By Stephen Smoot
On May 12, 1862, Confederate States Army Major General Stonewall Jackson led his men through fire and fight in their focus on getting to Franklin to liberate the town from Union forces.
When he safely reached the Pendleton County seat, he held a prayer of thanksgiving to God for delivering victory to his men.
The high school named for the great military commander fared much less well on a rare Thursday night varsity football game.
Pendleton County and Stonewall Jackson represented teams headed in 180 degree opposing directions. The Generals have a single win over Maryland’s Hancock while the Wildcats have their focus set on defeating a major rival before heading to the state playoffs.
After young Madison Mongold delivered a veritably angelic version of the “Star Spangled Banner,” the game commenced.
In the first two possessions, the Wildcats looked a bit cold and not from the chillier late October temperatures. Pendleton County ran some plays reminiscent of the old Rich Rodriguez bubble screens and short sideline passes to spread out and pull forward the opposing defense. Penalties and other miscues kept the high flying offense grounded very briefly.
During these first two possessions, the Wildcats moved the ball, but did not find the endzone. Stonewall Jackson struggled to gain yardage at all. On its opening drive, it moved from their own 20 to their own seven.
The second drive ended in a better result, zero yards gained or lost.
With a few seconds over seven minutes remaining in the first quarter, the Wildcats roared into action. Colton Roberson lofted a pass deep that fell into the hands of the sprinting Travis Owens who carried it into the endzone for a 55-yard touchdown. Kamron Redman’s kick made the score 7-0.
After the Generals fumbled the ball back on their opening play at their own 20, the Wildcats got underway again. Roberson took the ball himself and angled away from the middle of the field, getting upended at the five. A penalty pushed the Wildcats back to the 20, but relentless Roberson ran it back to the two.
Redman, a senior who started the year at running back but has since been limited by injury, took the handoff and sprinted through the semi-truck sized hole plowed for him by the line.
Stonewall Jackson found almost no room to run, but found a little more success in the passing game. Like other teams this year, they sought to take the speed and aggressiveness of the defense away with screen passes and misdirection plays.
Toward the end of the first quarter, the Wildcats got the ball on their own 37. On second down and 10 with 1:30 left in the first, Braylon Willis made a cut at the line of scrimmage. Running like a waterbug, he zipped ahead to the Pendleton 48 for a first down. During the past few weeks, he has gained confidence in his running, which leads to more efficient moves and bigger yardage.
Shortly after from midfield, Britton Lough hauled in a pass and followed a Cameron Wyatt block downfield to get all the way to the nine. Zac Smith, head coach, praised “the entire corps (of receivers) who did great getting blocks downfield.” He added, “That’s playing unselfish football” and said it resulted in chunks of additional yardage and scores.
Willis would run the ball in from the two and score the second touchdown of the day. On the kick, Owens picked up the ball on a snap that went errant. He took off and scored two.
Wyatt stepped up big on the other side of the ball on the next Stonewall Jackson drive, making a big stop for a five-yard loss on a sweep and breaking up a pass play. Those plays kept the Generals backed up deep and their punt went out of bounds near midfield.
From their own 46, with the second quarter just beginning, runs by Roberson and Cayson Armstrong picked up a first down. From the Generals’ 40, off play action, Roberson arced a pass down the middle to a sprinting Lough at the 10 who went easily in for another Wildcat touchdown.
Now down 29-0, Stonewall Jackson’s offense came alive. They executed a 13-play drive that erased four minutes from the clock. Using short passes and ineffective runs, they earned six points, but could not convert.
Undeterred, the Wildcats took two plays to get to their own 36. Then Roberson sprinted up the middle, cut left, angled to the Generals 30, sidestepped a would be tackler there and accelerated to another touchdown.
Stonewall Jackson moved the ball from their 35 to midfield with about 3:30 remaining in the first half. Passing downfield on fourth down, a big play by Owens ended the drive by breaking up the play downfield. A few plays later, once again Roberson hit Lough deep downfield. Lough, once again, followed a Wyatt block and scored the touchdown.
On the subsequent kickoff, the Generals let the ball roll to the three where, instead of obligating the visiting team by rolling on into the endzone, it just died there. One of the receiving team players picked the ball up, but was tracked down and stopped by Jared Greathouse on the five.
The half ended shortly after.
Pendleton County opened the half by making defensive substitutions gradually in the first few minutes, then going with reserves on offense and defense for a time.
Stonewall Jackson did not do the same, opting to keep their starters in. They scored quickly to open the third quarter, but still looked at the wrong end of a 44-12 deficit.
The Wildcats started at their own 20, but did not remain there long. Willis, on a Noel Devine-ish style run, took the ball through the line of scrimmage, bounced left, and sped upfield to the 50, then carried tacklers six more yards to the Stonewall Jackson 45.
Two plays later at the 10:57 mark, Chase Owens pulled in a pass as he absorbed a huge hit, spun off the would-be tackler, and got inside the 30. Travis Owens later took a pass to the six. Then Roberson rolled left and pushed the ball to Wyatt for an easy touchdown and a 49-14 lead.
Up 56-22 with 6:30 left in the third, Pendleton County opted to not expose its starters at all to potential injury, especially with Moorefield next week. Reserves came in on both sides of the ball.
Wildcat reserves on defense fought hard and made the Generals earn every yard, but they kept cashing in with touchdowns. With under two minutes in the third, Pendleton County scored again to push the lead to 56-28. That came when Lough outbattled a defender at the Generals’ 25, took the pass, and scored.
The offense moved the ball well with backup quarterback Mason Miller hitting seven of nine passes for 100 yards. He spread the ball around well, hitting receivers Greathouse, Jonah See, and Wyatt while picking up a touchdown pass.
Defensive reserves battled fiercely, but gave up much in terms of size and experience to the older and sizable Stonewall Jackson main line players. They made the Generals earn the scores they picked up in the second half.
After the game, Smith also explained that he did not want to embarrass a program that he hoped to maintain a good scheduling relationship with, especially since they count as a Class AA school for WVSSAC purposes.
Stonewall Jackson did not pull their starters and took advantage of playing their varsity against Wildcat varsity reserves and junior varsity. The starting defense returned, but by the seven minute mark, the visitors whittled the lead to 56-44.
At that point, Pendleton County played the part of Ulysses S. Grant to the school named for the Confederate leader and shut it all down. Stonewall Jackson forced a punt with five minutes left, but choked up a fumble on the first play. Spencer Hartman, who had a big game defensively, recovered it. Two plays put Pendleton County back in the endzone with a now insurmountable 63-44 advantage.
Despite the run in the second half, Pendleton County’s main line players performed consistently well during the game. Reserves, who would normally face other reserves, got a chance to learn by fighting through the fire and flame of tangling with starters.
The Class AA points also solidified Pendleton County’s playoff position. Against Moorefield on Friday, then Cameron on Nov. 7, the Wildcats will be playing for home field advantage. They currently hold a fourth-place ranking in Class A.
