PARKERSBURG - Playing its best game of the season, Parkersburg Catholic upended undefeated and fourth-ranked Valley Fayette 37-14 in a Class A matchup Saturday afternoon at Stadium Field, as quarterback Payton Sturm passed for four touchdowns and the Crusader defense stifled most of the Greyhounds' potent offense throughout the game.
No. 23 Catholic improved to 4-4 with the impressive victory and, more importantly, kept its playoffs hopes alive as the Crusaders tallied two touchdowns in three possessions after Valley, now 6-1, had closed to 15-14 in the third quarter to push their lead to a commanding 30-14 with just 5:52 to play.
Southpaw Sturm connected on 12 of his 22 aerials Saturday for 173 yards with the scoring strikes going to Mitch Davis (7 catches, 138 yards) from 56 and 34 yards out as well as to Ryan Schriner from the 10 and Nick Roedersheimer from the 9.
Article Photos
Photo by Jay W. Bennett
Valley Fayette’s Nathan Phillips gets a fist full of Parkersburg Catholic quarterback Payton Sturm’s jersey on Saturday afternoon at Stadium Field. The Crusaders upset the No. 4 Greyhounds on Homecoming, 37-14.
PC also outrushed the ground-oriented Greyhounds 170-161, intercepted three passes and recovered a Valley fumble.
But before the Crusaders got on the board, they had to stave off a serious Valley scoring threat in what turned out to be a scoreless first quarter. From the Catholic 2, a 4th-down pass into the end zone drew double coverage by Sturm and Roedersheimer, with Roedersheimer making a diving interception after the ball was popped up in the air on the collision between the two defenders and the intended receiver.
With 2:08 to go in the first half, Sturm rolled left from his own 44 and found Davis on a crossing pattern at the Valley 45. Davis made a one-handed grab, got to the sideline, turned upfield, eluded one tackler and then skipped past another defender at the Greyhound 20 while staying inbounds to score.
Fact Box
At Stadium Field, Parkersburg
No. 23 Parkersburg Catholic 37,
No. 4 Valley Fayette 14
Valley (6-1) 0 6 8 0 - 14
Catholic (4-4) 0 15 8 14 - 37
C: Mitch Davis 56 pass from Payton Sturm (Peter Keiser kick), 2:08, 2nd
V: Darius Hutchinson 50 run (pass failed), 1:37, 2nd
C: Ryan Schriner 10 pass from Sturrm (Davis pass from Sturm), 14.3 seconds, 2nd
V: Cody Winter 1 run (Winter run), 7:50, 3rd
C: Nick Roedersheimer 9 pass from Sturm (Davis pass from Sturm), 42.7 seconds, 3rd
C: Davis 34 pass from Sturm (Keiser kick), 5:52, 4th
C: Charles Schriner 19 run (Keiser kick), 1:09, 4th
Team stats
Valley: First downs: 9. Rushes-yards: 30-161. Passing yards: 75. Total yards: 236. Passing: 2-16-2. Punts-avg. 3-38.3. Fumbles-lost: 2-1. Penalties-yards: 8-51.
Catholic: First downs: 18. Rushes-yards: 42-170. Passing yards: 173. Total yards: 343. Passing: 12-22-0. Punts-avg: 3-26.0. Fumbles-lost: 1-0. Penalties-yards: 7-60.
Individual leaders
Valley: Rushing: Cody Winter 15-56, TD; Darius Hutchison 2-52, TD; Matt Whiteside 6-33, Henry Barron 2-24; Passing: Matt Whiteside 2-16-2, 75 yards; Receiving: Dante Wilkerson 2-75.
Catholic: Rushing: Payton Sturm 20-58, Mitch Davis 11-50, Charles Schriner 6-48, TD; Ryan Schriner 5-14; Passing: Payton Sturm 12-22-0, 173 yards, 4 TDs; Receiving: Mitch Davis 7-138, 2 TDs; Nick Roedersheimer 4-25, TD; Ryan Schriner 1-10, TD
Next games: Richwood at Valley Fayette Friday; Catholic at Williamstown 7:30 p.m. Friday
St. Albans 20, Ripley 14 (OT)
Ripley (3-5) 0 7 0 7 0 - 14
St. Albans (1-7) 7 0 7 0 6 - 20
SA: Michael Cain 1 run (Gavin Smith kick) 6:23, 1st
R: Tyler Pittenger 2 run (Easton Berry kick) 1:25, 2nd
SA: Drew Kirby 21 pass from Noah Reed (Smith kick) 7:59, 3rd
R: Jake Martin 3 run (Berry kick) :57, 4th
SA: Drew Kirby 20 run, OT
Team stats
Ripley: First downs: 11; Rushes-yards: 45-133; Passing yards: 77; Total yards: 210; Passing: 5-11; Punts-average: 2-32.5; Fumbles-lost: 4-2; Penalties-yards: 4-30
St. Albans: First downs: 14; Rushes-yards: 42-180; Passing yards: 102; Total yards: 282; Passing: 11-19; Punts-average: 1-33.0; Fumbles-lost: 3-1; Penalties-yards: 5-37
Individual leaders
Ripley: Jake Martin 23-78; Passing: Jake Martin 5-11, 77; Receiving: Kade Harrison 2-41
St. Albans: Taylor Clark 25-142; Passing: Noah Reed 11-19, 102; Receiving: Kyle Boles 3-37
Next game: South Charleston at Ripley Friday
Gallia Academy 52, Warren 21
Gallia (6-2) 21 14 7 10 0 - 52
Warren (2-6) 7 7 0 7 - 21
First quarter
GA: Ty Warnimont 59 run (Dylan Saunders kick) 10:03
W: Jake Scott 4 run (Chas Miller kick) 5:22
GA: Wade Jarrell 16 run (Saunders kick) 3:02
GA: Cody Russell 1 run (Saunders kick) 1:18
Second quarter
GA: Nick Clagg 39 run (Saunders kick) 10:42
GA: Russell 10 pass from Jarrell (Saunders kick) 2:01
W: Jake Scott 3 pass from Dylan Leffingwell (Miller kick) 0
Third quarter
GA: Luke Pullins 5 run (Saunders kick) 3:10
GA: Saunders 25 field goal 8:26
GA: Clagg 45 interception return (Saunders kick) 7:59
W: Austin Kuhn 9 run (Miller kick) 7:27
Team stats
Gallia: First downs: 12; Rushes/yds: 41-347; Passing yds: 83: Passing (comp/att/TD/int): 4-9-1-0; Total yds: 430; Penalties/yds: 2-30; Punts/avg: 3-29.0; Fumbles/lost: 1/0
Warren: First downs: 15; Rushes/yds: 30-142; Passing yds: 161; Passing (comp/att/TD/int): 17-30-1-2; Total yds: 303; Penalties/yds: 1-5; Punts/avg: 1-23; Fumbles/lost: 3/3
Individual leaders
Gallia: Rushing: Cody Russell 7-22, TD; Luke Pullins 10-54, TD; Wade Jarrell 8-34, TD; Ty Warnimont 6-134, TD; Nick Clagg 4-98, TD; Logan Allison 4-8; Cody Call 2-(-3); Passing: Wade Jarrell 4-9-83 yds, TD; Receiving: Justin Bailey 1-31; Logan Allison 1-25; Cody Russell 2-27
Warren: Rushing: Austin Kuhn 18-148, TD; Dylan Leffingwell 4-(-12); Jake Scott 5-3, TD; Andy Farnsworth 1-3; Tanner Huck 1-(-4); Lance Schafer 1-4; Passing: Dylan Leffingwell 17-30-161 yds, TD, 2 int; Receiving: Jake Scott 3-21, TD; Chas Miller 3-27; David Ryan 1-5; Andrew Henthorn 3-16; Andrew Vincent 6-92
The 7-0 lead didn't last long though as Valley came right back with a TD as Darius Hutchinson rumbled 50 yards to paydirt just a half a minute later at 1:37, although a 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete to leave the 'Hounds still trailing, but only by 7-6.
But Catholic recovered an onside kick try by Valley at 1:31 at the Crusader 45. Sturm hit on passes of 13 yards to Davis and 16 to Roedersheimer to the 10. Two plays later, Sturm found Ryan Schriner all alone in the middle inside the 5 and he took it in with 14.3 seconds left. A 2-point conversion pass from Sturm to Davis made it 15-6 at the half.
Valley came out to start the second half and ran Cody Winter seven straight times to reach the PC 21, from where Henry Barron swept right for 20 yards to the 1, and Winter rammed over the left side for both a TD and 2-point conversion to bring his team within 1.
However, Catholic came right back down the field with a touchdown on a 9-yard pass from Sturm to Roedersheimer, followed by a 2-point pass from Sturm to Davis with 42.7 seconds left in the third quarter to move ahead 23-14.
Then after Ryan Schriner pounced on a fumble at the Valley 37 with 7:32 to play, Sturm lofted a pass down the sideline to Davis, who got behind his defender for a 34-yard touchdown pass for a 30-14 lead.
And after Davis made a diving interception at the Valley 44 with 5:29 remaining, Charles Schriner banged his way 19 yards up the middle and into the end zone for the game's final TD.
''If we come out and execute, we're a good team,'' said Catholic head coach Jeff Campbell. ''It's just a matter of being consistent. The kids really had a great week watching film, and really played smart.''
Campbell stressed that his team's ''getting better. In the last few games, we've been playing good. We're getting a little bit healthier too. But I'm just really proud of them; they played hard today.''
