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Ohio blanks West Virginia, 23-0, in BACF game

By Mike Morrison 5 min read

ST. MARYS - It was all Ohio Friday night in the 30th annual Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis Football Classic at Bill Hanlin Field in St. Marys.

Former Marietta Tiger Seth Britton rushed for a pair of touchdowns and the Ohio defense completely shut down the Mountaineer squad en route to a 23-0 win.

Britton earned Most Valuable Player honors for the Ohio side after rushing for 115 yards on 19 carries while scoring on runs of six and nine yards.

The Ohio squad came up empty on their first possession but took advantage of some great field position on their second try to take the early lead.

Barnesville's Evan Lough buried the West Virginia squad at their own one-yard line with a beautiful 48-yard punt and the stingy Buckeye defense allowed them to advance only a single yard.

Ohio took over possession at the WVU 40-yard line and it took them just four plays to get into the end zone.

Britton put on a clinic as he carried the ball all four times right up the middle displaying his ability to keep moving forward despite contact from the WVU defense.

"It's fun to run somebody over and that's the best part of football if you ask me," said Britton. "Everybody was ready to go and we played with a lot of energy."

His 11-yard run moved the ball to the six-yard line where he carried it in for the first score of the game.

Ohio head coach Eric Huck called Britton's number once again on the two-point conversion and he delivered once again giving the Buckeyes an 8-0 lead.

West Virginia came up empty on perhaps there best opportunity of the game to get points on the board early in the second quarter when they took over possession of the ball at the Ohio 33-yard line.

WVU head coach Rob Price gave the ball three consecutive times to Fairmont's Dominic Fantasia and they moved the ball into the red zone.

The Mountaineer threat came up empty however when Southern's Zach Thomas picked off St. Marys quarterback Ryan Kent inside the 10-yard line and returned the ball all the way out to the 33-yard line.

The Ohio squad would take advantage of that gift as they put together a 12-play, 67-yard drive with Britton sealing the deal on a 9-yard run.

Lough's extra point was good to give the Ohio team a 15-0 lead.

The WVU squad threatened once again on their final possession of the opening half as Kent connected on a 45-yard pass to Wirt County's Porter Goodwin to move the ball deep into Ohio territory once again.

Thomas came up with his second big play of the half as he knocked away a pass from Kent at the five- yard line with only seconds remaining in the half to turn the ball back over to the Ohio squad and keep the blue and gold scoreless.

As good as the Ohio defense was in the opening half they were even better in the second as they allowed the Mountaineer squad to secure just one first down in the final 24 minutes.

Huck was obviously quite pleased with his team's defensive effort led by three players that played for him at Fort Frye in Braxton Ross, Treven Nicholson and Maddox Huck.

"They know the system really well and they were able to just kind of play free," said Huck, "They are all very good football players and that is why they are here."

The Ohio squad capped their scoring in the fourth quarter when Buckeye Trail's Blake Wayble scored on a five-yard run with just over three minutes to play in the game.

Big Zach Goble from Meigs carried the rock into the end zone for the two-point conversion.

The win was the second in a row for the Ohio team after a 9-7 win last year and was there 14th win overall in 30 tries in the Classic.

Huck had high praise for Britton whom he has seen quite a bit of over the past few years in the Twin States League match-ups between the Tigers and the Cadets.

I see why he (Britton) did what he did this past year for Marietta, "said Huck of Britton, "It was really nice to have him on our side for once."

Britton was thrilled to have such a big game for a great cause in what will likley be his final game of football for some time as he intends to attend Ohio University in the fall.

"It was a lot of fun and all the guys out there were so energetic," said Britton. "It was a blast and I couldn't have asked for a better ending."

The Ohio defense limited the WVU squad to just 130 total yards in the game.

"The defense played extremely well especially up front," said Huck. "I thought our front seven would be pretty good and they were unbelievable."

Ritchie County punter Braden Haught earned MVP honors for the WVU squad as he punted the ball five times and averaged over 42 yards per kick.

Huck had coached in the Classic in the past and was pleased to be part of such a great event.

"It was a much better outcome this time," joked Huck, who came out on the short end his first time," It's a lot of work for the kids and our coaching staff to do this but it's for such a great cause and it makes it all worth it."

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