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South overwhelmed in 50-6 loss to Morgantown

By Jay W. Bennett 6 min read

PARKERSBURG – Defending Class AAAA state champion Morgantown got back to its winning ways for head coach Sean Biser here Friday on senior night inside Erickson All-Sports Facility as the No. 4 Mohigans bolted out to a 36-0 halftime lead and left town with a 50-6 victory versus No. 17 Parkersburg South.

Maddox Twigg's leaping 1-yard TD run with 1:15 left in the second quartet set the halftime score as the Mohigans had a 410-80 edge in total yards at intermission that ended up at 594-167.

Parkersburg South second-year head coach Larry Thompson's squad was unable to get anything going on the ground. MHS rushed 40 times for 322 yards with Lyric Blake (10-93), Carson Keeling (9-87) and Twigg (6-41) leading the way, while the Patriots finished with negative 19 yards on 16 attempts.

"My kids didn’t quit and that's what I just told them," said Thompson. "I'm proud of them. Obviously, Morgantown is a juggernaut and they were very thick in the middle. We couldn't move bodies up front and we had to resort to throwing the football. They did a great job of mixing up coverages and getting pressure on us.

"They overwhelmed our boys and our team tonight. We just have to go out there and compete our a- off and keep the morale up. We have a very young ballclub and we have a lot of kids that are going to come back in the next two or three years, and they are going to remember this feeling and remember these nights and we're trying to squeeze everything we can from them."

Twigg, who completed 17 of 27 attempts for 266 yards with three touchdowns, got the visitors into the end zone on the opening possession of the affair. Tanzer George had a 12-yard reception and Rudy Carrillo added a 22-yard grab before racing 23 yards to get into the red zone, which led to Blake's 6-yard scoring burst and a 7-0 cushion just 4:32 in following the first of six Aidan Petsko extra points.

Although a sack by Morgantown's Peyton Nicola on PSHS signal-caller Logen Arnold forced a punt, Asa Yost flipped the field with a 64-yard boot.

Nonetheless, the Mohigans proceeded to put together a 92-yard scoring drive that consumed less than four minutes of clock. Carrillo, who finished with game-highs of nine receptions for 121 yards, found paydirt via a 7-yard scoring jaunt and it was 15-0 following Nicola's two-point reception from Kooper Sainato.

Despite having to punt twice more in the first quarter, the Patriot defense held the Mohigans on their ensuing drive as it stalled at the 28.

Morgantown's opening series of the second quarter saw a Twigg aerial get picked off by Josiah Swiger, who had seven catches for 69 yards. However, the hosts were forced to punt again as this time Yost got off a 53-yarder.

After taking over at their own 4, the Mohigans marched right back down the field and made it 22-0 when Twigg hooked up with George, who had four catches for 81 stripes, on a 14-yard scoring strike.

After another three-and-out, MHS took possession at the Patriot 41, but Twigg was sacked by CJ Strong on first down. Not phased, Twigg immediately responded with a 38-yard pass to George as the Patriots soon fell behind 29-0 with 3:31 left in the half following a Twigg to Carrillo 20-yard TD toss.

A sack by Brooks King ended Parkersburg South's next drive as Twigg's touchdown leap was set up via a 42-yard hookup with Landon Cook.

"Up front, I thought we did a really good job," admitted Biser. "We had time to throw the ball and time to run it. It always starts up front no matter what. We always can improve.

"Early on I didn't think we were hitting things the way we needed to be and making sure we're communicating all of our calls and things like that, and operating the offense efficiently."

Morgantown's defense stood tall to open the third as Arnold, who completed 16 of 24 for 186 yards, was sacked for a loss of 9 by Collin Andis.

Three plays later, the Patriots found themselves in a 43-0 hole at 10:01 of the third. Twigg had completions of 28 yards to Carrillo and 11 yards to tight end Gabe Fuller before throwing an 8-yard swing pass that Blake grabbed as he waltzed into the end zone.

Parkersburg South's defense did have a goal-line stand late in the third when Keeling was stopped for a yard loss by Kooper Jackson on a fourth-and-2 snap from the 3.

Unfortunately for the Patriots, a bad snap on second down following a 7-yard burst by Jackson was recovered by Derrick Turner at the 3 as the Mohigan then got the call on first down and reached the end zone to make it 50-0 with 1:28 remaining in the third.

Parkersburg South, which slipped to 1-6 and plays next Friday at Huntington, answered with 10:29 to go in the game when Arnold found Ledger Corwin all alone for a 63-yard catch-and-run touchdown reception.

Morgantown, which will take a 6-1 mark into next Friday's contest versus Baldwin in the Keystone Stone, turned the ball over on downs late at the South 4.

"Just play this play," Biser replied when asked what the message was to his team moving forward. "We don't worry about the scoreboard no matter who we play, just keep playing as hard as you can as long as you're in, and then when your time is done the next man comes in and plays as hard as he can for as long as he can. That's just kind of the way we operate."

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

Morgantown 50, Parkersburg South 6

#4 Morgantown (6-1) 15 21 14 0 – 50

#17 P. South (1-6) 0 0 0 6 – 6

M: Lyric Blake 6 run (Aidan Petsko kick) 10:28, 1st

M: Rudy Carrillo 7 run (Peyton Nicola pass from Kooper Sainato) 4:54, 1st

M: Tanzer George 14 pass from Maddox Twigg (Petsko kick) 6:24, 2nd

M: Carillo 20 pass from Twigg (Petsko kick) 3:31, 2nd

M: Twigg 1 run (Petsko kick) 1:15, 2nd

M: Blake 8 pass from Twigg (Petsko kick) 10:01, 3rd

M: Derrick Turner 3 run (Petsko kick) 1:28, 3rd

PS: Ledger Corwin 63 pass from Logen Arnold (kick failed) 10:29, 4th

Team stats

MHS: First downs: 30; Rushes-yards: 40-322; Passing yards: 272; Total yards: 594; Passing: 18-28-1; Punts-average: 0-0; Fumbles-lost: 0-0; Penalties-yards: 5-50

PSHS: First downs: 6; Rushes-yards: 16-(-19); Passing yards: 186; Total yards: 167; Passing: 16-24-0; Punts-average: 8-37.8; Fumbles-lost: 3-1; Penalties-yards: 12-93

Individual stats

MHS: Rushing: Maddox Twigg 6-41, Lyric Blake 10-93, Carson Keeling 9-87, Rudy Carrillo 3-36, Chantz Lenhart 4-27, Nigel James 1-9, Derrick Turner 7-29; Passing: Lenhart 1-1-0, 6 yards; Twigg 17-27-1, 266 yards; Receiving: Tanzer George 4-81, Landon Cook 1-42, Blake 2-11, Carrillo 9-121, Gabe Fuller 1-11, Colton Moran 1-6

PSHS: Rushing: Team 1-(-8), Logen Arnold 4-(-18), Asa Yost 3-(-2), Kooper Jackson 8-9; Passing: Arnold 16-24-0, 186 yards; Receiving: Ledger Corwin 2-72, Johnson 3-16, Josiah Swiger 7-69, Jaqwae Brown 2-10, Christian Johnson 1-6

Next games: Parkersburg South at Huntington on Friday; Morgantown at Baldwin (Pa.) on Friday.

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