PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — While both Parkersburg South and Parkersburg were assured of reaching the postseason before they renewed their rivalry at Stadium Field, that didn’t do much to lessen the stakes of a top 10 showdown in Class AAA.
The No. 5 Patriots entered with a six-game winning streak and a defense that had allowed 28 total points over that span, while recording three shutouts. Yet it was the defensive play of the No. 10 Big Reds that made all the difference Friday night. Parkersburg prevented Parkersburg South from scoring an offensive touchdown and the Big Reds used a dominant second half to run away with a 28-10 victory.
“It means the world to the kids. They target this on August 1st,” Big Reds coach Mike Byus said. “We might as well open up with this game because that’s what they think about all year. But 6-4 sounds a lot better than 5-5 and that guarantees no matter what happens in the playoffs, we’re going to finish with a winning record back to back years.”
The win projects Parkersburg (6-4) to rise to No. 9 and open the playoffs at No. 8 Wheeling Park in a rematch of a regular season game the Big Reds won on a late touchdown, 57-51. With the loss, Parkersburg South is projected to fall to No. 6 and welcome No. 11 Hedgesville in a first-round playoff game.
The Patriots (7-3) marched 45 yards in 12 plays on the opening drive to score the only points of the first half on a 33-yard field goal by Bennet Haught at the 6:40 mark of the first quarter.
Parkersburg South had a prime opportunity to add to its lead late in the opening half. The Patriots had driven 63 yards to the Big Reds’ 2-yard line and were left with a fourth-and-1 following a 7-yard pass from Brayden Mooney to Levi Rice. Mooney tried a quarterback sneak on the fourth down play, but Parkersburg stuffed him near the line of scrimmage to get the ball back with 1:43 left in the half.
The stand allowed the Big Reds to head to the locker room facing just a 3-0 deficit despite picking up only four first downs through the first two quarters.
“That was big for momentum, but it was a good job of our guys being prepared for situations,” Byus said. “On Wednesdays, we practice situations and that’s one of the things you have to practice is goal line stands.”
The Parkersburg offense looked like an entirely different unit in the second half. The Big Reds took the opening possession of the third quarter and traveled 63 yards in 16 plays to take their first lead of the game on Shane Miller’s 3-yard touchdown run at the 5:57 mark of the third quarter. The first of four point-after kicks by Isaac Withrow left the Big Reds with a 7-3 lead.
Twelve of the final 13 plays on the drive were runs, as the Big Reds simplified their approach and relied on a power rushing attack to move the ball. Two plays prior to Miller’s TD, Tyler Moler gained 4 yards on a fourth-and-3 run from the Patriots’ 10.
“We just thought we’d go back to basics and see if we could get 3 or 4 yards a pop,” Byus said. “The first half we played kind of a 7-on-7 type of game with them and in the second half we played an inside run game.”
Following a three-and-out by the Patriots, Parkersburg regained possession at its 35 with 4:56 left in the third quarter. The Big Reds marched 65 yards in 10 plays and took a 14-3 lead on Jake Johnson’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Brenton Strange on fourth-and-goal with 1:32 left in the third.
“If you can’t get your offense going at all, then your defense is on the field the whole time. And quite frankly, our defense wasn’t doing what it takes to get stops,” Parkersburg South coach Mike Eddy said. “They were picking up 5, 6 yards a clip and running the ball right down our throats and we didn’t have an answer for that. We tried a couple of things schematically and it really didn’t make any difference.”
Another three-and-out by Parkersburg South gave the Big Reds the ball back at their 30-yard line 26 seconds prior to the start of the fourth quarter.
Parkersburg finished the third quarter with a 133-0 advantage in total yards, and picked up where it left off in the fourth by taking a 21-3 lead on Miller’s 1-yard touchdown run with 9:41 to play. On the two plays prior to Miller’s second TD run, Moler had a 13-yard run and Johnson broke free for a 23-yard scamper.
“It was very simple football — blocking and tackling, and their blocking was a whole lot better than our tackling,” Eddy said. “These are the results you’re going to see when that happens.”
Although the Patriots were unable to develop any rhythm offensively, they did draw to within striking distance on a blocked punt returned 22 yards for a touchdown by Brett Hearn with 6:28 remaining that trimmed the Big Reds’ lead to 21-10.
But Parkersburg put any thoughts of a rally to rest with a 60-yard drive in eight plays, sealing the verdict on Johnson’s 1-yard TD run with 2:13 remaining. A 40-yard run by Johnson put his team in position to score its fourth touchdown of the second half after the Big Reds gained only 77 yards through the first two quarters.