By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
The Tide flowed into Baker and was evaporated by East Hardy as the Cougars turned up the heat creating a 49-0 drought last Saturday afternoon.
The Cougars (3-2) pummeled Sherman (0-6) with a 41-0 halftime lead and the defense refused to break the entire contest in just the second meeting between these teams (2017).
“I’m extremely proud of our guys. Not because of what is on the scoreboard, but because they came into practice treating this opponent like a championship game. They prepared all week mentally that way for today.
I am proud of them preparing and playing East Hardy Football. We were very explosive with Christian Dove back there at quarterback and proud of him. I am proud of Cole Pusl stepping up at receiver and he caught a touchdown pass today. I think we are moving in the right direction. We didn’t even talk to our defense, it is assumed they play like this every week,” East Hardy coach Devon Orndorff remarked.[private]
Sherman opened the game with possession at the 37-yard line as the Cougars kickoff sailed out.
Christopher Winnell made a three yard run for the Tide and was stopped by East Hardy’s Aaron Fishel.
A tackle for no gain by East Hardy’s Adam Baker and a pass knocked down by Christian Dove led to a Sherman punt.
The Cougars started at the 29-yard line and Andrew Tharp received a screen pass from Dove and was tackled for a loss, then a defensive penalty was called on the Tide.
Dove rushed for four yards before Tharp notched a 15-yard reception for a first down in Sherman territory at the 48-yard line with tackle by David Jarrell and Jacob Sprouse.
East Hardy’s Brayden Ritchie caught a pass for 14 yards and another first down at the 34-yard line carrying a group of Tide players.
The Cougars drive came to a halt as Noah Lang was tackled for a six yard loss by Sherman’s Alan Javins, then Dove made up for the loss on a seven yard keeper before two incomplete passes with the latter deflected by Colby Buzzard for a turnover on downs.
East Hardy’s defense made three straight tackles for losses as Aaron Fishel and Andrew Tharp located the ball carriers to force a punt.
The Cougars converted a third down and six yard spot on Dove’s scramble to the outside picking up seven yards for the first downs at the 49-yard line.
Dove dashed to the outside again for another six yards into Tide territory, then Alex Miller punched the ball up the middle for three yards as the Cougars kept the drive going at the 42-yard line.
East Hardy’s momentum continued as Dove added a first down with a seven yard run with a tackle by Elijah Edie, then notched a first down at the 24-yard line with an 11-yard run and a stop by Sherman’s David Jarrell.
Three plays later, Dove pitched to Alex Miller taking the ball 16 yards for a Cougars touchdown and Noah Lang made the extra point for a 7-nil lead at the 2:30 mark.
Sherman couldn’t find any traction against the Cougars defense with stops by Adam Baker, Austin Alt and Alex Miller leading to a punting situation with a bad snap flying past the punter as Tharp, Ritchie and Alt smothered the punter at the 28-yard line.
On the first play from scrimmage, Dove located Noah Lang for a wide open 28-yard touchdown pass with 50 seconds remaining in the first quarter and Lang added the extra point for a 14-0 score.
East Hardy brothers Mason and Dayton Miller joined forces for a tackle for a loss at the 29-yard line, then Tharp made a tackle for no gain ending the first quarter.
Sherman made an errant pass behind the receiver to begin the second quarter and punted away.
The Cougars reached midfield on a five yard run by Dove, then Lang bobbled a potential pass trying to dive to save it and the ball touched the ground.
Dove rushed around the corner and was shoved out of bounds and a Tide player was assessed a personal foul placing East Hardy at the Sherman 24-yard line.
Alex Miller cut to the outside for a first down run of 11 yards into the red zone at the 13-yard line.
Dove added six yards and made a pitch to Miller for another yard.
Dove was sacked for a four yard loss by Sherman’s Carter Dunfee and Hunter Bowling resulting in a fourth down.
The Cougars went to the air striking for a 10-yard touchdown connection from Dove to Cole Pusl and Lang added the extra point creating a 21-0 advantage at the 8:52 mark.
Christopher Winnell made a seven yard run for Sherman with a stop by East Hardy’s Andrew Tharp at the 39-yard line, then the Cougars defense prevented any additional movement.
East Hardy’s Mason Miller, Alex Miller and Adam Baker made a stop for no gain and pass went too deep forcing a fourth down with the Tide faking a punt with a pass nearly intercepted as Christian Dove knocked it down.
After an illegal block backed the Cougars to their own 43-yard line, Lang made a 57-yard touchdown catch and added the extra point at the 6:48 mark for a 28-nil lead.
East Hardy’s defense denied the Tide’s attempt at a first down once again with tackles by Dawson Price, Dayton Miller and Austin Alt for a turnover on downs at the 41-yard line.
Alex Miller escaped from several defenders to the outside and was knocked over on a low hit by Jarrell along the sidelines during a first down run of 13 yards to the 28.
Miller added another first down run of 11 yards with a stop by Sherman’s James Belcher and Daniel Green inside the red zone.
Lang made a catch for nine yards and Miller picked up another first down at the three yard line before hitting pay dirt on another carry with 3:18 to go in the first half with Lang’s kick making it 35-0.
Sherman went three and out with a punt as an own fumble erased a three yard gain by Winnell and Mason Miller made a tackle for a five yard loss.
On second down, East Hardy’s Alex Miller sliced to the outside for a 52-yard touchdown run and the extra point was denied for a 41-0 score with 1:13 left in the second quarter.
East Hardy’s Mason Miller, Erik Flynn and Casey Sine made tackles to end the first half as the Tide failed to get a first down reaching the 45-yard line.
Starting the second half, Alex Miller made a 14-yard run into Tide territory at the 42-yard line and the Cougars brought in the subs.
East Hardy’s Damian Iman was stopped for no gain, then there was a bad snap collected by Cole Pusl for a five yard setback.
Casey Sine made a catch for 14 yards just shy of the first down marker and the fourth down run by Iman was denied by Sherman.
The Tide fumbled the ball and it was recovered by East Hardy’s Erik Flynn at the Sherman 30-yard line.
Pusl rushed for six yards and one yard, then Iman was tackled for a loss and the fourth down pass ricocheted off both Sine and Price for a turnover on downs.
Sherman’s Elijah Edie made a first down run of 16 yards to reach the 43-yard line with a tackle by East Hardy’s Brandon Parker.
Edie added seven yards into Cougars territory with a stop by Sine and Josh Hahn.
Sine tackled Winnell on a three yard run, then Buzzard picked up two yards with Mason Miller coming up with the hit.
Flynn stopped Timothy Hager for no gain and the Tide collected an own fumble losing nine yards in the process in addition to a delay of game penalty leading to a punt.
The Cougars started at their own 16-yard line and Iman made three carries of seven, two and four yards to garner a first down at the 19-yard line.
After an incomplete pass, there was a holding call during a run by Pusl.
Mason Miller made a 13-yard catch for East Hardy to reach the 33-yard line, then Sine made a rolling catch for one yard as the Cougars looked at fourth down.
During the punt, there was a personal foul penalty waved off as the Tide took possession at the 48-yard line.
Hager made a 22-yard run for a first down in East Hardy territory at the 29-yard line with a tackle by Iman.
East Hardy’s Patrick Helsley forced a fumble, but Sherman’s Colby Buzzard recovered and was tackled by Flynn for an eight yard loss.
Hahn made a tackle for a loss ending the third quarter for the Cougars and deflected a pass to begin the fourth quarter.
Iman pushed Buzzard out of bounds on a 12-yard run preventing a first down as East Hardy took over on the turnover on downs at the 26-yard line.
East Hardy burned eight minutes off the clock on a 74-yard touchdown drive using a dozen plays.
Iman rush for eight yards on two carries and Gabe Henderson added one yard before a false start had the Cougars facing a 4th down-and-six yards.
East Hardy’s Mason Miller plowed over Sherman’s Daniel Green along the sideline for a first down run of seven yards.
Henderson rushed thrice to create another first down for the Cougars at the 47-yard line.
Miller dodged tackles going to the outside for a 21-yard gain to the Tide 32-yard line.
After a tackle for a loss, Miller plowed ahead for a 17-yard run into the red zone at the 18-yard line.
Henderson took a pitch from Miller to add two more yards on the drive.
Mason Miller scored a touchdown on a 16-yard keeper sneaking in the edge of the end zone and added the two-point conversion to give East Hardy the final score of 49-0 with 3:16 remaining.
The Tide threw two incomplete passes before finding a connection as Buzzard snatched a 20-yard pass to reach the East Hardy 47-yard line to convert the third down and the Cougars’ Henderson made the tackle.
Sherman’s Alex Kirk made a 20-yard reception to the 27-yard line and was stopped by East Hardy’s Josh Hahn.
East Hardy defensive lineman Braden Orndorff blocked a pass at the line of scrimmage with 16 seconds left.
Sherman went for a Hail Mary pass and it was deflected by Hahn to end the game, 49-nil.
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The Cougars look for their fourth straight win this week against Tucker County during Homecoming.