in its attempt to return to the postseason for the first time since 2021. Starting QB Brody Hamric played in just eight games and the ground attack was never able to gain traction with its top rusher accumulating just 624 yards.
As a result the Spartans crawled to a 3-7 finish with wins over Shady Spring, Riverside and Summers County.
After the season East graduated leading rusher Brady May who accumulated 624 yards and eight rushing touchdowns.
2025 Outlook
The sky is the limit for East’s offense in 2025.
Hamric, who threw for over 1,500 yards as a sophomore and 1,221 last year, returns for his senior season with his top receivers in tow. Nate Suttle led the Spartans with 568 yards receiving on 37 catches while Grant Burdette and Kaden Stone accounted for just over 230 yards each.
Suttle had a productive offseason, establishing himself as a track star while testing well at camps.
The question remains whether or not the offensive line has made enough strides to keep the passing attack functional. Head coach Ray Lee believes the answer is yes.
“We’ve shown some good leadership there with some of the guys there,” Lee said. “Gage Blevins, he’ll be a senior this year and those guys have played together since their freshman year. You have Payton Ritter who’s a senior and got a little bit of playing time last year but showed tremendous work ethic in the weight room this offseason. The rest of the guys are fairly young but got a lot of playing time last year.
“Jackson Morgan, used to live here and moved back, he was a good addition. Dravin Ambler got to play a lot last year as a freshman. The scrimmages and our offseason, the camps, we like to see that improvement and we got to see that.”
On defense the Spartans will need to improve as well as they gave up 35 points or more in five of their contests.
“We have a lot of the same guys playing on defense,” Lee said. “We changed the coaching staff around and it gave us a new spirit also. It gave us some new blood – we’re not stagnant and we’re excited about change. It helps us be the best coaches out there and we like challenges also and helping each other at the same time.”
The path back to the postseason won’t be easy. East’s schedule features eight teams that made the playoffs last year including three that won at least one game in Nitro, Oak Hill and Princeton.
“We’re going to play week by week,” Lee said. “Some people say that’s a minimal goal and it sounds like a cliche but that’s how we’re going to approach it. We know we have a tough schedule. Eight teams on our schedule made the playoffs. We’re not going to try and look down through road. We want to win more games than we did last year.”
The Spartans will kick off their season on Aug. 29 at Riverside.
| 1 | 08/29/25 | 7:30PM | A – | RIVERSIDE | – | |||
| 2 | 09/05/25 | 7:30PM | A – | WOODROW WILSON | – | |||
| 3 | 09/12/25 | 7:30PM | H – | ALLEGHANY HIGHLANDS, VA H.S. | – | |||
| 4 | 09/26/25 | 7:30PM | H – | OAK HILL | – | |||
| 5 | 10/03/25 | 7:30PM | H – | SHADY SPRING | – | |||
| 6 | 10/10/25 | 7:00PM | A – | PRINCETON SENIOR | – | |||
| 7 | 10/17/25 | 7:00PM | A – | NICHOLAS COUNTY | – | |||
| 8 | 10/24/25 | 7:30PM | H – | BLUEFIELD | – | |||
| 9 | 10/31/25 | 7:30PM | H – | JAMES MONROE | – | |||
| 10 | 11/07/25 | 7:00PM | A – | NITRO | – |
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