The Bottom Line
By Bill Nestor
Sports Editor
This past Friday evening bolts of lighting forced several delays and even a cancelation in high school football action.
In Philippi, even a lengthy delay that lasted nearly an hour couldn’t stop Lincoln from moving to a 2-0 record with a 48-0 win over the Colts.
The red hot Cougar offense scored on every first half possession maintaining their focus despite the stoppage of play early in the second quarter. Providing his own version of a “Friday Night Lights Show” was Lincoln quarterback Kobie Carpenter. Carpenter was 8 of 9 passing for 240 yards and three touchdowns. All of the signal-caller’s stats came from the first two quarters of play, which led to a 41-0 lead for the visitors.
The offense showed balance as the ground game, led by Andrew Lopez, collected 147 yards. Lopez picked up 109 yards on nine carries. He scored the games final two touchdowns on runs of five and eight yards respectively. He also hauled in a 40 yard scoring strike in the second quarter.
The defense not only pitched a shutout it generated a score as well. Cole DeBerry scooped up a fumble and went 43 yards for the games last touchdown.
In Glenville, a two hour delay wasn’t enough to keep South Harrison from earning a 34-8 win over Gilmer County. After trailing 8-6 prior to the lengthy break, the Hawks outscored the Titans 28-0 to run away with the victory.
Leading the ground game was Chase Jenkins with 110 yards on 22 carries. Jenkins also accrued a pair of rushing scores on runs of three and 31 yards.
The South Harrison defense allowed only 106 yards and five first downs on the evening.
Notre Dame waited two hours before getting their game underway. The Fighting Irish controlled the ball for most of the game, holding a 23-5 advantage in first downs in route to a 26-14 win over Parkersburg Catholic. Notre Dame held nearly a four to one advantage in total yardage over the Crusaders but four Fighting Irish turnovers helped Parkersburg Catholic stay in the game.
Notre Dame signal caller, Jordan Miller was 20 of 28 throwing the football for 306 yards (the most of any county quarterback this season) and two touchdowns. The first was a 24 yard strike to Zach Seibel. He connected with Seibel once again on a 48 yard score.
Miller sealed the deal with a 16 yard interception return that ended the game scoring. It was Miller’s second interception of the contest.
In Clarksburg, the lightning forced Liberty and Robert C. Byrd to postpone until Saturday afternoon. The Flying Eagles earned a 51-7 win over the home standing Mountaineers.
Robert C. Byrd’s offense came out as hot as the temperature, scoring on every first half possession, taking a 36-0 lead into the break. Quarterback, Julian Marino provided to be a dual threat throwing for a pair of touchdowns and rushing for another. He accounted for 201 yards of total offense. Brandon Cook led all rushes with 103 yards on nine carries. Cook recorded a hat trick scoring on runs of 7, 1, and 32 yards respectively.
The Flying Eagles defense allowed just 48 yards in the win.
The rising temperature caused tempers to rise as these teams combined to commit 19 penalties that totaled 190 yards. The temps also spurred a cut on the clock. Both the third and fourth quarters were shortened to eight minutes of play.
The biggest casualty of the bolts came at Wayne Jamison field where Bridgeport and Wheeling Park were locked in a scoreless affair with seconds left in the opening period. The game was postponed and will not be played. It forces the Indians to play a nine game schedule and it deprives them of the opportunity to chase a perfect season.
That will do it for now. Until next week…take care and God Bless!
