MOUNDSVILLE - Parkersburg South made it seven in a row and in doing so will be in the state football playoffs after defeating John Marshall, 48-21, Friday at Monarch Stadium.

The high-scoring Patriots offense score five unanswered touchdowns, two of which were set up by a defense which for the most part kept the high potent Monarch offense in check, especially in the second half.

Coach John Bolen had high praise for his team and his coaching staff after the final gun, noting that everyone with the exception of Hunter Ferguson was in top physical shape. He said Ferguson has had the flu for a couple weeks.

The Patriots had a concern midway through the third quarter when linebacker Beau Bertus was literally knocked out in a collision with a JM lineman. He was taken to the hospital where he was checked out, and according to the coach was doing "fine."

The first half was a see-saw affair. Although the Patriots took the opening kickoff and in seven plays reached paydirt when Michael Molinari scored from 33 yards out on a reverse with 3:45 elapsed in the game.

Bolen said we wanted to pound it out on the ground early and did so with six of the first seven plays being rushes.

With the placement following the touchdown having failed, the Patriots found themselves behind 7-6 as the Monarchs went 67 yards in eight plays following the ensuing kickoff, with the successful placement putting the Monarchs ahead for the only time in the game.

It became a 14-7 Patriot lead with 1:24 remaining in the first quarter as after Jacob Douglas returned a kickoff 27 yards to enable PS to start a 52-yard drive. The biggest play in the drive being a Cody Swearingen 34-yard aerial to Dustin Wigal.

The TD came on a Ferguson run from the 1. Jeffrey Kidder ran for the extra point to make it 14-7.

The Monarchs tied the score at 14 with 1:17 left before intermission going 57 yards in eight plays, climaxed by Aaron Fonner's 3-yard pass to Logan Martin. The Monarchs' PAT placement was good.

It was during the final 77 seconds of the first half that turned the game around as the Patriots were able to march 76 yards in six plays to go ahead 21-14 at intermission. After Ferguson picked up 16 yards to the PS 40, Swearingen hit three different receivers, first a 25-yard to Molinari, a 21-yard completion to Hunter Barton and a 14-yard aerial to Garrett Foggin for the TD which came with 20 seconds left in the second quarter. Molinari's placement made it 21-14 in favor of PS.

After the defense held the Monarchs on a three-and-out to start the third quarter, it was all Parkersburg South after that. The Patriots covered 76 yards in nine plays. The TD came with 5:43 remaining in the quarter on a Swearingen-to-Molinari 24 yard aerial. The drive also included 33 yards rushing by Cody Jarrell on two rushes while Ferguson tacked on 15 yards.

The Patriots would be back in the scoring column twice in the next 33 seconds as Jake Douglas intercepted a pass and found the end zone from 20 yards out. A Monarch fumble would be recovered by the Patriots at the JM 25-yard line, and on the first play after the recovery Swearingen connected with Molinari for yet another TD.

The Patriots made it 48-14 in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter on a 21-yard run by Jarrell.

The Monarchs, who closed out the season at 2-8, scored on a 33-yard pass from Fonner to Sam Robinson.

AAA state pairings

According to calculations by both The Parkersburg News and Sentinel as well as local ratings expert Ed Forshey, Parkersburg South finished in the No. 12 position in Class AAA and will play at No. 5 Fairmont Senior in the opening round of the state playoffs.

Parkersburg High finished in the No. 14 position and will play at No. 3 Bridgeport in the opening round.

The Patriots and Big Reds ended up in opposite brackets, so the only way they could meet each other in the playoffs -something that never has happened -would be in the Class AAA state championship game at Wheeling Island Stadium.

In spite of its 10-7 win over Ravenswood on Friday night in the annual Battle of the Hatchet, Ripley finished in the No. 9 position and thus will travel to No. 8 Nicholas County in the opening round.

Here's the way the pairings look:

Upper bracket: 16 Princeton at 1 Brooke; 9 Ripley at 8 Nicholas County; 13 University at 4 Spring Valley; 12 Parkersburg South at 5 Fairmont Senior

Lower bracket: 15 Lewis County at 2 South Charleston; 10 Morgantown at 7 Martinsburg; 14 Parkersburg at 3 Bridgeport; 11 Capital at 6 George Washington.