Lions' QB gets another shot at Shelby

EUREKA — Garrett Graves remembers his first varsity start at quarterback all too vividly.

First and foremost in his memory, however, is the final score of that game — Shelby 28, Eureka 18.

As Graves prepares for his final varsity start, one of his primary motivations in today’s Class B state championship against Shelby is not allowing his career to have identical bookends.

“I don’t want my first start and my last start to be a loss to Shelby,” Graves said. “I’m definitely very anxious and eager to get back out there and play those guys.

“We’ve come this far as an undefeated team, and we want to finish it out undefeated.”

If Graves plays anything like he has all year, he and Eureka likely have little to worry about.

The senior quarterback amassed 2,321 total yards — 1,691 through the air and 630 on the ground — and 39 total touchdowns this season as Eureka has run roughshod through its Class B schedule on the way to a second straight state championship game. He also chipped in on defense, recording 40.5 tackles and five interceptions.

Graves didn’t carry Eureka to a second consecutive state title game appearance alone, however. He had ample help from a stellar cast of skill players.

Chet McCully was this year’s breakout star, leading the team in rushing with 851 yards as a sophomore. He also was a key contributor on defense with 49.5 tackles, including 12 for loss.

Speedy senior Brenton Pluid returned from an injury that sidelined him for most of 2016 to pace the Lions in receiving (413 yards and eight touchdowns) and anchor the secondary.

“Everybody looks at those 12 seniors that walked out the door (last year), but we had athletes like (Graves and Pluid), and then we had some other athletes that weren’t on the radar,” Eureka head coach Trevor Utter said. “Those kids, they started in the championship game. All of them. To have those guys playing a key role last year and coming back, we felt really good about our skill positions.”

The lone question entering the 2017 season was the offensive line, where a handful of starters had to be replaced.

A dominant regular season, one that saw Eureka win every game by no fewer than 23 points, and equally commanding postseason run to this point have answered that question emphatically.

“We did graduate a lot of seniors last year, and they did a lot of work,” Graves said. “So they knew that role that they had to fill and the expectations. I think that’s a lot of pressure on them, and I think they rose to the occasion.”

The 2017 senior class of 10 will leave the school having made history regardless of today’s outcome.

It helped capture Eureka’s first boys state title last year and led the Lions to back-to-back appearances in the state championship game for the first time in school history this season.

“We kind of started a winning culture last year, and I knew the boys were going to come back hungry for the same taste again,” Graves said.

“It’s a good taste. You want to keep it in your mouth.”

The winning culture Graves spoke of is a topic frequently breached around the Eureka football program, and Utter said helping establish it will be one of the biggest parts of this senior class’ legacy.

“That culture has changed from one that is happy to make the playoffs to one that is not happy unless they win the championship,” he said. “When you get to that point, it’s an awful lot of fun as a coach because it’s not hard to motivate kids to work when they want to reach that level of play.”

Motivation has not been an issue this season, as Eureka came back even stronger after taking the crown in 2016.

“Coach told us, ‘Last year’s team won a state championship, not this year’s,’” Pluid, a wide receiver, said. “That was kind of motivating for us to step it up.”

Shelby is the only hurdle left between Graves and his fellow seniors and a legendary football career.

After being tripped up by the Coyotes once before, Graves won’t underestimate them, even after getting revenge for that loss in last year’s playoffs.

“My first start, I lost to them, and I haven’t lost since,” Graves said. “I want to redeem that. We got to kind of redeem ourselves last year, playing them in the playoffs. We hope to do it in similar fashion.

“Like (New England Patriots head coach) Bill Belichick said, every new time they win the Super Bowl, it’s the sweetest one. I feel if we win it this year, it’s going to be the best one.”