Week two of the high school football season concluded with Harrison County teams going 2-2. Lincoln picked up its first win of the young campaign, while Robert C. Byrd earned its second victory of the year, and is the last undefeated team remaining.
The Cougars hosted South Harrison in the lone intercounty lockup of the week. Lincoln’s Conner Rice, cracked the scoreboard first with a one yard scoring plunge. The Cougars would have to play from behind as the Hawks would score on the 18 yard pass play when Lucas Nutt found Shepherd, Paugh. Zane Harlow added the two point conversion, and the visitors led 8-7 after the first quarter.
Lincoln went to the air in the second stanza, when signal caller Bear Saab connected with Colton Edwards on a 14 yard score. Brystol Toth hit his second consecutive extra point to put Lincoln back on top 14-8. Harlow moved the South Harrison back in front in this seesaw affair on a four yard touchdown run. The two point conversion failed, leaving it 14-14. The tie wouldn’t last long, as Rice would take the ensuing kickoff 82 yards to the house, and Toth’s extra point led to a 21-14 halftime advantage.
Harlow garnered his record-setting touchdown in the third period on a 14 yard run. Rice would cap off the scoring in the 4th quarter on another one yard run, giving the Cougars the 27-20 win. The Lincoln defense would force three turnovers in that affair. Saab was 8 of 13 passing for 127 yards and one touchdown. Edwards caught four balls for 59 yards. Rice rushed 20 times for 55 yards.
The Hawks were paced by Paugh’s 205 rushing yards on 25 attempts. RCB overcame a two-hour weather delay and a talented Fairmont Senior team 26-21 last Thursday. The Polar Bears scored two first quarter touchdowns within one minute and 27 seconds of each other in three offensive plays. The Flying Eagles defense would not allow another score the rest of the game.
RCB scored the winning touchdown with 17 seconds left on a fourth and five on the Bears’ 32-yard line. Junior Smith caught a ball on the near side, which was behind the line of scrimmage from quarterback Isaiah Heflin for the game winner. Heflin was 14 of 30 for 287 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed 22 times for 100 yards and three scores.
Smith caught five passes for 128 yards. Smith caught five passes for 128 yards.
Martinsburg upended Bridgeport 35-21. The Indians were led by Gavin Williams and Gabe Martin. Williams earned 150 yards on 20 rushes, along with a pair of touchdowns. Martin collected 132 yards on 19 attempts, including a 32 yard touchdown.
West Virginia University started its season with a 31-24 win over Coastal Carolina. It was a tale of two halves at Milan Puskar Stadium. The Mountaineers scored on their second play from scrimmage en route to a 24-0 halftime lead. Coastal didn’t convert on third down until the 9:45 mark of the third period. West Virginia didn’t have a first down in the third quarter, setting up the comeback. CC would outscore the Mountaineers 24-7 in the second half.
Michael Hawkins Jr. had his first start at quarterback, going 11 of 14 for 132 yards, and a touchdown. He also gained 103 yards on the ground. Cam Cook led all rushers with 142 yards on 30 attempts. Next up is the University of Tennessee Martin on Saturday. If you want to catch a game, this might be a good choice. The tickets are on SeatGeek at half the price of other games. Better get them while you can!
That will do it for now! Until next week . . . take care and God bless.
