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Yellowjackets fold to St. Marys

WILLIAMSTOWN — Whoever executes in all three phases of the game Friday night will come away with a victory.

This quote by St. Marys head man Jodi Mote could not have been more true after his No. 3 West Virginia Class A Blue Devils improved to 5-0 on the season after a 21-7 victory over rival Williamstown at the Yellowjackets’ place Friday night.

The phrase was especially foreshadowing as heavy rainstorms pervaded the evening’s festivities and turned the playing surface into a quagmire for the rest of the contest.

Not only was the playing field slick but so was the ball. St. Marys coughed up the pigskin six times in the first half (losing none) and Williamstown’s Trenton Tallman had a few snaps either sail over his head or slip out of his grip in the second half.

“He was looking all over for a towel in the second half,” said Williamstown head coach Terry Smith. “We had plenty on the sideline but we had no way to easily get them in to him. He ended up wiping his hands on the wide receivers jerseys.”

Both teams kept the ball on the ground in the early going.

After winning the coin toss and electing to receive, No. 11 Williamstown (4-2) ran three plays on its first series (two runs, one pass) before being forced to punt.

The Blue Devils also elected for the run after taking over at the Yellowjackets’ 44. Ryan Miller busted out jaunts of 20 and 37 yards and Jaiden Smith had a 6-yard carry to put the ball at the Williamstown 1. Smith was unable to finish the drive on the next player, however, Will Billeter found the scoring box one play later for the first score of the game. Georg Krogh hit the extra point and the visitors had an early 7-0 lead.

After the two teams swapped punts, Tallman decided it was time to get his team on the scoreboard. Facing a 3rd and 6 on his own 44, the Williamstown senior broke through several tackles and rumbled for a season-long 54 yards to put his team on the board. Tallman finished the first half with 13 rushes for 126 yards.

Boston Caruthers made the extra point to knot things up at 7-all.

The visitors responded by driving the ball down to the home team’s 12-yard line but the drive came to a sudden halt. Billeter turned back for a handoff without the ball on 4th and 3 and had to dive on it. But it wasn’t enough for the first down and Williamstown took over with 1:32 left in the half.

Tallman ran the ball a few times for Williamstown but St. Marys bottled him up and time ran out in the half.

St. Marys’ opening drive of the second half ran 7:18 off the clock but it ended badly after Krogh missed a field goal wide ride from 24 yards out.

The Yellowjackets went for a 4th and 3 on their next possession but didn’t get it to put St. Marys in business at the Williamstown 32. The home team would regret their decision when Billeter, after seeing Yellowjacket pressure up the middle, rolled left out of the pocket and saw nothing but open grass to the end zone. The senior rumbled 19 yards to paydirt to put the visitors up 13-7 after Krogh missed the extra point.

“I just rolled away from the pressure and saw there were no maroon jersey’s within 10 yards of me,” said Billeter, who was 6 of 8 for 124 yards and three scores (two on the ground and one through the air). “I just took off and ran it in to give us the lead.”

“That score was really big,” said Mote. “But I was a bit concerned after Krogh missed the extra point. Williamstown could have marched down the field and got a score and extra point and one the game by one point.”

Mote’s squad upped the score to 15-7 after Williamstown’s Evan Amos ran a wild snap out of the back of his end zone for a safety with 2:43 left in the game. After the free kick, St. Marys put the game away for good when Billeter found Barnhart on a flat route for a 44-yard score.

Barnhart had four catches on the night, all on the flat route, for 82 yards and the score.

“We just take whatever the defense gave us tonight,” said Mote. “We had a good play call where he snuck out in the flat and another guy just kept going. Fortunately, Barnhart was open alot this evening for us to get the ball to him.”

Tallman attempted to get drives going in the second half for the home team but the St. Marys defense was all over him. After he picked up a first down on an 11-yard run early in the half, the Blue Devils defense clamped down on him for the rest of the game. He ran the ball seven times for 11 yards in the second half and his team posted -5 yards overall after halftime. Jacob Northrup ended the game with 58.5 seconds left when he smacked Donathan Taylor on a fourth down play to give the ball back to St. Marys.

The Blue Devils will be back in action when they welcome Calhoun County for a 7:30 p.m. start Friday. Meanwhile, Williamstown will travel to Buffalo for a 7:30 p.m. start the same day.

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