WEST UNION, W.Va. — Entering Thursday’s showdown against Ritchie County, third-ranked Doddridge County had allowed the fewest points of any team in Class A at 34.
The Bulldogs put that stingy defense on display at Cline Stansberry Stadium, building momentum off an early red zone stand and taking control from there in a 27-18 victory over the No. 2 Rebels.
“Some of it was bend don’t break, but a lot of it was hustle,” Bulldogs’ coach Bobby Burnside said. “(The defense) was prepared well and knew it would be a complete battle for four quarters and it was.”
The Rebels, who allowed a mere 35 points over their first three games, forced a three-and-out on the game’s opening series and took over at their own 20-yard line.
Ritchie County (3-1) picked up five first downs on its initial series and got into the red zone, but a costly false start penalty set the Rebels back on third-and-goal.
Facing fourth-and-goal at the Bulldogs’ 7, the Rebels tried a reverse to Gus Morrison, but he was brought down in the backfield by Michael Chandler — giving Doddridge County (4-0) the ball back at its 12 with 1:37 to play in the first quarter.
“We needed to score right there and I told my kids I’m as mad at myself as anything because I don’t know if I did as good a job at calling some plays there to get us in,” Ritchie County coach Rick Haught said.
Eight plays later, Reese Burnside broke free for a 47-yard touchdown run in front of the Rebels’ sideline to give the Bulldogs the lead 10:53 before halftime. DJ Devinney knocked home the point-after kick to up the Doddridge lead to 7-0.
“It’s a long game regardless, but getting that stand and then the blocks that happened after that to get us out of a hole, it was big,” coach Burnside said.
After Doddridge’s defense forced a three-and-out to give the Bulldogs possession at their own 45, America broke loose for a 53-yard TD run on the second play of the series that upped the lead to 14-0 at the 7:38 mark of the second.
“It was a truck right. I saw someone get hit and made one cut,” America said. “It was an open field from there.”
The Rebels had the ball twice more over the remainder of the opening half, but were unable to score and entered the intermission trailing by 14.
Ritchie County, however, put together a nine play, 75-yard drive to open the second half and reached the end zone on Garrett Owens’ 6-yard run on fourth-and-2. With no kicking game, the Rebels tried to run in the 2-point conversion, but they were stopped short, leaving Doddridge with a 14-6 lead at the 7:49 mark of the third quarter.
“I challenged our guys at halftime,” Haught said. “I have some young kids and you have to use tonight for some of our young kids to grow up.”
The Bulldogs answered with a critical 63-yard drive, utilizing Griffin Devericks for a pivotal 10-yard run on third-and-10 early in the series, then going back to Devericks for a 32-yard run on a reverse to move into the red zone.
Three plays later, America found the end zone for the second time from 3 yards, giving the Bulldogs a 21-6 lead with 3:40 left in the third.
“We were up at halftime and we knew we’d see their best in the second half and we did,” coach Burnside said. “Answering was important, because we were in the middle of a dogfight.
“I’m proud of the boys. They played with a ton of heart and really grinded it out. A lot of people were unselfish and guys made big plays when their numbers were called.”
The Rebels pounced on a Burnside fumble late in the third quarter that set up a 48-yard drive scoring drive that was capped by Ethan Haught’s 12-yard TD pass to Gus Morrison.
The lack of a kicking game again proved costly, however, as the Rebels attempted an unsuccessful pass play on the 2-point try, leaving the Bulldogs with a 21-12 lead and 10:02 to play.
Although the Ritchie defense stopped the Bulldogs in the red zone on the ensuing series, only 5:30 remained whent the Rebels got the ball back.
Two plays later, Devericks intercepted Haught to seal the verdict.
“Their senior guys knew how to make a play and we’re still working to get to that,” Haught said.
Noah Bumgardner ran for a 17-yard touchdown on a quarterback sneak to stretch the Bulldogs’ lead to 27-12, before Haught threw a 24-yard TD pass to Graden McKinney on the game’s final play.
America rushed for 209 yards on 31 attempts and passed former Bulldog standout Wyatt Ford as the school’s all-time leading rusher with 4,457 yards.
“This is my senior year and I’m going out with a bang,” America said. “I had fun.”