By Stephen Smoot
Through much of the past generation, Keyser High School doth bestrode the narrow Potomac Highlands high school football world like a Colossus, tearing through other schools like so many cornfields in the Tornadoes’ path.
Recent years have seen a bit of the glitter come off of the Golden Tornadoes, but they have continued to feature speed, talent, and pride. With the advancement of the Pendleton County Wildcats deep into the state playoffs this year, many fans spoke almost in hushed whispers that this could be the year to knock off the black and gold on the gridiron.
Mission accomplished.
With blue skies above, temperatures in the 70s, then the 60s, a dry field, and almost no breeze, no more perfect conditions could have greeted the two teams playing in their season openers.
Kamron Redman had the honor of the first touch of the ball, returning the opening kickoff almost back to his own 20. Pendleton County’s offense took to the field and wasted no time setting to the work of the day.
Colton Roberson took the ball in the shotgun formation, as he did all night, and fired the ball to outside receiver Travis Owens, who sidestepped a defender and raced up the sideline to the Wildcat 38.
Next Redman ground out two yards against the big and strong defensive line of Keyser before Roberson dumped a short pass into the hands of Travis Owens for six more yards. Penalties, however, proved too much to overcome and the Wildcats punted.
Keyser took the ball on about their own 45-yard line and quickly showed that their offense would take the opposite approach to Pendleton County. The Wildcats aired it out early and often, but the Golden Tornadoes put their trust in their larger linemen and lightning quick running back. In eight plays they moved the ball to the Wildcat 13, but on fourth down.
Pendleton County has shown itself strongly capable in short yardage defensive situations during the past two years and Friday night was no different. The interior line formed a virtual brick wall that shut down the Keyser forward run and gave the ball back to Roberson and the offense.
Starting deep within their own territory after the important defensive stand, Roberson on second down connected with Corbin Dove to move his team from their own six out to the Wildcat 38.
Keyser historically favors one-on-one coverage from their defensive backs and Friday night offered much of the same. Pendleton County found advantages in both height and athleticism in all of their receivers over Tornado defensive backs.
At no point did Keyser seem to adjust its pass defense to give relief in pass coverage.
At this point, after some preliminaries, the Owens and Owens Show kicked off.
On second down and 10 from the Wildcat 43, Roberson lofted a ball toward Chase Owens who outleaped the defensive back, snagged the ball and cradled it with one hand, then dove to the ground to control it. The next play saw another deep pass this time to the other Owens, who also hauled in a pass one-handed, at the opponents’10-yard line.
Roberson then reminded all of his own speed, running past and through the Keyser defense for the opening score. Redman’s kick made it 7-0.
One of Keyser’s biggest threats came from their kick and punt return game. Through short kickoffs and punts out of bounds, Pendleton County worked to neutralize the potentially break away speed of the skilled players, but gave up some special teams’ yardage in the process. Keyser took their next possession in Wildcat territory.
“We were just trying to kick it away from their best returners,” noted Zac Smith, Wildcat head coach.
Keyser had third down and 13 from the Pendleton County 35. Their quarterback found a receiver who advanced to the 10. Keyser tied the game on the next play with the extra point completed.
The score remained tied until about the 8:20 mark in the second quarter. Keyser continued to mix runs up the middle with sweeps aimed at getting outside of the Wildcat defense. For four plays, the defense stymied the Golden Tornadoes, but then their running back pulled away from the pack and ran for a 42-yard touchdown. With the kick, Keyser took a 14-7 lead.
With just under five minutes left in the half, Pendleton County forced a punt. Travis Owens took the ball up field and drove through the defender near midfield. An illegal block penalty pushed them back to their own 35, however. Roberson took the snap, rolled right into the pressure, then cut back left.
There he fired a midrange pass to Chase Owens who burst through the Keyser defense, outracing them 65 yards to a tying score with the Redman kick added. With 4:55 remaining in the half, the score was tied – temporarily, anyway.
Keyser once again started with excellent field position and, powered by a 28-yard run, got near the goal line, then crossed it at the 2:52 mark for a 21-14 lead.
Undeterred, the Wildcats came right back. Starting at their own 20, Roberson hit Chase Owens on the right sideline. A Keyser defender grabbed hold of him, then tried to ride him to the ground over about a 15 yard stretch. He finally pulled the receiver out at the Keyser 27, but the home team later lost 10 yards on a penalty.
Wyatt got the offense close by pulling in a nine yard pass, then Roberson tied the game at 21 with less than a minute left in the half.
Keyser sought to retake the lead before the opening half closed. They moved the ball from their own 20 out to their 45, but Dove stepped in front of a receiver to end the drive with an interception. With only seconds remaining on the clock, the Wildcats opted to kneel out the time.
Coming out of the half, the Golden Tornadoes had a chance to regain the lead as they took first possession. On the ground, they took the ball on four plays from their own 47 to the Wildcat 39 where the offense put the ball on the ground for Roberson to recover. Said Smith, “We got a couple of turnovers and that stop coming out of halftime was huge.”
The visiting team put up a stout defense, forced a punt, then got the ball back. Following the pattern of most of the game thus far, they edged ahead with a touchdown at the 8:13 point in the third. By this point, the game looked to be the type of offensive slugfest that usually the team with the ball last in regulation tends to win.
That dynamic died at this point in the game. It seemed as if Pendleton County collectively understood that this game, this season, they had the superior team over Class AAA Keyser.
Keyser, as is their wont over the years, attempted a surprise onside kick. Not fooled, Pendleton County fell on the ball a few yards onto Keyser’s side of the field. Roberson ran left for seven and Keyser gifted the offense 15 yards on a personal foul. Two plays later from the 30, Roberson arced a timing route to Travis Owens who scored the touchdown. With the Redman kick, the game once again tied, now at 28.
Travis Owens then made the back breaking play of the game, one of brains more than brawn or balletic moves. Redman angled the kickoff toward the sideline. As it bounced and rolled, the Golden Tornado laid off of it, shocked to see the ball simply die six inches short of rolling out of bounds.
Out of nowhere, Travis Owens slid his right arm between the live ball and the sideline, corralling it to his body and gaining possession at the Keyser 24. Two plays later, Roberson briefly dropped the snap, picked it up, rolled slightly, then found Travis Owens streaking across the middle for an improbable completion and touchdown.
The kick put the home team ahead for the first time since the first quarter. Keyser started mixing in old style offset I formations with their shotgun version of the wing T. Pendleton County adjusted defensively by better protecting the outside corners while linebackers prevented gaps from forming inside. One of the key plays that helped to halt this drive came when a pass rush from Mason Miller forced Keyser to complete a pass to a player on the ground for a seven -yard loss.
The Wildcats scored twice more. Travis Owens caught a touchdown on fourth and seven at the Keyser 13. Then with 8:45 left, Pendleton County got its final score on second and 13 at their own 43. Dove took a pass and streaked down the sideline to the endzone as a child could be heard yelling from the stands “Corbin runs fast!”
Keyser came in with an offense designed to hold onto the ball, eat yards, and control clock, not to score quickly. They added another touchdown with less than two minutes remaining and that closed scoring for the game at 48-34.
Roberson threw 22 of 35 for 450 yards and five touchdowns while running for two more. Chase Owens led all receivers with six receptions for 177 and a touchdown. Travis Owens had nine catches for 133 and three scores while Dove scored a touchdown with four catches for 98 yards. Britton Lough had two for 33 and Cameron Wyatt one for nine.
Roberson benefited greatly from the solid and consistent play of his line, despite giving up pounds to the visitors.
Defeating a Class AAA squad in the first week puts Pendleton County in the early catbird seat in that they get full credit in “triple A points” for beating a much larger school. No other Class A school had the chance to acquire the same in week one. The Golden Tornadoes could be among the fastest teams that the Wildcats will face this season.
The next opponent, East Hardy, dropped a 70-49 loss to Wahama. On Friday, the Wildcats will host the Cougars.
