Parkersburg South's Asa Yost tries to stiff arm Spring Mills' Bradley Butts during the Patriots' 41-0 setback on Friday night at Erickson All-Sports Facility. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

PARKERSBURG — It was a Halloween night of horrors for host Parkersburg South here Friday inside the Erickson All-Sports Facility as the No. 14 Patriots were upended 41-0 by No. 8 Spring Mills in a battle of ranked quad-A programs.

An already injured-riddled Patriot squad lost the services of both Channing Barrett and Logan Graham as first-year head coach Larry Thompson’s squad was outgained 420-81, had six fumbles and lost one while being intercepted five times en route to falling to 2-7 with senior night up next week versus Cabell Midland.

“We couldn’t get in a rhythm all night,” admitted coach Thompson, whose team couldn’t find any running room and finished with 3 yards on 24 attempts. “We had a few opportunities early and couldn’t execute. When we did start to move the ball we continued to shoot ourselves in the foot. Spring Mills played well and took advantage of opportunity.”

Cardinal Hayden Raymond’s sack of signal-caller Kinzyn Lutchmansingh on third down forced the Patriots to punt on the game’s opening series as the visitors took the lead for good following a short 10-play, 30-yard drive that was capped by a fourth-and-2 carry into the end zone by Tavon Jones.

PSHS drove into the red zone on the ensuing series, but turned the ball over on downs following an incomplete pass on fourth-and-6 from the 16.

Parkersburg South's Derek Sandy gets tackled by Spring Mills' Javon Jones (0) and Jacob Long (bottom) during the Patriots' 41-0 loss on Friday night at Erickson All-Sports Facility. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Spring Mills head coach Marcus Law decided to use two quarterbacks – Rylan Swartz and Kheelan Curry, who had an 84-yard touchdown run called back by penalty. Nonetheless, Curry ended up connecting with Douglas Mayer, who had three interceptions of Collin Hayes, for a 37-yard gain and then hooked up with Javon Jones for a 48-yard completion to make it first-and-goal at the 4. However, the Patriot defense held and Braden Jenkins’ 27-yard field goal was off the mark.

After the hosts had a three-and-out, Curry hit Mayer for an 18-yard gain and then darted 16 yards to paydirt for a 12-0 cushion with just 6:15 left in the half.

Taj Joyce, who was ejected in the contest, had a 43-yard reception but as he continued to fight for yards Cardinal Hope Bokwe stripped him and Nolan Forrest recovered.

That led to a Blake Sanders 20-yard touchdown via a middle screen as the Patriots fell behind 19-0 following a successful Landon Stanley extra point with 2:13 remaining in the half.

Mayer, who finished with four catches for a game-high 117 yards, then had his first interception, which led to a 21-yard Curry to Xavier Anderson scoring strike and a 26-0 intermission bulge with 37.4 ticks left on the clock.

Parkersburg South's Channing Barrett returns a kick during the Patriots' 41-0 loss to Spring Mills on Friday night at Erickson All-Sports Facility. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“Honestly, this week,” coach Law responded when asked about playing two quarterbacks. “The idea was we were going to do it all year long, but the opportunity never presented itself and then after last week with Martinsburg, trying to find some different answers and stuff.

“We still got to work the kinks out and just try to find that fluid transition between the two of them. They both do something different. If we can just find that right mixture it gives us the opportunity.”

Swartz finished 7 of 14 for 95 yards while Curry, who was 9 of 14 for 192 yards in the first half, finished 11 of 17 for 195 stripes.

Spring Mills’ opening play of the third quarter resulted in Swartz getting sacked by Brody Nesselrotte, but Mayer broke a pair of tackles on his 46-yard catch-and-run touchdown, which made it 33-0 at the 10:23 mark following another Stanley PAT.

The Cardinals added a safety with 6:49 remaining in the third, which was set up by a 50-yard interception return by Javon Jones. Despite having it first-and-goal at the 3, the Patriots made a goalline stand only to watch Hayes get tackled in the end zone after the hosts took over at their own 1.

Mayer’s interception late in the third ended up leading to an easy touchdown from Swartz to Anderson, who had a game-high seven grabs for 75 yards, as a blown coverage left him all alone for a 25-yard score.

Another Mayer pick looked like it would lead to yet another six-pointer for the Cardinals, but Charles Williams recovered a fumble at the Patriot 2.

SMHS, which improved to 5-4 and plays host to Hedgesville next Friday for senior night, also got a late interception on a running clock by Dominique Erskine-Walls as the Cardinals took a knee in the Victory formation.

“They do it every single week and I honestly feel like the pressure is on me offensively because they do so well defensively and putting me in a spot,” added coach Law.

“I like that pressure because it drives me on our side of the ball to find a way to finish the game.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com