Nathan Easley is honoring his grandfather's memory quite well.
The Shady Spring cornerback had two more interceptions, quarterback Cal Culicerto made a big return from illness and the Class AAA No. 11 Tigers defeated PikeView 41-7 on a Homecoming Saturday afternoon.
Easley, a 6-foot, 160-pound senior, increased his season total to six. Both interceptions on Saturday came with the Panthers in the red zone.
Easley said he is inspired by his grandfather, Greg Stovall, who passed away in August.
"He was my biggest fan, and it's really encouraged me to work hard at what I'm doing and try as hard as I can every snap," Easley said.
"He just seems to be at the right place, and he does a good job," Shady Spring coach Vince Culicerto said. "He gets after the ball and he gets those interceptions. You have a knack for it, usually, and he does. He's done a good job catching the ball offensively, too. So he's done a good job for us this year. Love having him at corner. We was worried he couldn't tackle, and he's tackled pretty good. But we knew he could cover."
Both interceptions on Saturday came at opportune times.
Shady was ahead 21-0 halfway through the second quarter but PikeView was threatening for the first time after punting on its first three possessions. The drive was set up by a 53-yard kickoff return by Braiden Mullins, and a 22-yard pass from Braden Huggins to Peyton Mounts set them up with first-and-goal at the seven-yard line.
On third down from the 8, Easley picked off Huggins at the goal line and took it to the 10.
However, the Tigers gave the ball right back when Evan Romage fumbled and Dalton Lester recovered on his team's 22.
Huggins passed on third-and-8, and Easley came up with his second straight interception to give Shady the ball at the Panthers 15.
"I just watch the ball, watch the quarterback," Easley said. "I know it was third down. I'm ready for anything going towards the end zone, so I'm just reading the quarterback."
Easley -- and the whole Shady defense -- was tougher on Huggins than the Panthers were on the Tigers' Cal Culicerto, who was playing for the first time since Week 1 because of illness.
It was a big welcome back. The junior completed 13 of 16 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns.
Five of his completions went to Easley for 75 yards.
"I was happy for him," said Vince Culicerto, his dad and coach. "A good one to come back in. And they kind of forced us to have him throwing. I was going to kind of ease him in on it a little bit. They gave us the looks for him to throw, and he did well. A couple early there get his feet wet. I thought he read well and scrambled a little bit. He had time. The offensive line did a super job. But his feet are wet now. He's back in and ready to roll."
The coach was complimentary of the job backup Myles Clark did in Cal Culicerto's absence. The sophomore was 14 of 27 (51.9 percent) for 248 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in wins over James Monroe and Summers County.
"I was tickled to death with him," Vince Culicerto said. "Every team says it, but we preach next guy up. People get hurt. ... It's football. You go to the next guy. And Myles, I said, 'Buddy, I know you can do it. Him and Cal work side-by-side with our receivers. And they did it all summer and they did it a bunch on their own and it's showing. I knew Myles would do fine. He did a super job."
Culicerto's three touchdown passes came after Romage burst through the line for a 45-yard touchdown on the Tigers' first series. On their next drive -- which started after a 44-yard punt return by Easley -- Culicerto found Jakob Kubow on a swing pass and Kubow took care of the rest for a 50-yard touchdown.
Shady (3-1) went predominantly to the air on its next two series. A 23-yard pass from Culicerto to Kubow got the Tigers into PikeView territory, and the drive ended when Culicerto rolled to his left and found Jalon Bailey in the front corner of the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown and 21-0 lead.
After Easley's second pick, Shady ran off a nine-play drive that saw just two running plays. A 25-yard completion to Easley moved the ball to the 10, and after an offsides penalty against the Panthers, Culicerto hit tight end Gabe Knoblet from five yards out to make it 27-0 with 23 seconds left before halftime.
Culicerto was 5 of 7 for 68 yards on the drive.
The Tigers got touchdowns of 1 and 59 yards from Evan Honaker in the third quarter to go up 41-0. The fourth quarter was played under a running clock of 10 minutes.
With Shady's second defensive unit in, the Panthers were able to avoid the shutout. Josh Hedrick ran nine consecutive plays for 40 yards, then gave way to Mullins at the 1 for the touchdown with 3:40 remaining.
PikeView was coming off a 35-25 loss to Westside in which it led the undefeated Renegades 17-14 at halftime. First-year coach Jack Turner wasn't disappointed in his team's follow-up performance, instead giving credit to the Tigers.
"Shady is a good football team," Turner said. "They're big and strong. You can tell they're older and bigger and stronger. Physical and disciplined. (I'm) not disappointed."
Romage ran 13 times for 116 yards for Shady, which outgained PikeView 374-200; 68 of the Panthers' yards came on the scoring drive.
Shady kicker Jorge Chocano, an exchange student from Spain, made 5 of 6 PATs and is 14 of 15 on the season.
Shady will welcome in Greenbrier East Friday at 7 p.m. PikeView will go to Sissonville, also for a 7 p.m. start.
SS: Jakob Kubow 50 pass from Cal Culicerto (Chocano kick), 3:28.
Second quarter
SS: Jalon Bailey 15 pass from Culicerto (Chocano kick), 7:31.
SS: Gabe Knoblet 5 pass from Culicerto (kick blocked), :23.
RUSHING -- PV: Josh Hedrick 10-40, Peyton Mounts 12-33, Braden Huggins 9-30, Kyle Williams 5-23, Mullins 6-21; SS: Romage 13-116, Honaker 4-66, Kaiden Helmer 3-9, Shayde Hedgecock 1-0, TEAM 1-(-17).
PASSING -- PV: Huggins 4-9-2-51: SS: Culicerto 13-16-0-202.
RECEIVING -- PV: Mounts 3-43, Corbin Justus 1-8; SS: Nathan Easley 5-75, Kubow 4-78, Knoblet 2-20, Bailey 1-15, Aiden Lester 1-14.
TAKEAWAYS -- PV: Dalton Lester (FR); SS: Easley (2 INT), Bailey (FR).