By Stephen Smoot
Last Friday night, the Wildcat football squad battled two opponents, the fifth ranked and undefeated Tucker County Mountain Lions and the miserable weather.
The remnants of Hurricane Ian had started to drift into the region, bringing rain, cold winds, and slate gray skies. Officials agreed to start the game an hour early to limit the impact of the rain on both players and fans.
Despite the schedule change, the rain started about an hour prior to the 6 p.m. kickoff and was falling steady at game time.
Tucker County started the game fielding the kickoff at their own 33. Their first drive was methodical and efficient, combining effective runs and passes. In a fashion similar to old Rich Rodriguez coached teams at West Virginia University, they worked to spread the defense all across the line of scrimmage, often using short passes almost as extended running plays.
A 26-yard pass on 3rd and 9 from the Wildcat 36 put the Mountain Lions on the 10. A few plays later, their running back found the end zone on a short run play with approximately eight minutes to go in the first quarter.
The Wildcats, however, roared right back. Dillon Smith took the kickoff return to the Wildcat 40 to give his team great starting field position. Just as at Southern, Pendleton County established the run with great blocking and sound vision from Smith to find creases through which to run.
James Vincell also hit key passes early, including a nine-yard pass to Clayton Kisamore on third down to advance his team to the Tucker County 36. After five solid runs by Smith and a quarterback keeper by Vincell, the Wildcats found themselves with 3rd and 9 from the 10. Vincell threw a timing pattern to Kisamore who had beaten his man in coverage. Kisamore caught the pass in the corner of the end zone to tie up the game. A Terry Harvey point after put Pendleton County up 7-6 with 1:20 left in the first quarter.
On its second drive of the night, Tucker County sought to continue momentum established in their first drive. Starting from their own 36, they tried to stretch the defense with a screen pass that Pendleton County stopped for no gain.
The Mountain Lions found more success running the ball as they ground their way to the Wildcat nine. They gained three yards on three plays to set up 4th and goal at the six. A huge Smith sack ended the threat and Pendleton County took over on downs.
The rain lifted for the second quarter, but its effects may have lingered. As the Wildcats tried to claw their way out of bad field position, they gave up a fumble on their own 25. Four plays later, Tucker County lofted a deep pass into the middle of the end zone for a touchdown. They missed on the conversion, leaving the score 12-7.
Pendleton County took the ensuing kickoff at its own 27, but could not convert a first down. The Wildcats launched a good punt, but allowed a great return to the Pendleton County 18. Once again, the defense stood tall and once again stopped their opponent on a 4th down attempt at the nine.
Tucker County got one more opportunity to score in the half, but a huge Vincell play blowing up a screen pass helped to defuse the threat.
Pendleton County opened the second half with the ball and Tucker County clinging to a slight lead. Rain started falling again as the half opened and it lasted the rest of the game.
In the first half, the Wildcats’ aggressive defense slowed the Mountain Lions’ attack while making big plays. Tucker County responded by using more play action fakes from the quarterback and counter style running plays. Both can slow an aggressive defense while opening holes to exploit.
For the entire third quarter, the two teams battled without scoring, keeping the game within the Wildcats’ reach, but Tucker County scored a touchdown early in the 4th. With the conversion, they took a 20-7 lead.
Unfortunately, the dam broke there for Tucker County, who scored two more touchdowns to close the game’s scoring at 32-7. The final score, however, did not reflect the intensity brought by Pendleton County to the contest and how hard Tucker County had to battle for most of the game.
Today, Pendleton County travels to Tygarts Valley, who is 0-6 on the year. Last week, they lost 20-6 to Richwood. Tygarts Valley also lost to Tucker County 62-6 and East Hardy 63-0.
Offensive Statistics:
Passing: James Vincell 6/11 – 37 yards 1 TD 1 INT, Dillon Smith ¾ – 10 yards
Rushing: Dillon Smith 19-71, Chase Owens 8-22, Justus Kuykendall 2-11, James Vincell 2-5
Receiving: Clayton Kisamore 2/21 1 TD, Dusty Smith 5/15, Chase Owens 2/11
Defense:
Tackles: Dillon Smith 11 (1 sack), Terry Harvey 11, Dusty Smith 7, Justus Kuykendall 7, Connor Armentrout 6, Chase Owens 6, Blake Harris 6, James Vincell 4, Bradey Bowers 4, Lucas Redman 2, Alex Reyes, 2, Clayton Kisamore 1, Adam Ruddle 1
