Williamstown wide receiver Cooper Martin hauls in a 20-yard touchdown reception from Lynken Joy in double coverage during the second quarter of the No. 4 Yellowjackets’ 47-21 victory versus No. 13 Moorefield on Saturday afternoon in the opening round of the Class AA playoffs. (Photo by Nikki Allen)

WILLIAMSTOWN — Danner Hooper’s blocked punt that was recovered in the end zone by teammate Jenner Burge got No. 4 Williamstown rolling early here Saturday afternoon against No. 13 Moorefield in the opening round of the Class AA playoffs as the host Yellowjackets rolled to a 33-0 halftime advantage and cruised to a 47-21 triumph.

Williamstown, which reached the postseason for the 25th consecutive campaign, proceeded to find the end zone all four times it had the ball in the first half as head coach Chris Beck’s squad now will take on No. 5 Wheeling Central next week with a berth in the state semifinals on the line.

“It was really good to get a good start,” admitted coach Beck, whose reserves gave up TD runs of 70 and 78 yards to Yellow Jacket Diego Taylor as well as a 2-yard scoring burst from Dalton Ault. “Big play by our special teams.

“Danner is a really good player and makes a lot of plays for us and he did right there. It got us off to a good start. Really happy with the way we played offensively. The field got really choppy and slick. We’ll see if it recovers for next week and what it’s going to be like. It’s always good to go out there and set the tone.”

The 4-7 Yellow Jackets of head man Matt Altobello opened the affair with a 12-yard completion from Cyrus Kump, who hit 5 of 10 for 74 stripes, to Ben Watts. Will Sites forced a third-and-11 after a 2-yard tackle for loss on Riley Pillus and the visitors had to punt after an incomplete pass on third down.

“I knew he (Kyle Molen) rolled to the right side and kind of like a rugby kick and I was just trying to get it,” admitted Hooper. “I put my arms up and it hit me. I was chasing after it and then I see Jenner Burge, number 74, and he was running.

“He’s a little faster than me so I kind of let him and I was looking back trying to block for him. It was big for the mindset, you know, getting a quick touchdown. It was good.”

WHS signal-caller Lynken Joy, who completed 7 of 9 for 86 yards with three touchdowns and also rushed six times for 79 yards, left with the starters following a 12-yard TD strike to Carson Haines, which made it 40-0 with 6 minutes left in third following Lyric Perdue’s extra point.

“Our backups got to get a little better and keep putting the work in at practice, but looking forward we got to keep working and get better honestly. I think we’ll be fine,” said Joy.

“That (punt block) got us going and we were excited about that. It really got us psyched and helped us a lot. We’ll enjoy this one for tonight, but tomorrow we got to start putting that work in.”

Moorefield managed a second first down on its next series thanks to a 4-yard run by Oliver Crites, but Hooper had a key tackle for loss that helped force a punt.

Coach Beck’s program proceeded to march 71 yards in 10 plays on their first drive as Cooper Billingsley’s 40-yard TD run made it 13-0 with 1:49 left in the first following the extra point by Perdue, who had his first attempt blocked by Chayse Myers.

A Kump 19-yard completion to Shawn Reed got the Yellow Jackets into Williamstown territory, but the visitors were forced to punt.

After Joy broke off a 60-yard run, three plays later he fired into the end zone and Cooper Martin made a tough grab in double coverage for a 20-yard scoring strike. Although the PAT failed, Moorefield trailed 19-0 with 8:54 remaining in the first half.

The Yellow Jackets proceeded to fumble on their second play of the ensuing drive as Sites came away with the recovery. The eight-play scoring drive was finished off by Billingsley’s 8-yard TD run and it was 26-0 at the 4:38 mark following Perdue’s extra point.

Things went from bad to worse for MHS as the punter Molen slipped and lost 11 yards, which gave the host ‘Jackets the ball at the 9. Joy didn’t waste any time finding the end zone as he hit Martin on the first play in the front corner of the end zone for the 33-0 halftime bulge.

“I thought it was great getting the young guys in and they got a lot of playing time in the second half,” added coach Beck. “That bodes well for the future and lets us get out healthy and get ready for next week. You got to kind of turn the page quick in the playoffs.

“It’s the nature of the beast. If you look across double-A the quarterfinals are going to be a drag out. You got six or seven teams that are really, really good and there’s going to be a lot of great quarterfinal matches. We know Central is much improved and we’re going to have our hands full.”

Joy’s final touchdown pass to Haines was set up by a bad punt snap that forced Molen to take off scrambling, but he was tackled for no gain by Blake Brown.

Taylor’s 70-yard run to paydirt came at 5:50 of the third and Ault followed with his score just 41 ticks into the fourth. It was 40-14 after Kump ran in the conversion.

Williamstown, which only allowed 77 rushing yards on 38 attempts aside from Taylor’s two long jaunts, made it 47-14 with 8:01 left when Jackson Kerr had a 13-yard touchdown run.

Taylor finished with a game-high 145 ground yards on three attempts, while Billingsley added 81 stripes on eight totes. Haines (3-56) and Martin (3-31) led the receiving corps for WHS, which saw backup signal-caller Breck Allen complete 2 of 3 attempts for 13 yards.

Wheeling Central and head coach Mike Young will be out for some revenge after the Maroon Knights had a big lead in the first quarter during week three before losing at home to the Yellowjackets, 36-25.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com