CAMERON, W.Va. — East Hardy quarterback Trevor Roof saw Dayton Dove in single coverage and felt his best choice was to give a fellow senior the chance to make a play to keep the Cougars unbeaten through Week 10.
Dove did exactly that, bringing in a 27-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-8 with 45 seconds remaining, and it made all the difference in East Hardy’s 28-21 victory Friday night at Cameron.
“My offensive line gave me great protection and I know he’s a playmaker,” Roof said. “I stepped back, threw it and he made a play. He’s a great athlete.”
FINAL: East Hardy 28, Cameron 21
Cougars (9-0) won it on this 27-yard touchdown pass from Trevor Roof to Dayton Dove on fourth and 8 with 43 seconds left.
Dragons fall to 5-4.
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— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) October 31, 2026
The Class A No. 3 Cougars (9-0) scored half of their four touchdowns on fourth down pass plays, and the latter one allowed the visitors to complete a comeback from a 21-14 deficit to start the fourth quarter.
Roof’s 2-point pass to Brinn Childers made it a seven-point margin, and the last of three straight incomplete passes from Soier Reed on the ensuing possession for No. 7 Cameron (5-4) sealed the verdict.
“When the game is on the line, we have several playmakers that have the wherewithal to stand tall in those moments,” East Hardy coach Devon Orndorff said.
East Hardy began the fourth quarter with a seven-point deficit, but with possession in the red zone after Roof’s 17-yard pass to Dove on fourth-and-7 from the CHS 35 on the final play of the third period.
Five plays later, Roof kept it for a 3-yard touchdown run, though Mason Wilkins’ point-after attempt missed wide, leaving the Dragons with a one-point lead and 9:39 remaining.
After Cameron punted without picking up a first down, the Cougars were in position to go in front when Nehemiah Graham ripped off a 52-yard run.
But East Hardy went back to Graham on the next play, and he lost a fumble that Cameron’s Hayden Bonar recovered at the Dragons’ 23-yard line with 7:41 remaining.
Reed ripped off a 48-yard run and Cameron approached the red zone before stalling, with the series ending when the quarterback’s fourth-and-10 pass sailed incomplete with 4:56 left.
“We’ve seen adversity all year and we know we have to make a play. We make plays when it matters,” Roof said.
That left East Hardy with a chance for a late lead, and the Cougars capitalized, getting a 14-yard pass from Roof to Childers to convert third-and-7 early in the series, while Roof broke off a 24-yard run four plays before the winning TD.
“We knew Dayton had success on some slants throughout the game and thought maybe he could set them up on a slant and go,” Orndorff said. “The corner has to overplay it a little bit because it had been open, but just try to draw some plays up after we see some tendencies and we’ve had some success doing that this year.”
Cameron gained an early 7-0 lead courtesy of Reed’s 21-yard TD run, though the Cougars countered and scored their first touchdown on Roof’s 5-yard pass to Childers for a fourth-and-goal conversion with 2:21 left in the opening frame.
Roof’s 5-yard TD pass to Childers on fourth and goal for East Hardy’s first points in its 28-21 win at Cameron.
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— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) October 31, 2026
After CHS was flagged for offside on the point after, East Hardy elected to go for two, but Graham was stopped short on a rush.
Wilkins came up with a key tackle on Marshall Holland to give East Hardy a stop on fourth-and-1 and possession at the Cameron 45 with 6:39 to play in the first half.
The Cougars then gained their first lead on Graham’s 2-yard TD run, and they upped it to seven when Roof and Childers connected on the 2-point pass.
The visitors settled for the seven-point halftime lead, but Reed ripped off a 55-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. However, Owen Whisler’s point-after attempt missed wide, leaving EHHS with a 14-13 advantage.
Cameron stopped the Cougars on their first second-half series when Roof’s pass fell incomplete on fourth-and-1 from midfield, and the Dragons regained the lead on a penalty-aided possession that was capped by Reed’s 4-yard TD run. He also ran in the 2-point play, leaving Cameron in front 21-14 at the 6:22 mark of the third.
The Dragons, however, were held scoreless over their final three series in what marked their third straight loss.
“Offensively, we missed a few blocks after the first drive,” CHS coach Tim Brown said. “They started shooting some linebackers and we weren’t picking some of that stuff up. At this time of the year, you have to be able to pick up blitzes and we just didn’t get that done. They did a nice job of timing things up and we didn’t do a good job of making the adjustments we needed to make.”
East Hardy ran 66 of the 103 plays between the two teams and had a 421-206 advantage in total yards.
“That’s a one-score game, and if we saw them down the road in the playoffs, maybe they’d beat us. We didn’t prove we’re that much better,” Orndorff said. “We proved that we can execute in the face of adversity. We are a good team. We were battle-tested all last season and played all those one-possession games. We could’ve finished 9-1. This year, we’ve capitalized in all of our one-possession games and I think that experience from last year led us to this point.”
Roof completed 14-of-18 passes for 203 yards.
Dove had five receptions for 103 yards and Childers made seven catches for 73 yards.
Graham rushed 31 times for 151 yards.
Reed rushed for 146 yards on eight attempts, but was held in check otherwise as he completed 3-of-13 passes for 14 yards.