By Stephen Smoot
They waited for weeks to hold the matchup of Wildcats versus Wildcats. First came court cases, then a reseeding that would have brought Petersburg to Franklin in the first round. Once the West Virginia State Supreme Court settled matters, Old Man Winter had his say, hurling a blizzard at the region.
Then, finally, Pendleton County and Meadow Bridge met under overcast gray skies in raw temperatures that put a chill on all – except the Pendleton County offense.
As they have in many games this year, the Wildcats spotted the opposition a first possession score. That has never nonplussed Pendleton County – indeed they have won most of the games in which this has happened.
Meadow Bridge’s first touchdown came on an eight play, 68-yard drive. Their strategy lay in lining up in power I and other full house style formations behind a massive offensive line. The Wildcats from Fayette County drove the ball behind their line efficiently and effectively on that drive.
They tried the two-point conversion after scoring, but William Smith leapt on the running back like a rodeo rider and dragged him to the ground.
Pendleton County took the kickoff to their own 38. Play calling here showed patience and balance. Nick Rhodes found room off the left side and carried the ball to the 40. On second down, a throw to the left side to Travis Owens picked up a first down.
After quarterback Colton Roberson tricked Meadow Bridge into jumping offsides, an eight-yard run by Rhodes picked up yet another first down. On the next play, Roberson ran the option right, but the play lost two yards. He picked up 16 yards in the next two plays by keeping the ball in his own hands. That set up more key runs by Rhodes.
A holding penalty knocked Pendleton County back to the 28, but from there Roberson lofted a pass to wide open Josiah Kimble sprinting to the right corner of the endzone.
A mishandled snap gave Kimble a chance to run the ball in again for the two-point conversion and an 8-6 advantage.
Meadow Bridge got the ball in excellent field position on the kickoff. They set right back to work pounding at the Pendleton County defense like a hammer. They rattled off 15 plays to get to the Pendleton County 12. Roberson stopped the run for no gain. Chase Owens stopped the next play for only a gain of two. On third and nine, they tried the left side and found a gang of tacklers waiting.
Finally on fourth and six, a pass attempt fell incomplete and the Pendleton County offense returned to the field.
A false start penalty pushed the offense back to their own six. Shortly after, on second and nine, Corbin Dove pulled in a pass, battled his way through three tacklers, and drove his way to a first down at the 20. Kimble then pulled in a 21-yard reception.
From the Pendleton 42, Kimble caught another reception. That and a 15-yard face mask put the offense at the Meadow Bridge 33. A short pass to the left side found Chase Owens, who ran through two tacklers and then outran a third to put his team on the scoreboard again. Gabe Harvey’s kick made the score 15-6.
One of the early moves made by Pendleton County lay in matching Meadow Bridge’s power run offense with a goal line defense. From that point, the Wildcats from Fayette County did not enjoy the same running lanes as they had in the first drive.
On the next drive, they spent four and a half minutes grinding out 10 plays to get to the Pendleton 23. There, given a third down and nine, they failed to connect on two consecutive pass plays and turned the ball over on downs.
Pendleton County had 46.4 seconds left in the half. Earlier in the season, the Wildcats at times in this situation have chosen to kneel out the clock and take the ball to start the second half.
In this case, Roberson fired a pass to Kimble near midfield, who then accelerated past the Meadow Bridge defense to score another touchdown. The kick extended the lead to 22-6 with the home team threatening to break it open.
Meadow Bridge refused to die. They took the kickoff all the way back to the Pendleton six and powered the ball in to score a touchdown right before the half. The two-point conversion set the lead at 22-14.
With the half to think about the breakdown and score, the home field Wildcats pounced. The kickoff pushed Pendleton back to their own 33, but a Roberson read option keeper went left for 13 yards and a first down. He next hit Chase Owens with a pass at the Meadow Bridge 45 – which he took down the sideline to the endzone. The Harvey kick extended the lead to 29-14.
After Meadow Bridge turned the ball over on downs, Pendleton had the ball at the opposition 37. Roberson pulled the defense offsides for a five-yard penalty. Rhodes then took the ball off the left side, shaking off and shimmying past tacklers until he stepped out one yard shy of a score.
Two plays later with 8:05 left in the third, Roberson took it into the endzone himself. The Harvey kick extended the lead to 36-14.
A kickoff and two Meadow Bridge plays later, Pendleton County’s offense took the field, courtesy of a fumble recovered by Spencer Hartman. Roberson calmly rolled right and lofted a deep ball to Kimble, who pulled it in for another score. On the point attempt, Kimble took the snap, then rolled left on a designed play and passed the ball to Bradey Bowers. Their connection made the score 44-14 with 7:11 left in the third.
Again, Meadow Bridge refused to die.
They got back to work on offense and once again put together a long drive that ended in a touchdown and a 44-22 score with 3:09 left in the third.
After the game, Zac Smith, head coach, noted that injuries down the stretch limited key players and upset the rhythm of the home team. Meadow Bridge, being a strong team, took advantage. The two teams traded possessions until 5:45 left in the contest when Meadow Bridge closed the gap to 44-30.
The past two seasons, the Moorefield game has taught Pendleton County that miracles can happen and teams thought out of the game can come roaring back. Pendleton County ate 50 seconds of time without advancing the ball past their own 35. Then Harvey stepped in and hit a huge punt to back up the visiting squad to the Meadow Bridge 28.
They advanced the ball to their own 37 where they faced third and one, but a bad pitch set them back to fourth and 11. Meadow Bridge completed a pass to their big playmaker Kaiden Sims, but he was dragged down two yards shy of a first down. Pendleton County took the ball to the half yard line, then declined to force the play in for a score.
Smith credited his defense, saying, “We definitely stepped up early in the second quarter” and added that despite the injuries “we find a way.”
“That’s the message.”
