By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
Winning was in the air for Hardy County on Wednesday as Moorefield Middle School Football garnered a 47-nil shutout over Capon Bridge Middle School at Yellow Jacket Field, while East Hardy Early Middle School rallied from a 14-0 halftime deficit to defeat the Vikings 20-14 in Baker.
The Yellow Jackets defense earned a special treat of shutout doughnuts for their next practice as the scoreboard showed the big zero.
“The shutout was awesome. Our defense played amazing. We stayed on our blocks and ran hard. I couldn’t ask for anything more. Six different ball carriers scored,” Moorefield Middle School coach Eric Linville remarked.
The Bobcats mustered only two yards on their opening drive of the game and a fake punt turned into an incomplete pass.
Some of the tackling was done by Moorefield Middle’s Adam Landes, Trace Pope and Alex Miller.
Moorefield Middle took advantage of the great field position starting at the Capon Bridge 39-yard line by scoring a touchdown in three plays in a span of a minute.
The Yellow Jackets’ first play was an 11-yard run by Adam Landes, then Axton Runions entered the red zone on a ten yard carry to the 18-yard line.
Landes capped off the drive with an 18-yard touchdown run and made the two-point conversion to take an 8-0 lead at the 4:51 mark.
Capon Bridge lost yardage on the ensuing possession including a seven yard setback by Yellow Jackets defender Chayse Myers and pass deflection by Landes leading to a punt to the 35-yard line. [private]
Runions rushed for four yards to the 39-yard line for the Yellow Jackets.
Landes broke free for a 61-yard touchdown run on the next play and Matix Delawder added the extra point to put Moorefield Middle up 15-0 at the 2:04 mark of the first quarter.
The Yellow Jackets defense created negative yardage for Capon Bridge once again with tackles by Michael Cost, Myers and Ronny Greist plus a penalty resulting in a punt to start the second quarter.
Moorefield Middle’s Ronny Greist made an initial carry for four yards, then rushed down the sidelines for a 28-yard gain into Bobcats territory at the 42-yard line.
Runions covered the remaining distance of 42 yards for a touchdown at the 6:48 mark and Delawder added the extra point giving the Yellow Jackets a 22-0 lead.
Capon Bridge finally managed a first down on a ten yard pass play entering Yellow Jackets territory at the 48-yard line, but failed to convert fourth down at the 42-yard line.
Moorefield Middle took possession with 2:46 remaining in the first half and burned the clock down scoring in seven plays capped off by Greist’s five yard touchdown run and the kick was blocked for a 28-0 advantage with 35 seconds left on the clock.
One highlight from the second half was Moorefield Middle backup quarterback and coach’s son Brock Linville turning a botched play into a touchdown run and the Yellow Jackets finished with a 47-0 win.
Cost and Kihangriwe recorded touchdown runs for Moorefield Middle in the second half.
Moorefield Middle travels to Pendleton County tonight.
Across the mountain range in Baker, Petersburg Middle held a 14-0 halftime lead and it was squandered as the Cougars pounced back with 20 unanswered points for the victory.
“We made some adjustments defensively and offensively, both. They came out and basically the only thing that happened was we played harder. That is something we’ve been trying to get them to do all season long. We knew we were a pretty decent team and haven’t played like it, but in the second half we finally played like it. Their effort was as best I’ve seen this season. I am proud of them for not giving up and getting the win,” East Hardy Early Middle School coach Adam Simmons stated.
East Hardy Early Middle School marched quickly down the field to start the third quarter scoring on a seven yard pass play from Damien Dellinger to Nate Smith and the conversion failed for a 14-6 score at the 7:15 mark.
The Vikings fumbled the kickoff, but recovered the ball at the 35-yard line.
After an errant pass, Petersburg Middle’s Elijah Kuykendall took a pitch and was tacked for a five yard loss by Cougars defender Damien Dellinger.
Another incomplete pass led to a punting situation and a bad snap sailed back giving the Cougars possession at the Vikings 20-yard line.
EHEMS’s Donald McReynolds took the handoff and made a 20-yard touchdown run with 6:09 remaining in third quarter, but the two-point conversion came up short with the Vikings clinging to a 14-12 edge.
A couple of tackles by Cougars defender Justin Parker led to Petersburg Middle lining up for a punt, then tried a fake punt with Wyatt Nuzum carrying the ball and failed to reach the first down marker with a stop by EHEMS’s Tanner Whetzel and Jordan Teets.
McReynolds gained a first down for the Cougars off a pitch dashing ten yards to the Petersburg Middle 45-yard line, but the drive ended there as one receiver tripped with nobody nearby and another pass was deflected by Kuykendall resulting in a punt.
Nuzum gave the Vikings a first down at the 45-yard line on an 11-yard carry to end the third quarter.
EHEMS tackles by McReynolds, Whetzel, Teets and Wyatt Hockman forced a punt by the Vikings which turned into another fake punt with McReynolds tackling the legs of Nuzum at the 42-yard line which wasn’t enough distance to move the chains.
Nuzum was injured on the play and the ambulance came to the field, but Nuzum managed to get up on his own power and return to the sidelines with his teammates.
After an incomplete pass and a penalty, the Cougars hit pay dirt as Tyler Tarallo rushed 55 yards for a touchdown and Brandon Jones added the two-point conversion to give EHEMS a 20-14 lead with 5:53 left in the game.
Jones made an interception for the Cougars on the ensuing Petersburg Middle possession and the huge return was negated on a blindside hit.
EHEMS fumbled the ball on the next play and the Vikings recovered at the Cougars 33-yard line.
Petersburg Middle failed to generate points off this turnover as Dellinger, McReynolds and Levi Price made tackles plus an illegal shift forced a fourth down and the Vikings threw an incomplete pass.
The Cougars had the ball for about a minute failing to gain a first down and timeouts helped as Petersburg Middle forced a punt and took possession at the 45-yard line with 1:47 remaining.
McReynolds recorded a sack for EHEMS, then the Vikings made two errant passes with the latter deflected by Price.
On fourth down with one minute to go, Petersburg Middle’s Colton Vance escaped initial defenders and was eventually tackled by EHEMS’s McReynolds at the 49-yard line short of the first down marker.
The Cougars took a knee twice to finish out the 20-14 victory.[/privage]