×

Parkersburg Big Red boys shut out Riverside, 7-0

Photo by Joe Albright Parkersburg’s Parker Miller works against Riverside defenders Tuesday during the Big Reds’ 7-0 win over the Warriors. Miller scored two times for victorious Parkersburg.

PARKERSBURG — For the second straight game PHS head man Don Fosselman was out due to a red card suspension but his Big Reds still played like their leader was with them during a 7-0 win over Riverside Tuesday night at Stadium Field.

Both Parker Miller and Immanuel Opoku-Duah netted two goals apiece in the last game before Fosselman can rejoin the team.

“It is good he is coming back after tonight,” said Miller. “It just doesn’t feel right not having him on the sideline with us.”

Opoku-Duah made his presence felt early on as he assisted Teddy Hutson on the opening goal of the game in the 14th minute. Pokey hit his senior teammate with a precision pass which the senior buried to put the Big Reds up 1-0.

Miller tallied the only other goal of the half a minute later when he put one in past a diving Noah Underwood, the Riverside keeper for a 2-0 advantage.

The first half could have been a lot worse for Riverside as several PHS shots and putback attempts slammed hard off either the crossbar or goal posts.

“We just kept trying to get the shots off,” said Opoku-Duah. “May have been in a little bit of a rush but with the rebounds you have to be quick on your feet to take advantage of those moments the keeper is on the ground and the goal is open.”

Ian Domenick got the scoring fest started for the Big Reds in the second half after he took a ball off the foot of Matt Runyon and sent it to the back of the net in the 43rd minute for a 3-0 Big Reds lead.

Miller found the score box for the second time of the evening nine minutes into the final period of play.

Pokey would finally get on the scoreboard in the second half when Hutson thanked his teammate for the earlier assist by feeding Opoku-Duah the ball for a easy one-time in the 45th minute. The reigning co-offensive player of the year collected his second goal two minutes later when he broke away from his defender for an unassisted tally.

Jared Schmidt lit up the home side scoring total the final time on the evening when found paydirt in the 63rd minute. Teammate Anthony Bedford recorded the assist on Schmidt’s goal.

The Big Reds dominated every aspect of the game except for keeper saves. Riverside’s Underwood saved 12 shots while Parkersburg’s Jacob McKnight finished the evening with five saves. Other than that the Big Reds had more shots on goal 12-5, corner kicks 6-1 and time spent in the offensive zone. It was a spectacular defensive effort from the red-and-white ball stopping unit led by senior Jack Johnson on the evening.

In addition to the play on the field, entertainment also came from one of the Big Reds ball girls. Emma Withrow kept the ref and a few spectators entertained with her commentary of the night’s match. She enthusiastically cheered on Parkersburg and was quick to provide a ball whenever it was called for.

PHS will return to action when the welcome Huntington for a 7:30 p.m. start Thursday. The contest is a West Virginia Class AAA Region IV matchup.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today