PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — A 2-hour rain delay, 143 fewer yards and 18 fewer first downs were some of the more notable things Class AAAA No. 5 Morgantown overcame Friday night to claim a 24-13 victory against No. 10 Parkersburg in a contest that ended after midnight at Stadium Field.
“It was ugly in every possible way, but we got the win,” Mohigans’ head coach Sean Miser said. “Anytime you get the win, that’s all that really matters. They’re not going to say that was a pretty win or a pretty loss. A win is a win.”
MHS never trailed, but ran only 24 offensive plays to the Big Reds’ 80. Time and time again, the Mohigan defense bowed up with PHS in the red zone, which made all the difference in the outcome.
Perhaps the most critical defensive stop came nearing the midway point of the fourth quarter with Morgantown leading, 17-13. The Big Reds got to the 1-yard line, but on third-and-goal, Jake Shelton was stopped by Rhys Wells for a 3-yard loss.
Following a pass interference call on a fourth-and-goal incompletion that moved the ball to the 2, Ethan Jones was brought down by AJ Thomas 4 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
“We just made plays when we had to make plays,” Biser said. “Hats off to them and I told everybody going in their offense is really good, and the coaches do a really good job of spreading the ball out with screens everywhere. In the middle of the field, there’s a lot of space to operate in. When you get closer, it condenses everything and we were able to make some plays.”
Even still, after forcing a three-and-out, PHS had prime field position at the Morgantown 18 with 5:16 remaining.
But on the second play of that series, Jones lost a fumble that Thomas recovered.
Two plays later, Thomas broke off a 69-yard touchdown run to make a it a two-score game with 4:05 left.
“It’s not going to be hard to figure out what happened tonight,” PHS head coach Matt Kimes said. “We hurt ourselves with some special teams mistakes early in the game and red zone opportunities all night that we couldn’t convert. But they had a lot to do with it. They’re a well-prepared team and played more physical than we did. We found out tonight that we can’t beat ourselves and still have success.”
Parkersburg got into the red zone on each of its first two series, but they ended with Cole Sick missing wide on a 32-yard field goal and Quinton Wright having his 30-yard try blocked by Remington Hawkins, with Wells recovering the live ball and returning it 35 yards.
The contest remained scoreless for more than 18 minutes until Aiden Stire put through a 47-yard field goal to give the visitors a 3-0 edge 5:48 before halftime.
After the Big Reds botched a punt less than a minute later, Thomas scored on a 7-yard run to leave Morgantown with a 10-0 lead.
Wright split the uprights on a 37-yard field goal to finish off the first half and pull Parkersburg to within seven.
The Big Reds were then fortuitous to start the second half, recovering a fumble on a kickoff return to position the offense at the MHS 22.
Five plays later, Parkersburg scored its only touchdown on Shelton’s 1-yard run to pull even at 10.
The momentum, however, was short-lived.
On the first play of the ensuing series, Carsin Lawhun got outraced the defense for a 67-yard touchdown run to put Morgantown on top 17-10 at the 8:48 mark of the third.
Parkersburg put together a strong drive in response, but before it could run a first-and-10 play from the Mohigans’ 23, the game was delayed with lightning and thunder in the area.
While there was no rain, the lightning was prevalent for a lengthy period of time, and it created a 2-hour delay.
“We let our guys take their pads off and prop their feet up,” Biser said. “We fed them, talked football and watched a little film together on the iPad.”
Following the break in action, Parkersburg again stalled in the red zone, this time largely thanks to a Brady Savage sack, but managed Wright’s 27-yard field goal to pull to within four with 1:17 to play in the third.
The Big Reds got the ball back just past midfield 11 seconds into the fourth quarter, and came within inches of their first lead, but couldn’t manage it.
“It comes down to 1-on-1 matchups and they probably won more than we did tonight,” Kimes said. “Tip our hat to them and congrats to them on the win.”
Thomas rushed for 134 yards on 14 carries. Lawhun added 71 yards on a pair of rushes. Morgantown gained 216 yards, all of which came on the ground.
PHS quarterback Cooper Cancade connected on 26-of-41 passes for 220 yards. Tytan Parsons had five receptions for 56 yards, while Shelton finished with six receptions for 49 yards and 22 rushes for 79 yards.