A slumbering hiatus rejuvenated the Yellow Jackets navigating their adventure into Ellenboro to commandeer a 14-nil advantage over Ritchie County in the opening frame, but the Rebels responded to save homecoming with a 28-21 victory last Friday.
“Moorefield is an imposing team and you could tell that early in the game, but we made some adjustments and were able to do just enough to win it,” Ritchie County coach Rick Haught remarked.
“Having that many turnovers isn’t like us. We were kind of shell shocked, but then midway in the second quarter we found some things that worked. We got the momentum going the half and were hoping in the second half to wear them down. Let’s face it, they haven’t played a lot of games. They don’t have any game legs underneath them and we made enough plays to win the ball game. We always put a defense in that will help us win. We are growing up and maturing and we’ve been in this situation before.”
Moorefield (2-2) hadn’t played since September 18 due to the COVID-19 exposure and entered the contest with as much gusto as possible in attempt to knock down the Rebels (4-2). However, a plethora of mistakes interfered with the mission.
Ritchie County managed to gain one first down on the opening drive of the homecoming game, but the Yellow Jackets defense was stout in forcing a punt without allowing the Rebels to cross midfield.[private]
Some of the opening series tackles were by Moorefield’s Vincent Cyrus, Coleman Mongold, Matthew Jenkins (TFL) and combination sack for Malachi Hinger and Ethan Sines.
The Yellow Jackets started on their own 17-yard line where quarterback Branson See was taken down in the backfield by Ritchie County’s Graden McKinney.
Moorefield fired back with a stinger as Matthew Jenkins carried a bunch of Rebels in his wake on a 15-yard first down run.
Momentum was ignited as Blake Funk broke free to the outside perimeter dashing down the sideline on a 50 yard play before being forced out of bounds at the edge of the red zone (20).
After a penalty negated a diving touchdown score by Jenkins, a fake handoff maneuver by See was bought by the Rebels with Jenkins sneaking away for nine yards to the 15-yard line.
Two plays later, Jenkins converted a third down with a 14-yard touchdown on the ground at the 7:37 mark and Atikilt Tamiru added the extra point giving Moorefield a 7-nil edge.
A big kickoff return by Gus Morrison for the Rebels plus a face mask penalty put Ritchie County at the 40-yard line.
After a meager two yard run by Morrison with a stop by Moorefield’s Jenkins, Ritchie County’s Blaine Bowie notched seven yards on a catch with Tamiru making the tackle.
Dakota Wayne picked up a first down beyond midfield, but on the next play there was a fumble with Moorefield’s Malachi Hinger smothering up the recovery at midfield.
On second down from midfield, Moorefield quarterback Branson See eluded Rebels defenders spinning along the sidelines and dashed in for the 50-yard touchdown keeper at the 5:07 mark and Tamiru’s kick increased the Yellow Jackets lead to 14-nil.
“I am encouraged, but I think we still struggled. I am as much at fault as anybody else making sure our guys know how to play with a lead. It’s not one where we can slack off and move backwards, we’ve got to continue to keep the pressure on and I will take the blame for that and fix it. These guys’ fight and grit was unbelievable tonight after a two-week layoff to come out here and play a darn good football game against a good football team. We will fix our mistakes and come right back out ready to play,” Moorefield coach Matthew Altobello commented.
“We didn’t make some stops and they made plays. It is the same both ways, we made some plays and they made some plays. That is football. We’ve got to make them in the right spot. Our guys have done a great job dealing with this Covid-19 situation. They understand what is going on and know at the drop of the hat the season could be over and they are making sacrifices and doing the right things. All week watching them on film, we knew it was going to be a fight and knew it was going to be a long bus ride, but more importantly it was going to be a fight all the way to the end. We needed one more punch in the end and we will find it and we will get to it. I am proud of their grit and not laying down.”
Ritchie County must have put butter on their hands as the ball slipped out on the ensuing possession and Moorefield’s Zaden Stonestreet made the fumble recovery at the Rebels 30-yard line.
There was holding called on the Yellow Jackets during a catch by Gavin Wolfe.
Wolf made two carries for a small gain, then Coleman Mongold snatched a pass from See for a first down in the red zone at the 19-yard line totaling a dozen yards.
After an illegal procedure call, Wolfe was tackled for a loss by Ritchie County’s Brandon Riddle and Garrett Cunningham.
Riddle garnered a sack on the next pay to force third down and 21.
Moorefield’s Blake Funk was forced out of bounds on a 16 yard run and the Yellow Jackets brought in the field goal unit with the ball on the 14-yard line.
Ritchie County blocked Tamiru’s field goal attempt, but there was a defensive penalty setting up a fourth and one play with Moorefield going for it and was denied advancement by the Rebels taking over on downs.
Moorefield’s defense responded with a crushing sandwich tackle on Ritchie County’s Wayne by Hinger and Stonestreet resulting in just three yards to the 12-yard line.
The first quarter came to a close on a suplex style tackle by Jenkins.
Ritchie County converted third down to start the second quarter on a 12-yard catch by Cunningham, then the Yellow Jackets’ Hinger and Ethan Sines recorded a sack.
After a false start during punt formation, the Rebels executed a fake punt as Morrison dodged an initial diving attempt by Mongold and escaped for 57 yards into the red zone.
Moorefield’s Vincent Cyrus tracked down a reverse play to force a fourth down, but the Rebels would convert it on a three yard run by Wayne.
Ritchie County’s Blaine Bowie scored a rushing touchdown from two yards out at the 7:09 mark and the conversion catch by Morrison made it a 14-8 game.
A false start for the Yellow Jackets and minimal rushing yardage made by Funk and Jenkins being stopped by the rebels defense of Riddle, Marlon Moore, Bowie and Cunningham led to a punt from the 25-yard line.
Ritchie County started at the 43-yard line and scored five plays spanning about two minutes and a half.
A 25-yard third down conversion catch by Garden McKinney from midfield placed the Rebels at the Moorefield 25-yard line with a slamming tackle by Jenkins.
Two plays later, McKinney made a sideline catch with tight defense by Mongold for a 25-yard touchdown strike at the 2:12 mark and Tamiru knocked down the conversion pass as the Rebels knotted the contest at 14-all.
Moorefield generated one first down on an 18-yard run by Funk during the next possession, but couldn’t gain another which resulted in a punt.
The Rebels took advantage of the field position at the 40-yard line with Morrison making a catch for 26 yard to enter Moorefield territory at the 34-yard line.
Riddle punted through the line for 23 yards and another Rebels first down with Wolfe making the tackle.
After two incompletions with deletions by Wolfe and Funk, Ritchie County went back to the ground game as McKinney rushed 11 yards into the end zone for the lead and the conversion failed for a 20-14 edge with 23 seconds left in the half.
Moorefield started at the 43-yard line with 17 seconds left with See launching a pass, but it was intercepted by Ritchie County’s Gus Morrison and returned about 40 yard to the Yellow Jackets 25-yard line.
The first half ended on a sack by Moorefield’s Blake Funk with the Rebels up 20-14.
The opening series of the third quarter for the Yellow Jackets spelled disaster as Jenkins had the ball jarred loose with Ritchie County’s Morgan Knight making the recovery at the Yellow Jackets 28-yard line.
However, after a shot gain and an offsides call, Moorefield retained possession as Morrison fumbled the ball and Jenkins made the recovery at the 20-yard line.
Jenkins picked up a couple of first downs carrying the ball as the Yellow Jackets entered Rebels territory.
Funk gained about nine and a half yards on two touches forcing fourth down and inches, then Jenkins moved the chains.
Jenkins took another handoff and carried seven Rebels defenders moving in his wake for a 14 yards and another Moorefield first down at the 25-yard line and added another 11 yards on two carries into the red zone.
Funk spun into the end zone losing the ball on the dive, but an illegal motion call negated the play.
Funk made a dive after a run to get very close to the goal line, then Jenkins got the call to punch it in for the tie and Tamiru’s kick placed the Yellow Jackets ahead 21-20 at the 3:32 mark.
The Rebels collected three first downs and entered Moorefield territory in seven plays to close out the third quarter as the defense of Cyrus, Hinger, Sines, Stonestreet and Funk made stops.
The Yellow Jackets had the edge in the scoring department about two and half more minutes entering the final stanza as Ritchie County managed to convert a fourth down from 13 yards out with Riddle taking the draw with the help of defensive pass interference at the 9:27 mark and Wayne added the two-point conversion run putting the Rebels ahead 28-21.
A huge kickoff return by Funk was negated on a holding penalty just as he reached the Rebels 33-yard line and Moorefield was backed up to its own 35-yard line.
Jenkins noticed a first down on a ten yard run, then Wolfe moved the ball into Rebels area.
The drive stalled and a fourth down and short play was denied by Ritchie County taking over on downs with 6:43 remaining at the 48-yard line.
McKinney escaped one defender in the backfield and slipped around the corner for a 13-yard run with Wolfe tracking him down on the first down sequence at the 33-yard line of the Yellow Jackets.
Stonestreet slammed McKinney down after a pitch gaining two yards at the 25-yard line,
Cyrus flipped Wayne over in a suplex style move on a five-yard play resulting in a first down.
Cyrus slammed into Morrison as the Rebels tried to keep the clock running, but Moorefield utilized timeouts with time dwindling down.
Moorefield took over on downs at the 17-yard line with 2:26 to go and Jenkins was forced out of bounds on a nine yard run.
After a holding call, Tamiru made a catch for five yards.
Jenkins escaped a tackle attempt by Riddle for a first down at the 31-yard line.
There was a late hit on See and an offensive penalty offsetting the former, then Jenkins stood in as the quarterback as See was given attention on the sidelines.
The pass attempt by Jenkins was deflected by Cunningham, then See came back and the next pass went incomplete without a penalty despite a bump by the defender running into Tamiru.
Facing fourth down and 10, Moorefield came up inches short on a reception by Jenkins with 1:16 remaining.
Ritchie County sealed the 28-21 homecoming victory in a kneeling formation.[/private]
The Yellow Jackets have been struggling without having games to play due to the pandemic. This week’s game against Philip Barbour has been canceled due to Barbour County being gold in the metrics map. Moorefield is looking for an opponent.