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Blue Devils headed to Pendleton

Photo by Jay W. Bennett Darrien Bortey of St. Marys (8) and teammate Cyle West (16), pictured here getting ready to tackle Wirt County’s Garrett Parsons in a game earlier this year at Wilson-Eismon Field, are the top two tacklers for the Blue Devils of head coach Jodi Mote, who play at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the Class A state quarterfinals at Pendleton County.

FRANKLIN — Fourth-year Pendleton County head football coach Zac Smith knows the task at hand come 1:30 p.m. here Saturday at Slusher Field isn’t going to be an easy one when his No. 3 Wildcats (10-1) tangle with No. 6 St. Marys (9-2) in the Class A state quarterfinals.

In the short history of PCHS, which began in 1998 following the consolidation of Franklin and Circleville, the postseason has not been kind to the Wildcats when it comes to playing programs from the Little Kanawha Conference. During all three previous affairs, the Wildcats were eliminated from the playoffs. The first time was in 2003 versus Parkersburg Catholic and the other two came against Williamstown in 2006 and 2014.

“We know they are going to be well coached. That’s obvious,” Smith said. “I know coach (Jodi) Mote from Glenville State camp. I’ve met him out there and became acquainted with him there.

“He does a great job with his program and getting the best out of his kids. Just a good program and a good football team coming here, but really we’ve got to stop their run game. They had a big week against Cameron last week.”

That was indeed the case for the Blue Devils as William Steele scored twice and finished with 128 yards on 11 attempts. SMHS signal-caller Brennan Boron had a career-high 84 yards rushing and scored a touchdown on the ground for the fifth consecutive week.

“Obviously, we are the underdog,” said Mote, who got a pair of tackles for loss apiece last week from Aaron Henderson and Riley Boley. “That’s just the way it works and we just got to go over and see what we can do.

“Offensively, they are mostly in gun. They are big and strong it looks like on film and they got very good size upfront and the quarterback is a very good athlete.”

Much like Boron, Wildcat junior QB Isaiah Gardiner is a dual threat.

“He really stepped up last week and had one of his best games, if not his best game of the season,” Smith said of Gardiner. “He was real efficient (10 of 16). He had a pick but threw two touchdowns as well. He really did it with his legs too. He had about 140 yards rushing. Just a real hard-nosed kid.”

The Blue Devil defense can expect to see a trio of backs getting carries in Dalton Dunkle, Javen Fawley and Colt Smith. Although coach Smith admitted wideout Javin Kuykendall “has had some big catches for us” he was quick to point out the Wildcats also have threats in Keinyn Lockard and Braden McClanahan, who led them last week with 70 yards and a score.

“It’s phenomenal the feeling going in,” coach Smith said of being back in the postseason and a win away from the semifinals. “Really, we took the success from last year. We just have a lot of winners and competitors on the team. We lost a great bunch of seniors.

“The group we had come back, the sophomores from last year really stepped up as a junior group. Of course our quarterback this year and (junior) Josh Alt, who plays tackle, guard and defensive end, are just some great kids. They really have helped this senior class lead the team.”

Despite trailing at halftime last week against Cameron, the Blue Devils roared to victory in the second half, which is something coach Smith was quick to point out.

“That was a tale of two halves. They just dominated the second half,” said the PCHS head man. “St. Marys had a couple turnovers that hurt them and after halftime they came out with a lot of fire.”

On the season, Ben Long (113-596), Steele (47-459) and Dylan Patterson (39-271) have led the SMHS ground attack. Boron has hit 77 of 154 attempts for 1,382 yards with 11 TDs and eight picks. Lucas Lipscomb leads the receivers with 29 grabs for 730 yards and seven scores. Jason Clayton and Levi Rice have combined to haul in 26 receptions for 399 stripes.

“It was 28-14 (Cameron) going into the half and those guys just came out second half and played with a little more fire,” Mote said. “That’s a credit to them for not wanting to be finished soon and wanting to play at least one more week.

“We made a little bit of an adjustment there on the defensive side and they came out second half and played with a little more fire and a little more emotion than the first half I thought.”

Cyle West leads the Blue Devil defense with 50 solo tackles and Darrien Bortey had 41 solo stops and a team-high eight tackles for loss.

Never before, which also includes the previous schools prior to consolidation, has St. Marys and Pendleton County played on the gridiron.

“That part of it is unique, just seeing a different atmosphere and a different environment,” Mote added. “It will be something the kids always remember going over there and playing. That’s part of what you like about the playoffs because you get to experience something new.

“It’s special with how the playoffs in West Virginia and how they work out and the different matchups you have and stuff. We’re supposed to be where we are at and hopefully we’ll go over there and play the best we can.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

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