MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — From the opening kickoff, Martinsburg had control of Friday night’s top five Class AAA clash on the road at Morgantown.
The Bulldogs, ranked No. 1 in the MetroNews Power Rankings, but No. 2 in the SSAC, won the opening coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. Gambling to grab some early-game momentum, Martinsburg went for — and recovered — an onside kick to open the contest.
Gallery: Martinsburg 33, Morgantown 6
“Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good,” said Martinsburg coach Dave Walker. “When you do those things, sometimes you just get lucky.”
But Friday’s win was much more than just luck.
The Bulldogs (5-0) took their ensuing drive down the field and scored on a 12 yard touchdown pass from Tyson Bagent to Shy Crawford, seizing immediate control of the contest. Bagent would add touchdown passes later in the first half with Stephen Edmond (21 yards) and Isaac Brown (23 yards).
“Tyson (Bagent) started out pretty hot and played well. He’s really consistent and just a really good player,” Walker said. “Once we got in control, I was a little bit disappointed and felt like we made some mental mistakes. But I’m definitely pleased with the way we played, especially on defense.”
Brown also returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown as the Bulldogs led 26-0 at the half. Bagent finished with 155 yards passing and those three touchdowns in the win.
It’s the 10th straight win for Martinsburg over Morgantown – the Mohigans’ last win in the series came back in the 2004 Class AAA state championship game.
Capital continues to roll, hands Huntington first loss
Capital won its fourth straight game, beating No. 1 Huntington 35-18. The Cougars (4-1) erased a 10-0 first quarter deficit to take a 21-10 lead into the break.
After Huntington (4-1) cut that deficit to 21-18 with 9:34 to go, Capital closed the game out with 14-straight points.
“It was a good win and we have overcome some adversity,” said Cougars’ standout Silas Nazario. “We came in as the underdog and that made us work even harder. I love the underdog role.”
Highlights: Capital 35, Huntington 18
Underdogs or not, the Cougars were the lower ranked team Friday, coming in at No. 6 in the SSAC ratings. But the win over the Highlanders will give Capital a plethora of valuable bonus points moving forward.
“We knew we couldn’t get down (after trailing 10-0), we just had to feed off of it,” Nazario said. “We knew what we had to do. We had just a couple of minor mistakes that we had to fix and we just fed off of that.”
Nazario had three catches in the win for 28 yards and a touchdown. Cougars’ quarterback Kerry Martin finished with 134 passing yards and two scores, to go along with 106 rushing yards and one more touchdown on the ground.
Huntington quarterback Luke Zban returned from an injury, throwing for over 170 yards in the loss.
Behind Abbott, Fairmont Senior beats AAA University by three scores
Class AA No. 2 Fairmont Senior (4-0) picked up an impressive win, handling Class AAA No. 3 University (4-1) 28-7. Polar Bears’ quarterback Jake Abbott threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more in the win.
“Jake did a nice job and had a few checks tonight – he checked to the run and a couple of times checked to the quarterback counter,” said Fairmont Senior coach J.L. Abbott. “He just kept the sticks moving for us with what he was seeing from their defense. Usually your teams are led by your quarterback and our team is no different.”
Both of Abbott’s throwing scores were to Bryson Gilbert.
“With University, you never feel too comfortable or that the lead is too big,” Abbott said. “I didn’t really exhale until about four minutes left in the fourth quarter. They have athletes and I think we did a nice job defensively.”
Greenbrier West upsets Class A No. 2 Summers County with late field goal
Greenbrier West collected its first win of the season on Friday with a 30-27 win over visiting No. 2 Summers County (3-1).
Senior quarterback Hunter Bevins threw three touchdown passes to Adam Johnson in the win. Bevins finished with 238 passing yards, while Johnson tallied six catches for 172 yards and those three scores.
The biggest surprise, however, may have come on the game’s winning score as Bevins hit a 22 yard field goal with just one second to go.
More: Complete MetroNews high school football scoreboard
It was the first made field goal for Greenbrier West since August 29, 2008.
“I only started kicking a couple of games ago,” Bevins said. “Our extra-point kicker was sick and they asked me if I could kick and I just started doing it. I’ve never done it before in my life and I wanted to give it a shot to see what would happen.”
The last game-winning field goal made by a Greenbrier West kicker came back on October 2, 1998 — also against Summers County.
“There was a lot going through my mind on the game-winner,” he said. “I have never practiced kicking a field goal in practice, ever. It was our first field goal this year and I knew that I had to make it.”
The Cavaliers erased a 14-0 first quarter deficit as a part of the win.
“We needed this win to get our confidence back up,” Bevins said. “We needed it to know that we could compete again, it was a big win.”
The last win for Greenbrier West over a ranked opponent came in September of 2014 when the Cavaliers defeated No. 2 Buffalo.
South Harrison with marquee win on the road at Moorefield
South Harrison is 4-0 after an impressive 26-6 win over Moorefield (4-1). The Hawks collected 212 of their 285 offensive yards on the ground behind juniors Cam Barnette and Freddy Canary.
Barnette totaled 149 yards on 19 carries, while Canary added 76 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Canary also collected a pick-six in the third quarter to extend South Harrison’s 7-6 halftime lead out to 13-6.
South Harrison quarterback Nate Wright then connected with Brent Barnette for two more touchdowns later in the half to put the game away.
“I’m just tickled to death with these young men. I’m just along for the ride,” said South Harrison coach Brad Jett. “These guys are playing hard, they’re playing well and they were very physical Friday night.”
Defensively, the Hawks held Moorefield to just 122 total yards of offense.
Spring Valley with top 10 win over South Charleston, while Mingo Central’s Dillon has huge night
Class AAA No. 8 Spring Valley (4-1) pulled away in the second half from No. 10 South Charleston (2-3) 29-15. Timberwolves’ quarterback Derek Johnson finished with 112 rushing yards in the win, while Kane Morrone caught a touchdown pass and returned a kickoff 86 yards for another score.
Gallery: Mingo Central 60, Nitro 6
In Class AA, No. 5 Mingo Central improved to 4-0 with a 60-6 win over Nitro. Miners’ quarterback Jeremy Dillon put up video game numbers, throwing for 462 yards and seven touchdowns — three of those scores were caught by freshman Drew Hatfield and two to Tyler Grimmett. Dillon added an eighth total touchdown on the night with a rushing score as well.
Tolsia, Cameron collect key Class A wins
Cameron entered the week with its first 3-0 start since 2000. And the Dragons stayed unbeaten on Friday, beating Bishop Donahue 30-20 in a battle of teams tied for 10th in the SSAC ratings. Cameron trailed 20-14 heading into the fourth quarter, but collected a pair of scores to collect its fourth win.
Class A No. 7 Tolsia (3-1), meanwhile, beat No. 12 Tug Valley (3-2) 36-16. Logan Presley scored four touchdowns for the Rebels, while Logan Roseberry added a pick-six in the win.