By Stephen Smoot
After besting Raleigh County’s Meadow Bridge in a weather delayed first round game last week, Pendleton County will now travel north to face a much more familiar foe.
Tucker County put themselves in the second seed by producing a perfect 10 win and no loss season, including a convincing 38-13 win over the Wildcats on Oct. 4. Pendleton County came closer than most, however.
The Mountain Lions opened the season by blasting Pocahontas County 54-6, then closed it by routing Class AAA playoff team Hampshire 60-21. They also topped the Potomac Valley Conference by winning six games over fellow conference teams. Pendleton County placed second with a three and two conference record.
The big change over last year came in how Tucker County dominated games. Last year, its passing attack bombed the competition from the air. This year, senior running back Jared Reall averaged a bruising 161.5 yards per game with an eye opening 8.8 yards per carry.
His style of running the ball may remind some of West Virginia 90s era star running backs Amos Zeroue or Avon Cobourne. Reall has a low center of gravity, waterbug-type shiftiness, but also the strength and power to run through tackles.
A powerful running game was complemented by solid quarterback play. Junior Samuel Marks averaged 17.7 yards per pass completion. He also connected on almost two-thirds of his passes, going 90 for 140 for just under 1,600 yards.
Interestingly enough, though no other player on the roster was credited with throwing a pass, Marks also had a reception for 11 yards.
Marks’ most prolific target on the year was the tall and lanky Garrett Wilfong, who caught just over one third of all receptions on the season with 32. He translated those into 562 yards on the year. Reid Kisamore, a more diminutive and quicker player, caught 18 passes for just under 500 yards with a 27.7 yards per catch average.
Reall also served as a passing game weapon, catching 8 for 119 yards on the year.
The defense earned a remarkable statistical achievement, allowing 13 points in its first five games. The Wildcats equaled that when they played the Mountain Lions in their sixth game.
The last five games of the season saw the defense a bit less stingy, but some of those points came in blowouts against Mountain Lion reserves. Over the whole season, they allowed 9.1 points per game.
Last week, they hosted East Hardy in the first round. The Cougars play the same style as the Mountain Lions this year, emphasizing a hard-charging ground attack. The Mountain Lions advance to the quarterfinals with a 30-0 win over the Cougars.
Pendleton County has done well defending the run for much of the year. They get off of blocks effectively, converge on the ball well, and rarely miss tackles. One of the problems in some games has come when teams like Moorefield or Tucker County with solid ground games have run the ball well, racking up minutes in the game and yards on the ground while the Wildcats’ potent quick strike offense scores often, but the defense gets little rest.
Such conditions can tire out any defense on any team and Pendleton County must figure out a way to limit the minutes played on the defensive side of the ball.
The Wildcats will face the Mountain Lions in a quarterfinal contest scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Tucker County.
