Edison runs over Bobcats for county championship
By JAY W. BENNETT, jbennett@newsandsentinel.comPARKERSBURG - A strong defensive effort here Wednesday night at Parkersburg's Stadium Field played a big part in Edison's 28-0 win against Blennerhassett in the Wood County Middle School football championship.
The Eagles of head coach Mike Rusk captured the county crown for the third successive campaign. Blennerhassett, which has lost in the finals three straight years, reached the title tilt for the seventh straight season, but has tasted victory only twice - in 2003 and 2005.
Edison had a pair of 100-yard rushers thanks to the efforts of Wood County scoring champion Brendan Schwendeman (14-115) and runner-up scoring leader Tad Piggott (7-102).
The Bobcat (4-4) offense was bottled up for most of the night, finishing with 37 yards rushing on two dozen attempts. BMS also failed to complete any of its 10 pass attempts.
"It feels pretty good," said Piggott, who ripped of a pair of scoring runs that covered 52 and 40 yards, respectively, just 1:28 apart in the second quarter.
"I didn't think we'd do it again, but we did."
The tone of the contest was set early on by Edison's defense, which received tackles for loss on the first series from Ian Miller and Logan Dilliner.
Edison reached the red zone on its first possession, but Piggott fumbled the pigskin after getting hit by Joe Miller. Sloan McConnell pounced on the loose ball to give Blennerhassett possession at its own 14.
BMS then picked up its only first down of the half thanks in part to gains of 7 and 6 yards by J.R. Kerr. However, the drive stalled and Edison went to work.
With the help of a 25-yard bootleg by quarterback Damon Gandee, the Eagles had it first-and-goal at the 5. On the very next play, Gandee hit Trevor Boot on a slant for the only six-pointer EMS would end up needing. After Piggott converted the run for two the Eagles led 8-0 with 31 seconds left in the first.
After a three-and-out by the Bobcat offense, Edison (7-1) scored again on the fourth play of the series. Facing a second-and-4, Piggott was able to break a couple of arm tackles and then raced down the hash marks in front of the Blennerhassett bench for his 52-yard romp and a 14-0 cushion with five minutes still on the clock.
Another three-and-out by BMS ensued and two plays later Piggott was at it again. This time Piggott bulled his way through a trio of would-be tacklers and raced 40 yards to paydirt for a 20-0 cushion.
Blennerhassett tried to get something going before the break, but quarterback Casey Stoneking and tailbacks Kerr, Miller and Codi Dornick failed to find room to operate. The Bobcats' final two drives of the half ended on downs thanks to a Gage Stephens tackle for loss and an interception by Eagle Brandon Cottrill.
The Bobcats caught a break on a fumbled Edison punt at the end of the third quarter when Tyler Berry recovered it. A turnover on downs by BMS then set up Schwendeman's 25-yard scoring jaunt with 3:48 left in the contest. Edison's Dylan Cogar converted the run for two to make it 28-0.
Edison's Josh Enouch added a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter while Blennerhassett never got beyond midfield on its final drive that started when Evan DeGraef scooped up a Caleb Wells fumble.





