(Highlights by Teran Malone)
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — One week after Morgantown handled an abundance of adversity in a one-point double overtime win against Spring Mills, the No. 1 Mohigans were again faced with their fair share Saturday night in a Class AAAA semifinal against No. 4 Jefferson at Pony Lewis Field.
How the Mohigans went about handling it has them in their first state title game in 20 years.
After building an early three-touchdown lead, Morgantown’s advantage was 21-14 late in the first half before the Mohigans went on to reel off 31 unanswered points in a 52-21 victory over the Cougars.
The result allows Morgantown (12-1) to face No. 3 Martinsburg (11-2) in the state title game Friday at UC Stadium at Laidley Field. It marks the Mohigans’ first appearance in a state final since 2005 as well as a rematch of a regular season game won by the Bulldogs 34-6 on the second weekend of October.
“All the hard work our kids have put in, and not just the kids playing on this team, but kids on previous teams to help build the program and try to improve it — it’s a testament to those guys, my assistant coaches, our community and how great Morgantown High School is,” Mohigans’ head coach Sean Biser said.
The Mohigans got a 3-yard touchdown run from quarterback Maddox Twigg on the game’s first series to help ensure they’d play with a lead.
Although the Cougars benefited from a special teams fumble recovery after punting on their first possession, the visitors couldn’t capitalize on stellar field position at the MHS 38-yard line, and Jackson Rockwell’s fourth-and-6 completion to Takiem Drake went for only half of the necessary distance to maintain possession.
Following an exchange of punts, the Mohigans wasted no time doubling their lead as Twigg connected with receiver Jayden Smalls for a 46-yard touchdown pass with 2:12 left in the first frame.
Twigg and Smalls connected on a second scoring play through the air to make it 21-0, this one covering 30 yards and coming 10:43 before halftime.
“That’s one of our go-to plays every time we need yards,” Smalls said. “I saw the corner bail and knew my quarterback was going to find me. He’s really good at doing that. He finds me in open space and I do the rest.”
Displaying the resiliency that helped it overcome an 0-4 start to this season, JHS (8-5) got an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from Tony Allen in response to draw to within 21-7.
Leeland Benner’s interception of a Twigg pass brought an end to Morgantown’s ensuing series, and Rockwell’s 11-yard touchdown run after the Cougars set up shop at the Mohigans’ 43 brought JHS to within 21-14 with 5:35 left in the first half.
“It’s an amazing feat what these guys have done and that’s why I told them they shouldn’t hang their heads at all,” JHS head coach Craig Hunter said. “To go from where they went to where they are now, nobody would’ve seen this coming. Things happen for a reason. I thought we had some good plays and others we just didn’t connect on.”
Hunter’s team got the ball back trailing by seven, but went three-and-out starting near its own goal line, and a 20-yard punt back to the Mohigans allowed the home team to start at the Jefferson 25.
Six plays later, Twigg kept it on a bootleg and scored on a 1-yard run 20 seconds before halftime.
The Cougars got greedy in the late stages of the half and it proved costly as Rockwell was intercepted by Keltin Blunt 2 yards beyond midfield, leading to an Aiden Petsko 37-yard field goal as time expired to send the Mohigans into the intermission with a 31-14 advantage.
“We had a couple hiccups there, but we tell our kids let’s have a short memory and worry about what’s going on right now,” Biser said. “That’s what they did. They answered and the field goal at the end was huge.”
Any thought of a Jefferson rally vanished not long into the third quarter, which began with Rockwell stopped 1 yard short of a first down on a fourth-and-3 run from his team’s 34.
With prime field position, Morgantown made the most of it, getting a 36-yard run from Twigg to enter the red zone, before the quarterback crossed the goal line on a 7-yard run for a 38-14 lead.
“He’s just a special kid,” Biser said. “He plays defense end special teams. You put the ball in his hands and he distributes the football, but he’s always a threat to take it himself. He’s just a dynamic football player.”
Carter Cooper’s 64-yard punt return with 5:52 left in the third upped the advantage to 31 points, and Twigg threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Cooper in the late stages of the third for Morgantown’s seventh and final TD.
Rockwell’s 84-yard touchdown pass to Ricardo Lewis in the fourth provided Jefferson with its third and final touchdown of the night.
Twigg, who did not play in the fourth quarter, completed 8-of-11 passes for 171 yards with three touchdowns. He also rushed 15 times for 105 yards and three scores.
“He’s tough to get on the ground,” Hunter said. “Sometimes I thought we had him bottled him and he got out of it. He would scoot out of it.”