— By Joe Smith, The Dominion Post
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Morgantown High seniors Ty Konchesky and Nick Malone go way back. So far back that Konchesky barely can remember how they met.
“We’ve been best friends before I can even get into my head,” Konchesky said.
Now they’re on their way to forging a new legacy that kicked off with a bang Thursday night.
Konchesky piled up 120 yards and two touchdowns running behind Malone and a bruising Mohigans offensive line during a 45-35 upset of Class AAA No. 7 Parkersburg.
“A couple of times, they got excited with each other, and this coaching staff got excited, but everyone kept their composure,” Morgantown coach Matt Lacy said. “These kids just kept battling and scored 45 points in the season opener against a great football team. I’ll take that.”
It was a roller-coaster ride of a night for the Mohigans, going up 17-0 in the first quarter only to allow 28 unanswered in the second quarter. A Jace Whetsell 91-yard kick return brought the score to 28-24 before halftime and set up the bounce-back.
“We just got tired. You look at the kids’ demeanor — they were just standing out there. We rushed for 137 yards in the first quarter, and then had eight carries for seven yards in the second,” Lacy said. “We wore down a little bit, but we’ll get better. The team will play themselves into game shape.”
The Mohigans ran for 251 yards scoring four of their five offensive touchdowns on the ground.
“They’re incredible, they’re huge — I couldn’t ask for anything else,” Konchesky said. “Nick Malone is an animal. I’d run behind him every play if I could. I have so much faith in my line.
“That’s what we’re all about. That’s our mentality. We’ll line up in practice on offensive days and just run power — to the right, then to the left, for 20 minutes.”
The come-from-behind win over a top-10 team helped establish unranked Morgantown as a threat for the 2018 campaign.
“The resolve that they had — they were up, then down, then up again — but they stayed with it,” Lacy said. “That shows the leadership from these 19 seniors have on this football team.”
Morgantown tallied 340 yards compared to Parkersburg’s 310. Cam Rice led the Mohigans through the air with 89 yards and one touchdown with another 61 yards and one touchdown rushing.
Parkersburg’s Jacob Johnson threw for 113 yards and three touchdowns, while Tyler Moler added 123 yards rushing and two scores. Division I recruit and starting tight end Brenton Strange missed the game with an injury sustained during last week’s scrimmage.