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Brody Ewing, Tyler Smith lead Wirt past Webster, 43-7

By Jay W. Bennett 4 min read

ELIZABETH -- Tyler Smith threw four touchdown passes and Brody Ewing found paydirt thrice here Friday night for host Wirt County as the Tigers rolled to a 43-7 Little Kanawha Conference homecoming victory versus Webster County in a battle of ranked Class A programs.

The No. 19 Highlanders of third-year head coach Eddie Williams lost senior running back Isaac Cutlip at 8:39 of the second when he had to leave via ambulance. Fellow senior and starting two-way lineman Jackie Ferguson, who didn't return with a leg injury, was injured on the same play while making a tackle.

"It really just kind of takes any good emotions that you feel from winning the game," admitted Wirt County head coach Jason Hickman, whose No. 18 Tigers improved to 4-2 with a road trip set for next Friday at Pocahontas County.

"It just kind of takes it away because you hate to see that. I don't care who it is. I hate it for them. I hope he'll be OK. Obviously, he's in our thoughts and prayers, for sure."

Webster County, which slipped to 3-3 and has a week off before heading to Gilmer County, forced the Tigers to punt on the first drive of the game, but the Highlanders' drive ended at the orange and black 29 after Cutlip was held to no gain on a fourth-and-1 snap.

Porter Goodwin, who finished with three catches for a game-high 117 yards, caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Smith after Ewing broke off a 28-yard gain to put the hosts ahead for good at 3:47 of the first.

Goodwin and Smith hooked up on the next drive for a 69-yard touchdown as the wideout was all alone and raced down the Tigers' sideline. The two-point conversion failed again, but it was 12-0 with 59.6 still on the clock.

On the first play of the second quarter, Webster County's Kaleb Amos went back to punt and was roughed. Although a flag was thrown, it was picked up due to an inadvertent whistle and he had to punt again.

The Tigers proceeded to go on an eight-play, 76-yard scoring march that was capped by Ewing's 21-yard touchdown run, which came one play after the injuries to Cutlip and Ferguson.

Down 18-0, the Highlanders got across midfield when Amos hauled in a 10-yard reception from Isaac Snyder, but a holding penalty stalled the drive.

Coach Hickman's squad started the ensuing drive from its own 18, but Ewing ripped off a 51-yard gain and eventually scored from the 3. The conversion pass failed and the visitors trailed 24-0 with 1:59 left in the half.

Ewing's interception of Snyder on the second play of the next series gave the Tigers possession again. Ewing had catches of 11 and 13 yards before a 14-yard rush made it first-and-goal at the 9. On the next play, Smith hit Jake Moore for a touchdown on a ball that was deflected to set the halftime score at 30-0.

"I think all the way around it was a good game," added coach Hickman, who watched Ewing run for 196 stripes on 17 totes with Smith completing 12 of 18 for 231 yards. "We played hard, played well.

"It just kind of takes the air out of the balloon a little bit when someone gets hurt like that. We did a good job tonight and executed pretty well, and got back on track. Hopefully we can build off this and continue to work."

The Tigers had it first-and-goal at the 9 again early in the third after Smith hit Easton Wyer on a 6-yard completion. Ewing darted into the end zone on the next play and the Highlanders trailed 37-0 following Kolton Toler's extra point.

Ewing was Johnny-on-the-spot when he recovered a Webster County fumble on its next possession. That led to the Tigers' final six-pointer of the night which came via a 48-yard scoring strike from Smith to Isaiah Sampson.

Wirt County got the ball right back when Toler came away with an interception when teammate Caiden Stilgenbauer hit Snyder.

The Tigers, who also had a fumble recovery by Adryon Hartford on a Webster County muffed punt, were unable to pitch the shutout. With 6:10 remaining on a running clock, Snyder found Mylo Rivera for a 6-yard touchdown pass as Elise Moll's extra point set the final score.

Webster County, which lost the total yards battle 508 to 153, had its final drive come to an end when Isaiah Cutlip was picked off by Bryceston Nichols.

Tiger fullback Holden Siers chipped in 48 rushing yards on six attempts, while Snyder finished 10 of 17 for 97 yards with Rivera (4-36) and Ryder Wright (2-35) being his top targets.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

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