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HUNTINGTON -- Marek Midkiff saw the field better than ever, particularly the end zone.
The Huntington High School sophomore quarterback threw six touchdown passes to five receivers Friday night as the Highlanders (6-2) squashed Parkersburg South 56-21 in football at Bob Sang Stadium.
Midkiff finished 13 of 20 for 240 yards, with one interception.
“We just continue to get better,” Highlanders coach Billy Seals said, noting Huntington bounced back from a 48-21 loss to George Washington. “Our guys responded from last week’s adversity. The tell of a good football program is responding when things don’t go your way. This week is all that mattered. We didn’t care about last week. I was proud of our guys for taking care of business tonight.”
Donte Newsome scored three touchdowns in the first half, running 2 and 12 yards for scores, and caught a 37-yard scoring pass from Midkiff, whom Highlanders assistant coach Willie Wilson said played the best game of his career.
Newsome’s 2-yard plunge and Huck Captain’s extra point tied it after the Patriots (1-7) had taken a 7-0 lead on a 9-yard pass from Logen Arnold to Jaqwae Brown 1:01 into the game.
South’s touchdown was set up by Peyton Cline’s interception of a tipped Marek pass. Cline returned the ball 26 yards. Two plays later, the Patriots scored.
“After the early turnover, our guys came back and played really well,” said Seals, who won his 150th game with the Highlanders. “Nine times out of 10, Dante catches that ball. They made a play. Hats off to coach Larry Thompson and their program. They’re going to get better.”
After a Highlanders punt, Huntington converted a pick to points of its own. Kylan Chandler intercepted a Bartley pass at the South 42. Four plays later, Newsome scored from the 2 for a 14-7 lead.
Huntington High made it 21-7 on Midkiff’s 10-yard TD toss to Kellen Rife at 3:22 of the first quarter.
Midkiff spread the ball around, hitting eight receivers. After the Rife leaping catch over a defender in the back right corner of the end zone, Midkiff connected with Ethan Goodson on his next two scoring strikes, a 22-yarder and a 24-yarder, to make it 28-7 with 9:33 left before halftime.
Goodson finished with four catches for 71 yards. Newsome hauled in two balls for 61 yards.
Newsome burst through the Patriots line and evaded some half-hearted tackle attempts for a 12-yard touchdown run with 6:34 left in the first half. Midkiff hurled a 37-yard touchdown pass to Newsome 2:48 before the break for a 42-7 advantage.
Midkiff threw for 198 yards in the first half, completing 11 of 14 passes.
In the second half, Midkiff tossed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Johnny Garrett and a 20-yarder to Tyler Long.
South scored twice in the second half on runs of 44 and 17 yards by Kooper Jackson against a Highlanders defense loaded with reserves. Jackson carried 17 times for 139 yards, going 10 for 126 in the second half.
“That’s a tough ballclub,” South assistant coach Billy Johnson said. “I like how they brought the fight and came to play tonight.”
Johnson said coach Larry Thompson is performing well.
“Coach Thompson’s doing a good job with our boys,” Johnson said. “We have a handful of seniors and a handful coming back. It’s been an uphill fight all season long. We’re battling injuries and little setbacks we’re going to get turned around.”
Huntington High returns to action at 7 p.m. Thursday at archrival Cabell Midland in the Battle for the Shield. South plays at 7:30 p.m. Friday at George Washington.
Huntington 56, Parkersburg South 21
P 7 0 7 7 -- 21
H 21 21 14 0 -- 56
PS: Brown 9 pass from Arnold (Bartley kick)
HH: Newsome 2 run (Captain kick)
HH: Rife 10 pass from Midkiff (Captain kick)
HH: Goodson 22 pass from Midkiff (Captain kick)
HH: Goodson 24 pass from Midkiff (Captain kick)
HH: Newsome 12 run (Captain kick)
HH: Newsome 37 pass from Midkiff (Captain kick)
HH: Garrett 11 pass from Midkiff (Captain kick)
PS: Jackson 44 run (Bartley kick)
HH: Long 20 pass from Midkiff (Captain kick)
PS: Jackson 17 run (Bartley kick)
Team stats
South: First downs: 11; Rushes-yards: 25-118; Passing yards: 70; Total yards: 188; Passing: 13-21-0; Fumbles-lost: 1-1; Penalties-yards: 5-50; Punts-average: 5-33.2
Huntington: First downs: 14; Rushes-yards: 19-153; Passing yards: 240; Total yards: 393; Passing: 13-20-1; Fumbles-lost: 0-0; Penalties-yards: 7-70; Punts-average: 2-41
Individual stats
Rushing: Parkersburg South — Jackson 17-139, Brown 3-12, Arnold 4-(minus-34), Thompson 1-1; Huntington High — T. Okonkwo 9-62, Newsome 4-44, Garrett 1-3, Long 2-36, Miller 1-(minus-1), Williams 1-1, Edwards 1-6. Passing: Parkersburg South — Arnold 13-21-0, 70 yards; Huntington High — Midkiff 13-20-1, 240 yards. Receiving: Parkersburg South — J. Brown 4-12, Swiger 2-10, Jackson 1-(minus-4), Corwiin 4-19, Baruwa 1-7, Kelbaugh 1-26; Huntington High — T. Okonkwo 1-10, Goodson 4-71, Rife 1-10, Burcham 1-9, Paschall 2-25, Newsome 2-61, Davis 1-34, Long 1-20.