Photo by Duane West Parkersburg High running back Tyler Moler braces for impact with a George Washington defender during the Big Reds’ 32-7 win over the Patriots. Moler set a new school rushing record in the contest with 308 yards on the ground for head coach Mike Byus.

PARKERSBURG — On a night when Parkersburg’s defense had its best performance of the season, Tyler Moler one-upped them as the senior running back broke the single-game school rushing record during the No. 12 Big Reds’ 32-7 domination of No. 16 George Washington here Friday at Stadium Field.

“First of all, you got to give credence to the new school rushing record,” said second-year PHS head man Mike Byus, whose club led 19-7 at intermission and picked off Marshall University commit/GW quarterback Grant Wells four times.

“Great job by our defensive coaches and our defensive kids. They did a heckuva job. We got started slow offensively and we just hung in there. We tried to be more patient with the running game to give us a chance to hit some more big plays in the passing game.”

Moler, who finished with game-highs of 31 rushes for 311 yards to break the old mark of 290 set by Ryan Holbert back in 2002, was given a standing ovation following his 17-yard run with about 6 minutes left in the game to snap the previous record.

“This is probably the best defense we’ve played all year,” said Moler, who watched the Big Red defense win the total yards battle 475-206 with Wells finishing 13 of 27 for 115 yards, the four picks and one touchdown. “A lot of people don’t see that they’ve been practicing really hard, but it showed tonight.

“A lot of tonight was we wanted to finish the game and I think we successfully did that tonight. I never, honestly, I never could’ve even imagined that (a school record). It’s a dream. I’m still on cloud nine. I can’t believe that actually happened, but I got to give my credit to the guys up front. Without them that wouldn’t have happened, obviously.”

PHS, now 4-3 with a road trip next Friday at Hurricane, scored on its opening possession when Jake Johnson had a 3-yard TD pass to fullback Shane Miller. Isaac Withrow’s kick was true and the hosts led for good at 7-0 with 9 minutes left in the quarter.

The Big Reds’ second drive resulted in an interception when Kionte Peacock had a pass go off his hands and into the arms of Brayden McCallister. However, PHS got the ball right back when Brenton Strange picked off Wells.

With the score still 7-0 into the second stanza, GW (3-4) drove into the red zone and had it first-and-goal at the 4. However, on second-and-goal from the 6, Wells’ pass was intercepted by Strange and the recent Penn State commit returned it 100 yards for a score, but a holding call brought it back to the 20.

“How about we quit blocking behind the ball when we get picks,” Byus added. “The head coach, he’s going to find mistakes, right?”

Nonetheless, a 48-yard punt by Matt Curry flipped the field. On the ensuing GW drive, Gage Fiore caused a fumble on third down and the visitors had to punt.

Three plays later, Moler raced 53 yards to paydirt. He kicked in the jets around the 30 and outraced the GW secondary to the end zone. The kick was no good, but PHS led 13-0 at the 4:36 mark.

GW’s big-play offense showed its only true glimpse next. An 18-yard pass from Wells to Alex Mazelon followed by two Wells keepers which covered 18 and 38 yards, respectively, had the Patriots at first-and-goal. Two plays later, Mazelon somehow hauled in a 7-yard TD reception from Wells while in double coverage near the corner of the end zone.

Although Johnson missed a wide-open Strange on what would’ve been a 44-yard catch-and-run TD, the Big Reds caught a break when McCallister appeared to have a second pick, but his teammate was called for pass interference. That allowed Moler to dart 29 yards to the end zone for a 19-7 halftime advantage. Although he initially ran into Greyson Cooper, he bounced off his own lineman and scored.

Things didn’t get any better for the Patriots in the second half. In fact, GW had just 44 total yards after the break and 18 of those came on a trio of rushes on the Patriots’ last drive.

Needing some momentum, GW couldn’t find any after the break. Jalen King nearly had a pick-6 on the Patriots’ first series, but the Big Red couldn’t quite catch it. It was the same case for Big Red Jeremy Walls, who almost had a pick-6 as well late in the first quarter.

GW’s second drive of the third quarter was thwarted by a pair of sacks, one each from Strange and Jacob Woodyard. Wells tried a fake punt pass on fourth down, but it was incomplete.

Another sack by Strange put an end to the next GW drive and it was more Big Red defense yet again when Woodyard picked off Wells late in the third quarter.

Four plays later, Johnson tossed a perfect pass to Strange, who raced 37 yards to the end zone and a 25-7 PHS lead with 11:25 remaining.

On yet another first down play by GW, it was time for another turnover as Peacock grabbed a tipped pass to record his fifth interception of the campaign.

With the ball at their own 9, PHS got runs of 1, 7 and 3 yards from Moler, who on first-and-10 from the 20 bolted 80 yards to the house to punctuate the victory.

“Hey, we got stuff to work on, but great job by the kids tonight,” Byus added. “Finally, we got our head above .500 and we got a huge task next week when we go down to Hurricane. We better be ready to play.”

Along with his two sacks and two picks, Strange had five catches for 67 yards and Peacock had four grabs for 31 yards. Johnson, who rushed 10 times for 52 stripes, hit on 12 of 20 attempts for 108 yards.

Wells finished with 55 yards rushing on a dozen attempts and Mazelon concluded the night with game-highs of seven receptions for 70 yards.