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PHS suffers 38-13 setback to Huntington

By Jay W. Bennett 7 min read

PARKERSBURG -- Donte Newsome scored Huntington's first four touchdowns here Friday night at Stadium Field as the No. 5 Highlanders spoiled homecoming for No. 7 Parkersburg with a 38-13 Mountain State Athletic Conference victory.

Newsome and quarterback Marek Midkiff, who completed 18 of 27 for 259 yards, hooked up on a 75-yard bomb on the first play from scrimmage after Johnny Garrett returned the opening kickoff 33 yards and the Highlanders were flagged for a block in the back.

Antonyo Paschall's sack of PHS signal-caller Noah Smith, who hit 9 of 20 for 119 yards and was picked off late by Ethan Goodson, forced a three-and-out on the opening drive for the hosts.

Although the now 3-4 Big Reds of head coach Matt Kimes forced a three-and-out of their own, the ensuing series resulted in a missed 29-yard field goal by Cole Sisk as an Alex Greer run of 51 yards flipped the field.

The Highlanders picked up a pair of first downs late in the first, but once again were forced to punt. However, the visitors sniffed out a reverse play to Brady Thorn that resulted in a loss of 18 yards.

Thorn ended up leaving the game two plays later after Huntington took possession when he was injured on a pass play. Midkiff's 43-yard completion to Kellen Rife, who had five grabs for a game-high 106 yards, got the visitors into the red zone and Newsome darted in from the 5 to make it 14-0 with 10:21 remaining in the half following another Huck Captain extra point.

"They said he had a whiplash injury," Kimes said of Thorn. "He said he really didn't see the hit and it kind of caught him off guard and it snapped his back and neck. We got word from the hospital.

"It seems like he's going to be OK. No significant injuries that are going to hurt his way of life because that's what you worry about when you see something like that. Whether we will get him back sooner or later we don't have any idea."

Following about a 20-minute delay, the game resumed but the next Big Reds drive was thwarted by an Ilias King sack of Smith. Huntington needed just six plays to reach the end zone as Newsome, who made a cutback at the 15, took it to the house from 34 yards out to set the 21-0 halftime score.

Parkersburg tried to score before intermission and went for it on fourth-and-2 from its own 44 as Smith hit Myles Ross for a 10-yard gain. However, the drive stalled when the hosts went for it on fourth-and-1 at the HHS 37 and the snap went by Smith and resulted in a loss of 13 yards.

Travon Okonkwo, who had 12 carries for 61 stripes, got the call on a fourth-and-1 snap from the PHS 31, but Tyler Cameron stopped him six inches shy of the sticks. Despite the stop, the Big Reds were forced to punt again.

The red and white got the ball to open the third, but the Big Reds were forced to punt after Smith was sacked by Grady Franks. On fourth-and-10, though, a bad snap resulted in Sisk having to try and run for a first down, but he was stopped after a gain of 8.

After taking over at the PHS 39, Midkiff threw a lateral out wide to Newsome, who went for 34 yards, and then scored from the 2 to make it 28-0 at 10:15 of the third.

"We gave up the big play to start and that's a crusher because I thought we were really ready to play and our energy was great," added Kimes. "We kind of stymied a little bit and it's still 7-0 and we go down and have an opportunity in the red zone to score, and we just didn't finish the drive there and missed a field goal.

"Now the wind comes out of your sails a little bit and then the injury happens, so it's hard to get your kids rallied back together at that point. We fought. We fought hard. I'm proud of our resilience. We were down 21-0 at halftime and the second half was 17-13. We competed in the second half and like I told the guys I was really proud of their effort in the second half to continue and fight."

The Big Reds dented the scoreboard four plays later when Smith found a wide-open Santana Jones for a 60-yard catch-and-run six-pointer. The extra point by Sisk was true at the 8:14 mark.

Huntington, which improved to 5-1 and held a 446-172 total yards advantage, answered right back with a 26-yard Midkiff to Rife touchdown toss.

Parkersburg's next drive resulted in a punt as Paschall and teammate Dre Barber recorded a sack apiece.

The Highlanders of veteran head man Billy Seals were looking for more on their next drive, but were faced with a fourth-and-8 decision from the PHS 29 after Devin Widman had sacked Midkiff previously. Although a 14-yard completion to Tyler Long got HHS into the red zone, they had to settle for a 32-yard field goal from Captain for a 38-7 edge with 8:45 to go.

Despite a sack by CJ Quinn, the Highlanders' leading tackler, the Big Reds hit paydirt once more when Jones snagged a 24-yard touchdown pass from Smith in the back of the end zone.

"Always a tough place to play. Coach Kimes does a really good job," said Seals, who didn't have the services of leading rusher Mayshaun Okonkwo. "They got a good football team. I hated to see some kids go down tonight with injuries.

"We'll hope and pray for those guys that they get back as quick as possible. Wish them nothing but the best of luck next week and the rest of the year. You know, for us, big game next week. I mean undefeated GW and it will be a challenge for us."

Huntington, which saw Newsome finish with five receptions for 103 yards while rushing for 91 stripes on five attempts, will carry a 5-1 record into next week's homecoming.

"It was a great call and Donte executed and it was a good ball," Seals added of the big play to open the affair. "I thought (defensively) we were solid tonight. We keep getting better there. As coaches, sometimes we really don't know what we got until the season plays out.

"I think we've gotten better every week on defense. Obviously, a huge challenge next week. We did blow a coverage there, but what I love about our guys, the guy who blew the coverage came straight off the field and said 'that's on me.' I'm excited about the opportunity we have next week to play a really good GW football team."

Parkersburg, which was without the services of lineman Zach Medina and tight end Austin Craven, will look to get back on the winning track next Friday at Cabell Midland.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

Huntington 38, Parkersburg 13

#5 HHS (5-1) 7 14 14 3 – 38

#7 PHS (3-4) 0 0 7 6 – 13

HHS: Donte Newsome 75 pass from Marek Midkiff (Huck Captain kick) 11:39, 1st

HHS: Newsome 5 pass from Midkiff (Captain kick) 10:21, 2nd

HHS: Newsome 34 run (Captain kick) 6:24, 2nd

HHS: Newsome 2 run (Captain kick) 10:15, 3rd

PHS: Santana Jones 60 pass from Noah Smith (Cole Sisk kick) 8:14, 3rd

HHS: Kellen Rife 26 pass from Midkiff (Captain kick) 4:45, 3rd

HHS: Captain 32 field goal 8:45, 4th

PHS: Jones 24 pass from Smith (run failed) 4:16, 4th

Team stats

HHS: First downs: 15; Rushes-yards: 29-173; Passing yards: 273; Total yards: 446; Passing: 19-28-0; Punts-average: 3-29.6; Fumbles-lost: 0-0; Penalties-yards: 11-70

PHS: First downs: 7; Rushes-yards: 31-53; Passing yards: 119; Total yards: 172; Passing: 9-20-1; Punts-average: 5-32.0; Fumbles-lost: 2-0; Penalties-yards: 6-28

Individual stats

HHS: Rushing: Travon Okonkwo 12-61, Donte Newsome 5-91, Marek Midkiff 5-4, Tyler Long 2-6, Justin Woolfolk 4-14, Joseph Williams 1-(-3); Passing: Midkiff 18-27-0, 259 yards; Okonkwo 1-1-0, 14 yards; Receiving: Newsome 5-103, Kellen Rife 5-106, Long 2-23, Jaxson Seals 1-5, Johnny Garrett 6-36

PHS: Rushing: Team 1-(-13), Alex Greer 10-66, Gavin Bowman 5-17, Noah Smith 12-(-11), Brady Thorn 1-(-18), Cole Sisk 2-12; Passing: Smith 9-20-1, 119 yards; Receiving: Santana Jones 2-84, Greer 3-8, Myles Ross 1-10, Thorn 1-(-1), Karsen Kimes 1-11, Bowman 1-7

Next games: George Washington at Huntington on Friday; Parkersburg at Cabell Midland on Friday.

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