BAKER, W.Va. — Twenty days after their last game, East Hardy showed few signs of rust in defeating Clear Spring, Maryland, 50-12 on Homecoming Night.
After a 3-0 start, the Cougars had a scheduled bye in Week 4. East Hardy was slated to host Van in Week 5, but the Bulldogs were forced to end their season due to low numbers.
“We are good coming out of a bye week. But two bye weeks, I think that is tough for any team to manage your expectations, but manage focus more so,” said East Hardy head coach Devon Orndorff. “We expected some rust but we didn’t see much tonight. We don’t seem to be a very vocal team. We’ve come to accept that. That is OK as long as the energy is there in our play. We saw some big explosive plays early, some adversity too. And we worked through all those things tonight.”
East Hardy senior quarterback Trevor Roof had a hand in six of the Cougars’ seven touchdowns. Roof tossed three touchdown passes to Brinn Childers and he ran for three more scores.
“Trevor has some favorite targets, for sure. But his favorite target is the open one. Luckily, we have several guys that can get open for him. Then you’ve got Nehemiah [Graham] out of the backfield. We haven’t used him as a passing weapon, even though that is in his arsenal. As our offense continues to evolve, late in the season, I am happy we are spreading the ball around.”
East Hardy collected three turnovers in the contest, the first came on a 77-yard interception return for a touchdown from defensive lineman Nicholas Roomsburg.
“I am pleased with it. It generates a lot of momentum. I am proud of him. It is not often a big man gets to find the end zone. He followed his rules and reaped the rewards.
“We’ve got a tough slate coming up with Double-A teams Moorefield and Petersburg and Single-A Cameron. So we’ve got a long row to hoe here. We’ve got to keep that focus, just stay hungry. It is one week at a time. We can’t go 9-0 right now. We can’t go 6-0 right now. We’ve just got to focus on 5-0.”