By Rick Kozlowski
Gallery by Jen LewisÂ
SHENANDOAH JUNCTION — There is an episode of the TV show “Seinfeld” where Elaine, one of the main characters, gets into a debate with a prospective employer about grace.
All grace?
Some grace?
Any grace?
There’s no discussion about Jefferson seeing too much Grace Saturday afternoon at Cougar Stadium as Hurricane visited for the quarterfinals of the Class AAAA playoffs.
Kylan Grace ran 23 times for 150 yards and three touchdowns in barely 2 1/2 quarters to lead an unusual ground-oriented attack by Hurricane to a 57-21 victory to advance the Redskins to the program’s second semifinal appearance in program history.
Sixth-seeded Hurricane will return to the Eastern Panhandle next week to take on Spring Mills. Coach Donnie Mays wasn’t sure when his team would choose to play the Cardinals.
Grace, who left the game with a slight injury, can’t wait to come back.
“I do like it up here,” the junior said.
He knows nothing about the Seinfeld series, however. It was produced in the 1990s, obviously before he was born.
Grace was pretty amazing in his time on the field for Hurricane, which led 22-14 at intermission and ran away in the second half to run its record to 9-3.
“This game, our game plan was to run the ball,” Grace said. “We knew Jefferson had a great passing defense. We wanted to split the holes and get touchdowns.”
Mission accomplished.
Alexander Gregory added 121 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries while quarterback Noah Vellaithambi, who entered play having thrown for 2,682 yards, also ran for a pair of scores and tossed one.
Mays relied on experience more so than watching game film to devise his game plan.
He brought a team here when he coached South Charleston and knew what weather conditions could be.
The game began with a temperature of 34 degrees, with a windchill of 22.
“We felt we had to establish the run game,” Mayes said. “We knew the wind would be crazy, so we weren’t going to put the ball up.
“We thought we could run the ball.”
Between Grace and Gregory, Jefferson had to be thinking “G” whiz.
In Mays’ mind, though, there was an opportunity for Grace to show out.
“I challenged him before the game,” Mayes said. “I told him if he wanted to make a name for himself to go for the end zone.
“He did it.”
On Grace’s first touchdown burst, a 55-yard run, he bowled over two defenders including one 15 yards downfield.
The score enabled Hurricane to match Jefferson’s first touchdown, a 10-yard touchdown run by Tay’Shaun Roper in what was developing into a back-and-forth affair.
The Cougars went back ahead on quarterback Dylan Harich’s 1-yard push early in the second quarter.
Hurricane countered with a 13-play drive that Gregory capped with a 12-yard scoring play.
The Redskins went ahead for good after Sean Legros intercepted a pass by Harich, who suffered three pickoffs.
Grace ran 5 yards for a touchdown with 54 seconds left and then added a two-point run to give Hurricane a 22-14 lead at halftime.
Grace’s 8-yard run to start the second half gave Hurricane a two-touchdown lead.
Jefferson’s last gasp came midway through the third quarter as Harich ran 5 yards for a touchdown.
It was all Hurricane thereafter.
Hurricane went ahead 36-21 on perhaps the prettiest running play of all as Vellaithambi faked a handoff to Grace and gracefully scooted around left end for an 8-yard touchdown.
Vellaithambi then hooked up with an open Sha’lik Hampton running a skinny post for a 35-yard touchdown, pushing Hurricane’s lead to 43-21.
Vellaithambi ran 3 yards for a touchdown with 4:10 left in the game and Gregory finished the scoring with a 6-yard run.
“I thought they did a good job of establishing the run,” Jefferson coach Craig Hunter said. “The times we had ’em, we’d give up a big play. Or we’d have a penalty when we got them behind the sticks.
“They wore us down with their big running backs and just kept pushing us.”
Jefferson’s last chance to score came before Vellaithambi’s second TD rush.
However, Legros grabbed his second interception at the goal line to end the threat.
“I thought they did a great job taking out Tay’Shaun,” Hunter said. “Then we had to try to throw the ball in the wind.”
Jefferson, which has never reached the semifinals in the playoffs, ended the season at 8-4.
