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‘Time of my life’: Big Reds prevail over Patriots, 21-10

By Kerry Patrick 6 min read

PARKERSBURG -- The Bugs Bunny cartoon where he plays all nine positions in a baseball game -- that was Parkersburg junior Brady Thorn on the football field during Friday's crosstown rivalry game against Parkersburg South.

As the starting free safety, Thorn intercepted two passes which set up a pair of PHS drives resulting in touchdowns, recovered a fumble and took the snap on a fake punt which covered 18 yards and gave the Big Reds a first down.

And this was just in the first half as the Big Reds defeated the Patriots for the second year in a row. PHS running back Alex Greer accounted for two touchdowns and rushed for 76 yards in a 21-10 victory.

"You can always do better -- there is always better," said Thorn, who kept South on the wrong side of the 50 throughout the third quarter by converting three punts which pinned the Patriots inside their own 20. He started the streak with a 63-yard punt which took advantage of a myriad of forward bounces.

"Tonight is the time of my life -- I look forward to this game every year," Thorn continued. "I had a few mistakes offensively, but I am always going to do what I can for my team and try my absolute hardest.

"This is what it's all about -- coming out, playing your hometown rival and coming out on top. This game is all about momentum, and we had the momentum I feel like for the whole game.

A 41-yard field goal as time expired in the first half is all the scoring South could muster heading into intermission trailing 14-3. Minus Logen Arnold's 25-yard touchdown completion to Logan Graham in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, the Patriot passing game was held in check.

South's leading rusher, Kooper Jackson, finished with 39 yards on 10 carries.

"We played really sound in all three phases," PHS coach Matt Kimes said after his club improved to 2-2. "South is a team that has been putting up a lot of points on people, and it took them late in the fourth quarter to get to 10 points.

"It was a stressful night with a lot of mistakes on our side with stuff that we have to clean up, but what a performance by our guys."

Two of South's first three possessions of the game ended with picks by Thorn. The third possession was a three-and-out. By the 8:01 mark of the second quarter, the Patriots trailed 14-0.

"We couldn't execute - too many turnovers," South coach Larry Thompson, whose Patriots slipped to 0-4 with a road test at John Marshall next Friday. "The defense showed a lot of heart on the field about 75% of the game.

"We have to do some soul searching and figure out why we are playing this football game. We have to figure it out, get them together and play as one."

On the first offensive series for PHS, Greer carried five times for 46 yards, including his 28-yard touchdown run out of the wildcat. His second TD of the night -- an 11-yard reception from sophomore quarterback Noah Brown on the second play of the fourth quarter -- put the big Reds in front 21-3.

"Alex, what a selfless kid," Kimes said. "From being the starting quarterback to start the season then all of a sudden we say he is not the starting quarterback. But he has bought in. Kudos to him. We just knew that No. 24 has got to touch the ball in whatever it looks like.

"Tonight, he made the plays all night."

Greer also had the responsibility of playing man coverage on South's top receiver Graham, who had just three catches for 20 yards prior to the Patriot scoring drive late in the fourth quarter. Graham ended the night with five receptions for 71 yards.

"I didn't get too many tests, but we knew they were going to take shots -- so we planned for it well," Greer said. "We had Javel (Chandler) on the other side of the field playing amazing coverage.

"In our first two games of the season, we had the momentum going into the second half then we just got conservative. We just can't do that. We have to keep playing hard football and that's what we are doing."

PHS scored a touchdown in all but one quarter. In the second quarter, Gavin Bowman got his name called on second-and-goal from the 1 on a pitch to the outside. The extra point, one of three from Cole Sisk, gave the Big Reds a 14-0 lead.

The difference boiled down to turnovers -- PHS did not commit one, while South turned the ball over three times. All of a sudden, a once 0-2 Big Red outfit is back at .500 with a date at Riverside next Friday.

"The kids and coaches invest so much time and energy into this thing," Kimes said. "And when you don't get the outcome you want, it's frustrating.

"But now we got this win and we are going to celebrate like crazy tonight."

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com

At Erickson All-Sports Facility

Parkersburg 21, Parkersburg South 10

PHS (2-2) 7 7 0 7 - 21

South (0-4) 0 3 0 7 - 10

First Quarter

PHS: Alex Greer 28 run (Cole Sisk kick), 4:10

Second Quarter

PHS: Gavin Bowman 1 run (Sisk kick), 8:01

South: Wyatt Bartley 41 field goal, 0:00

Fourth Quarter

PHS: Greer 11 pass from Noah Smith (Sisk kick), 11:46

South: Logan Graham 24 pass from Logen Arnold (Bartley kick), 1:39

Team Stats

PHS. First downs: 13. Rushing: 38-60. Passing yards: 107. Total yards: 167. Passing 10-19-0. Fumbles lost: 0.

South. First downs: 9. Rushing: 17-67. Passing yards: 127. Total yards: 194. Passing: 15-27-2. Fumbles lost: 1.

Individual Leaders

PHS. Rushing: Alex Greer 22-76, Brady Thorn 3-14, Gavin Bowman 3-9. Passing: Noah Smith 10-19-0, 107 yards. Receiving: Brady Thorn 3-37, Cole Sisk 3-47, Alex Greer 2-19, Javel Chandler 1-2.

South. Rushing: Kooper Jackson 10-39, Asa Yost 3-11, Josiah Swiger 1-7, Logen Arnold 1-6, Jaqwae Brown 2-4. Passing: Logen Arnold 15-27-2, 127 yards. Receiving: Logan Graham 5-71, James Lattea 4-29, Josiah Swiger 1-8, Jaqwae Brown 1-4, Kooper Jackson 2-5.

Next game: Parkersburg at Riverside, 7:30 p.m. Friday; Parkersburg South at John Marshall, 7 p.m. Friday

Starting at /week.