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Big Reds give Huskies a battle, fall short 45-7

By Kerry Patrick 6 min read

PARKERSBURG - Having just completed a four-game gauntlet, Parkersburg's final regular season opponent best beware.

Friday night at Stadium Field, Division-I prospect David Robinson rushed for 320 yards on just 15 carries and scored three touchdowns as Class AAA's No. 1 Herbert Hoover defeated PHS 45-7.

Despite the outcome, Big Red coach Matt Kimes acknowledged how proud he was of his players and the fight they showed throughout. On more than one occasion during his postgame talk, Kimes referenced next week's opponent Oak Hill and how the Red Devils are going to have their hands full on the Big Reds' home turf.

"Herbert Hoover had a couple of big plays, and that Robinson kid is such a good player," Kimes said after his club slipped to 3-6. "He is going to Army for a reason. We were throwing the kitchen sink all night, playing guys that hadn't played in those positions in weeks.

"Next week, we have a chance to prove people wrong if we can play as inspired as we did tonight."

PHS gave the Huskies its best shot from the outset. On the opening series of the game, Big Red quarterback Noah Smith connected with Karsen Kimes in the end zone for a 31-yard touchdown. The point after put the Big Reds in front 7-0 - a lead they would not relinquish until early in the second quarter.

With all eyes on Robinson, Herbert Hoover actually received major contributions from its defense - starting with a pick-six from lineman Colton Tawney from five yards out at the 3:04 mark of the first quarter.

Trailing 7-6, the Huskies used the full allotment of downs several times on its second official offensive series of the night. Despite a combined seven penalties called in the mix, Herbert Hoover traveled 88 yards thanks to a pair of fourth-down conversions and completed the dive on Robinson's 4-yard plunge.

With 9:46 remaining in the first half, the Huskies moved in front to stay at 13-7.

"Offensively, we wanted to do some stuff here - let's go convert third down because we threw it on first down," Hoover head coach Joey Fields said. "Let's go convert a fourth down when you know it's bad position because we are going to be in those situations very soon."

Robinson's presence then began to take effect. After PHS went three-and-out, the senior raced 73 yards for his second TD.

"There's nobody exactly like him in the state," Kimes said. "It's like you have to rally to the ball. So in order to prepare, we went good on good. We had Greer going against our starting defense. We had running back (Gavin) Bowman going against our starting defense. We had Noah Smith playing quarterback.

"So I think that helped us. I think it made us much better prepared. I thought we played to a higher level tonight than we had in our previous three weeks even though the score didn't show that."

PHS didn't back off. A personal foul penalty on the Huskies tacked on to Cole Sisks' 37-yard run, plus a pass interference on the next play from scrimmage enabled the Big Reds to enter the red zone. On third-and-8 from the HH 10, Smith completed a pass to Austin Craven, but the ball was wedged loose and Preston Rhodes recovered the fumble at the 4 - marking one of three PHS turnovers in the game.

On the very next play, Robinson cut outside and raced along the right sidelines for a 96-yard TD run. HH took the 25-7 lead into halftime.

"We could break every rushing record with (Robinson) if we want to," Fields said. "If I wanted to, he wouldn't let me. He is that type of kid. He's a great kid, and not only on Friday nights. Everybody sees it, but they see it during the week of school.

"He is the best football player in the state. And in 18 years of coaching, I have never said that."

For PHS, winning wasn't out of the realm of possibilities - especially after Grigsby fumbled the ball following an 11-yard gain on the first play of the second half. Big Reds' Devin Widman pounced on the ball just before it rolled into the sidelines.

The window of opportunity, however, quickly disappeared as PHS went three-and-out and the Huskies responded with a 10-play, 67-yard drive which culminated with Grigsby completing a 10-yard scoring strike to Kno'Sean Hampton.

HH quickly tacked on a second TD in the quarter when a host of white jerseys put a heavy rush on Smith in the backfield. The ball slipped out of the Big Red quarterback's hands and Cody Redmon was the first on the scene to gather the fumble in the end zone for a TD.

With 5:47 remaining in the third quarter, HH led 38-7.

"Herbert Hoover was going to do what they do," Kimes said. "They are going to make plays. They are such a good team, but we made them earn it. We were fighting like crazy. On the offensive end, we just really struggled to be consistent in the run game.

"We knew with the matchups on the perimeter, it was going to be tough at times with their athletes covering our skill guys."

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com

At Stadium Field, Parkersburg

Herbert Hoover 45, Parkersburg 7

HH (9-0) 6 19 13 7 - 45

PHS (3-6) 7 0 0 0 - 7

First Quarter

PHS: Karsen Kimes 31 pass from Noah Smith (Cole Sisk kick), 8:18PHS

HH: Colton Tawney 5 interception return (kick failed), 3:04

Second Quarter

HH: David Robinson 4 run (4 run (Danny Chandler kick), 9:46

HH: Robinson 73 run (kick failed), 6:41

HH: Robinson 96 run (pass failed), 3:48

Third Quarter

HH: Kno'Sean Hampton 20 pass from Peyton Grigsby (Chandler kick), 6:39

HH: Cody Redmon fumble recovery in end zone (run failed), 5:47

Fourth Quarter

HH: Lance Williams 20 pass from Grigsby (Chandler kick), 10:31

Team Stats

Herbert Hoover. First downs: 21. Rushes-yards: 34-356. Passing yards: 164. Total yards: 520. Passing: 13-26-0. Fumbles: 4-1.

Parkesburg. First downs: 6. Rushes-yards: 31-71. Passing yards: 56. Total yards: 127. Passing: 5-11-1. Fumbles: 3-2.

Individual Stats

Herbert Hoover. Rushing: David Robinson 15-320, Peyton Grigsby 15-33. Passing: Grigsby 13-26-0. Receiving: Lance Williams 5-52, Turay Rush 3-47, Kno-sean Hampton 4-68, Aiden Barnett 107.

Parkersburg. Rushing: Cole Sisk 1-37, Tyreke Glover 6-13, Noah Smith 6-42, Alex Greer 9-9. Passing: Smith 5-11-1, 56 yards. Receiving: Karsen Kimes 1-31, Devin Widman 1-11, Alex Greer 1-(minus-1), Santana Jones 1-9, Austin Craven 1-6.

Next game: Oak Hill at Parkersburg, 7:30 p.m., Friday (Nov. 6); Herbert Hoover at Huntington, 7 p.m. (Nov. 6)

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