STATEWIDE — Five quarterfinal playoff games were played on Friday night throughout the state as Class AAA No. 1 Huntington needed a last minute, game-winning drive to move into the semifinals for the first time in school history.
The Highlanders (12-0) trailed No. 8 George Washington (9-3) 13-10 in the game’s final minutes, but used a 12 play, 66-yard touchdown drive to complete the come-from-behind win, 17-13. It was running back Charles Crawford that capped off the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run.
“We just find ways to win ugly,” Huntington head coach Billy Seals said. “But the bottom line, all that matters is that we got a win.”
Final score aside, it’s the third straight week Huntington has been in a tight game at the half – the Highlanders and Patriots were tied at seven apiece at the break on Friday.
“We have a bunch of hard-nosed, gutty kids,” Seals said. “We came in at the half and said that we’ve been in this position before. (George Washington) ran it down our throats in the third quarter and went up 13-7. But, we just tried to take it one possession at a time – and it’s a lot of credit to our kids. They gutted one out and we get an opportunity to play again.”
Crawford scored Huntington’s other touchdown as well, a 34-yard scamper in the first quarter. He finished the game with 78 yards on nine carries. Nick Tubbs had just six yards on 10 carries, and Paden Christian added 80 yards on 21 attempts for the Highlanders.
Huntington will face No. 5 Wheeling Park (11-1) in the semifinals next week as the Patriots beat No. 4 Pt. Pleasant (11-1), 28-7. Park got on the board first with a 58-yard touchdown pass from Zach Phillips to Elijah Bell and Savion Johnson added a 79-yard touchdown run as the Patriots led at the half 14-7.
“We had some adversity early in the game,” said Wheeling Park head coach Chris Daugherty. “To have all of those things go wrong and for it to be 14-7 at halftime, you actually can’t ask for a better situation. I thought our line started to wear on them a little bit in the second half, we were able to run downhill and that was a difference in the second half.”
Bell added a pick-six in the second half that broke Pt. Pleasant’s back, jumping Park’s lead out to 21-7 with 1:10 to go in the third. Johnson finished with 144 yards in the win on 14 carries. The Park defense held Pt. Pleasant to just over 240 offensive yards.
In Class AA, top ranked Wayne (12-0) used a strong second-half on a rain-soaked, muddy field to take down No. 8 Sissonville (10-2), 48-7. The Pioneers finished the game 446 rushing yards on 65 carries. Sissonville had just 89 yards of offense in the loss, adding that lone touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“The conditions were poor for both teams, but we splashed through the mud and are on to the next round,” said Wayne head coach Tom Harmon. “You have to win the games upfront in those conditions, and I thought our kids did a nice job of executing.”
Wayne all-state quarterback Grant Ferguson didn’t play for the second straight week as he’s still nursing an ankle injury.
“He’s been doing the rehab routine and trying to get better,” Harmon said. “But he’s not where he needs to be to play in a football game yet. We’re trying to progress him along and we’ll see how the week goes on how he does. Hopefully we can get him back – he’s a big part of our team.”
Wayne, which has now won 35 games in a row, will face No. 13 Robert C. Byrd in the semifinals for the second year in a row (the Pioneers beat RCB last year, 18-0). RCB on Friday night eliminated No. 12 Ritchie County, 36-6. Eagles’ running back Juwan Jones-Wright finished the game with 177 yards and two touchdowns in the win.
“We played RCB last year to go to Wheeling and they were probably the toughest team we played last year,” Harmon said. “They have a lot of weapons and nice size. They block people and have playmakers. They do a lot of nice things with the way they lineup defensively.”
There’s a chance Wayne could move the game next week to a different venue, due to the field conditions after Friday’s mud-fest.
“We’ll have to make some decisions,” Harmon said. “It’s a possibility we’ll move the game. If it’s a situation where you think it would hurt your team, then you have to make the best decision possible (for your players).”
The other game on Friday night saw No. 3 Bluefield edge No. 11 Nicholas County, 26-14. The game was tight throughout the first half as Nicholas County made it a 13-7 game in the final minutes of the opening stanza. However, Bluefield’s D.J. Stewart answered with an 80-yard touchdown run to switch the momentum and ultimately win the game.
“You get in the playoffs and anything can happen,” said Bluefield head coach Fred Simon. “My hat goes off to those guys – we beat a really good football team tonight, they’re very physical upfront and hard to move. I’m proud of our team and our coaches.”
Seven quarterfinal games are on the schedule for Saturday. You can see all the scores on the MetroNews High School Football Scoreboard.
Below: Highlights of Wheeling Park’s 28-7 win over Pt. Pleasant by Tom Hunter