MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Martinsburg survived a stiff road challenge from Sherando (VA), while Capital, Musselman, Morgantown and Bluefield all won important games in Week 7 of the high school football season.
Class AA No. 1 Bluefield’s 42-13 dominant win over No. 8 Point Pleasant was perhaps the biggest statement.
The Beavers (6-0) lead from start to finish with the eventual outcome hardly in doubt. It was a Point Pleasant team that dropped to 5-2, with its only other loss coming to defending champion Mingo Central by just two points back in Week 1.
“Our players found a way to make plays early and it carried on,” said Bluefield coach Fred Simon. “I’m proud of our coaching staff and I’m proud of our players for the effort that we got tonight. You hold Point Pleasant to 13 points, you’ve done a heck of a job.”
Gallery: Bluefield 42, Point Pleasant 13
Bluefield’s Mookie Collier was electric, finishing with 172 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just eight carries. He also added three catches for 81 yards and another touchdown.
Friday’s effort put Collier over the 1,000 yard rushing mark for the year as he’s averaging nearly 14 yards per carry.
“Mookie is doing a super job of once he’s getting into the secondary of reading his blocks better,” Simon said. “Our passing game is also coming along and I’ve been proud of our quarterback and receivers, too. Getting our passing game to come around can’t do anything but help us.”
Martinsburg beats Sherando (VA) on final minute field goal
Class AAA defending state champion Martinsburg won a dogfight Friday night on the road over Sherando (VA), 31-28.
“They have a great program and a lot of great players,” said Martinsburg coach Dave Walker. “They’re well coached and they do a great job. We always have trouble with those guys. They’re a good team.”
The Bulldogs (7-0) kicked the game-winning 24-yard field goal with just 27 seconds to go from Lucas Duffy, erasing what was overall a 28-21 fourth quarter deficit.
“We were working against the clock,” Walker said of the winning drive. “But Tyson (Bagent) made some big throws and we had a couple of nice runs to get down there. Lucas Duffy, our kicker, nailed it for us. We had big time plays and you have to have guys make plays for you in the end if you’re going to win close ones.”
Jalen Heson returned an interception 40-plus yards for the game’s opening score. Martinsburg has now won 21 straight games.
Sherando fell to 5-2 with the loss.
Kerry Martin leads No. 7 Capital over Hurricane
Capital quarterback Kerry Martin, Jr. accounted for 225 yards and two touchdowns on Friday night as the No. 7 Cougars beat No. 6 Hurricane 34-16.
Martin completed 11 of 16 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns — he added 79 rushing yards on 15 carries as well.
“(Our offensive line) played fantastic and they’ve had great focus these last few weeks,” Martin said. “I’m proud of the line tonight. We did a pretty good job (offensively). We still need to work on some things – myself with the deep ball and checking-down on blitzes. But, overall, we played pretty good.”
Highlights: Capital 34, Hurricane 16
It was a nice bounce back win for the Cougars (4-2) after a 24-21 loss to Huntington two weeks ago and a bye from last week.
“I was impressed with us putting together a bunch of long drives,” Capital coach Jon Carpenter said. “Hurricane is good – they’re a lot better, they’re tough.”
Deshawn Harper led the Cougars in receiving, making five catches for 101 yards, while Anthony Pittman and Chance Knox both had a touchdown catch apiece. Capital running back Kalai Clark scored two touchdowns on the ground as well.
Christian Hill rushed for 172 yards on 24 carries and quarterback Nathan Roy threw for 154 yards and a touchdown in the loss for Hurricane (4-2).
Morgantown shuts down Wheeling Park for key win
Class AAA No. 12 Morgantown limited No. 16 Wheeling Park to just a field goal on Friday night as the Mohigans pulled away for an important 28-3 win.
“I never would have dreamed in a million years to hold an offense like that to three points,” said Morgantown coach Matt Lacy. “Give our defense credit – they swarmed to the football and did what we asked. We didn’t allow that big home run ball to happen. I think we showed off that we have a little bit of team speed.”
Highlights: Morgantown 28, Wheeling Park 3
The Mohigans (4-3), who led 7-3 at the break, were led offensively by junior running back Ty Konchesky who totaled 164 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the win. One of those touchdown runs came from 51 yards out.
“He’s a workhorse for us,” Lacy said. “We’re still kind of working on our identity a little bit. It’s strange to say that seven games into the season, but we are getting better week by week and it’s nice with Logan (Holgorsen) at quarterback that we can do some things in the passing game and help offset the running game a little bit.”
Wheeling Park drops to 3-4 with the loss and will have a bye next week.
Other notes:
Musselman bounced back nicely from its loss last week to Morgantown. The Applemen (5-1) on Friday handled rival Hedgesville (5-2) 49-21.
“It was exciting and a big win for our ball club, especially bouncing back after that loss,” said Musselman coach Brian Thomas. “Hedgesville presents a lot of problems – they throw the ball all over the place and they have a lot of formations you don’t always see.
“We put a lot of work in during the week with our defensive backs,” he continued. “Those kids spent so much time in the film room this week and were working on defending routes. A lot of credit goes to those guys.”
In AA, Fairmont Senior and Bridgeport both picked up impressive wins.
The Polar Bears (6-1) dominated Weir (4-3) 49-20 as Bryson Gilbert scored six touchdowns and Connor Neal threw for 190 yards.
“We matched Weir’s physicality tonight,” said Fairmont Senior coach Nick Bartic. “We were balanced on offense. Our line did a great job, our receivers blocked well and Connor Neal took care of business at quarterback. Bryson Gilbert did what he always does.”
Bridgeport (6-1), meanwhile, jumped out to a 40-0 lead on North Marion (4-2) and went on for a 40-22 win.
“We preached defense all week and we knew what we were going up against,” said Bridgeport coach John Cole. “Boy, did our kids execute tonight. Our line up front did a really good job for us. We were surprised to come out and execute like we did.”
John Merica accounted for four touchdowns, while Jake Bowen added 134 rushing yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions defensively for the Indians.
In Class A, Wheeling Central (3-3) won an out-of-state game it had to get, beating five-win Shadyside (OH) 27-26.