Photo by Duane West Parkersburg South’s Mason Reams (10) returns a punt as Parkersburg’s Owen Collins (15) tries for the tackle during a high school football game Friday at Erickson All-Sports Facility.

PARKERSBURG — Parkersburg South put on an offensive show here Friday night at Erickson All-Sports Facility as the Class AAA, No. 2 Patriots dominated No. 4 Parkersburg, 55-7, in the 55th edition of the crosstown rivalry.

Despite falling behind 20-0, the Big Reds (2-1) of first-year head coach Matt Kimes had some life when Aidyn Cooke hauled in a 16-yard touchdown pass from David Parsons with 1:49 left before intermission, which cut the deficit to a baker’s dozen after Casey Stanley’s extra point.

Anthony Ice then had an interception of Patriot signal-caller Robert Shockey, who went 16 of 23 for 276 yards and four touchdowns, and the red and white thought they were in business again.

However, the Patriot defense forced a three-and-out and following a negative 1-yard punt, the Patriots took over at the Big Red 34 with just 13.4 ticks left on the clock.

Shockey went to work and hit tailback Gage Wright, who rushed nine times for 90 stripes, for a 12-yard gain to move it to the 22 with 5.4 left. On the next play, Cyrus Traugh caught a pass in the middle of the field and somehow managed to elude several Big Red defenders before sprinting across the grass and scoring a touchdown inside the pylon for a 27-7 advantage following Miciah Jones’ PAT.

Photo by Duane West Parkersburg South's Cyrus Traugh (1) runs with the ball as a host of Parkersburg defenders try to bring him down during a high school football game Friday at Erickson All-Sports Facility.

“It was amazing, especially because we had it at home,” admitted Traugh, who caught six balls for 80 yards and helped the hosts to the 20-0 lead with a 38-yard TD run and a 1-yard scoring grab from Shockey. “I felt like we had the advantage and we had a chip on our shoulders, especially from last year (a 28-19 loss).

“It wasn’t really a certain design. I mean you just got to try and wiggle out. This year feels really special. We got guys all over the field who are dogs.”

Wright’s 14-yard TD burst late in the first made it 14-0.

“I thought our kids played hard from the get-go and just set the tone,” admitted Patriot boss Nathan Tanner, whose 4-0 squad plays at 7:30 p.m. next Friday at John Marshall. ”

“I thought we executed real well and stayed focused. Every week we are trying to dominate. I thought we were able to gain some momentum right there (at the end of the half) and it was a little bit of a back-breaker.”

PHS, which plays next Friday at Cabell Midland, trailed 340-111 in total yards at the half and it ended up 567-190 with a running clock in the fourth quarter.

“They are better than us right now,” admitted coach Kimes, whose team rushed 32 times for 49 yards with Parsons (17 of 30 for 141 yards) leading the way with 49 stripes on nine totes. “We didn’t play very well in the first half, but still found ourselves in a football game with a minute to go and we get a pick and we didn’t execute our offense very well.

“I’m really upset with our punt team tonight. We can’t have that happen and they score on the last play of the half, and it kind of took the sails out of us. I don’t question our want to and our effort. I just think we are not very detail oriented sometimes and we got to start caring about things that helps us with winning football games a little more.”

Prior to Cooke’s score, Traugh’s 1-yard shovel pass capped a nine-play, 97-yard drive.

“Coming out here I was just playing to win,” admitted Shockey, who also rushed for a game-high 119 yards on 11 carries. “I was in my own head expecting a big win. It’s great. We’re going to ride this momentum into next week.

“After their touchdown and that pick we just needed to bounce back and getting the stop on defense was big. I saw Cy over the middle and I hit him and he made a play. I didn’t think he was going to score.”

PSHS needed just five plays to cover 60 yards in 61 seconds to open the second half. Traugh had a 24-yard catch, Shockey ran for 12 yards and Wright broke through the middle of the PHS defense for a 23-yard gain to the 1, which he then took in for a 34-7 cushion.

The Big Reds opened the second half with a three-and-out and Eli Bartley got in on the scoring with a 26-yard gallop untouched to paydirt for a 41-7 lead at 8:26 of the third.

Shockey avoided a sack and fired a 28-yard TD strike to Triston Walker at 1:15 of the third. The final six-pointer was an 18-yard TD pass to Mason Reams with 4:38 remaining.

Aside from Traugh, Walker (4-87) and Turner Garretson (3-73) were Shockey’s other top targets.

Austin Fleming (5-38), Ice (4-26) and Andrew Stalnaker (3-31) were Parsons’ top receivers. He was picked off by in the first quarter by Braeden Hamilton, which led to Wright’s first score.

Parkersburg South’s most points scored in the all-time series, which PHS still leads 38-17, came in the 2019 campaign during a 49-14 victory at the EASF.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com