WHEELING, W.Va. – St. Marys completed a perfect season on Saturday night, winning its first football championship, beating East Hardy 23-8 from Wheeling Island Stadium.
“I just truly thank God that I’m able to be here with these young men, work with them, be with the staff that we have and with the town of St. Marys,” said St. Marys coach Jodi Mote. “It’s hard to describe 104 years of history at St. Marys and our first championship. I just give God the glory.”
It was a much sweeter outcome this time around for the Blue Devils (14-0) who earned some redemption after coming up just short two years ago in triple-overtime in the title game.
“You just can’t describe it,” Mote said. “To be able to bring a state championship home – we’ve been starving for it. I graduated in 1992 and it’s amazing that we finally get to bring it.”
East Hardy (13-1), meanwhile, finishes as the Class A runner-up for the second straight season.
“My hat is off to (East Hardy coach) Chad (Williams),” Mote said. “It’s just tough because you knew one of us was not going to win. He’s done a tremendous job and they haven’t experienced a championship. We hadn’t experienced a championship, so my hat is off to them. I’m so thankful for these young men and that community.”
Jaiden Smith, named the game’s MVP for St. Marys, led the way for the Blue Devils offensively, totaling 122 rushing yards and a touchdown.
“It’s always the blocking,” Smith said of his effort. “You can’t do anything in the backfield without the blockers. They always do a fantastic job and the credit goes to them.”
The Blue Devils shutdown a high-powered East Hardy offensive attack and quarterback Corey McDonald. McDonald entered Saturday with over 3,800 total offensive yards and had accounted for 55 touchdowns.
St. Marys, though, limited McDonald to just 8 of 22 passing for 162 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. McDonald was also held to just 38 rushing yards on 22 carries.
“Honestly the key was getting pressure on him and making sure his receivers were covered up as good as possible,” Smith said. “We had to buy us as much time as we could to sack him.”
And the Blue Devils had plenty of those, getting to and sacking McDonald five times on the night.
“Defense wins championships and I think that’s ultimately what showed right there,” Smith said. “We just stepped it up and played hard-nose football.”
Neither team scored in the opening quarter as they combined for four turnovers in the first half.
St. Marys scored the game’s first points on a one yard quarterback sneak from Will Billeter, capping a 10 play, 78 yard drive – that touchdown was setup with a 36 yard run from Smith.
The Blue Devils led 7-0 at the break, holding East Hardy to just 101 yards of total offense in the first half.
St. Marys added a second touchdown in the third quarter as Smith collected a 12 yard run, 21 yard catch and 15 yard touchdown on the ground, giving the Blue Devils a 14-0 lead.
Late in the third, however, St. Marys opted to go for it on 4th-and-1 from its own 10 yardline. The Cougars got the defensive stop and just a few plays later scored on a six yard touchdown run by Phillip Mullin. The two-point conversion cut St. Marys’ lead to 14-8 with 41.8 seconds left in the third.
The Blue Devils responded with an eight play, 67 yard drive, capped off by a 23 yard field goal by Georg Krogh. St. Marys extended its lead out to 23-8 on a two-yard touchdown pass from Billeter to Dylan Gray with 3:17 to go in the fourth.
Brett Tharp was named as East Hardy’s team MVP, finishing with 93 yards receiving on four catches and leading all players with 22 total tackles.
Billeter finished 8 of 11 passing for 98 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the win for the Blue Devils, while Braden Barnhart added 49 yards rushing and 68 yards receiving as well.
“This is awesome,” Smith said. “It’s been a long time – it’s been a long time.”