Into every football team’s life, a little rain must fall. On Friday, temperatures in the mid-80s plunged into the high 60s as a cold front brought in more pleasant temperatures, but also soaking rains.
This presented both a strong challenge and a learning experience to sophomore quarterback Mason Miller, who last week did not see a single one of his pass attempts touch the turf as an incompletion. While Pendleton County came into the game with the more successful team, few things equalize more than wet, muddy, and sloppy conditions. In 2015, Keyser scored the biggest upset in its history when it became the only team to hand Fort Hill a defeat in a span of several years. The very next week, the winless Hampshire Trojans saw the Golden Tornadoes get from F5 to F0 in a churned up muddy field. On that day, Hampshire High School scored their biggest upset ever.
The lesson? Anything can happen in the mud and for the first half, the elements weighed in on the ebb and flow of Friday’s game.
Pocahontas County received the kickoff and started deep in their territory on their own 28, courtesy of Malcolm Smith’s sprint downfield and sure tackle. On their first play from scrimmage, Spencer Hartman stopped the play for a one-yard loss in the middle of the field. On the subsequent play, Ty Heavner “Ty-ed” down the running back for another one-yard loss. Eventually they punted it away, having only moved backwards on their first drive.
At 10:17, the Wildcats received the kick and took it to the 40. Pendleton County attempted to establish the passing game, but here the mud had its effect. Pass plays, especially in the Wildcat offense, require precision and chemistry. Both the quarterback and the receivers in the first half struggled in the passing game. A slippery field slowed receivers and upset the normal excellent timing enjoyed this year regardless of who has played quarterback. After three downs took the offense almost nowhere, the Wildcats punted to the Warrior 32.
The prior week, The prior week, the power running game of the Bath County, Virginia, traditional wing-T challenged the defense, especially in runs directly at the middle of the fast pursuing defense.
Pocahontas County added on many plays a wingback to their shotgun offense, an unusual move, but one that put an extra blocker in to attack the defensive line. The Warrior running attack drove straight ahead and found space to run, putting together a solid drive to the Wildcat 34. Pocahontas County added on many plays a wingback to their shotgun offense, an unusual move, but one that put an extra blocker in to attack the defensive line. The Warrior running attack drove straight ahead and found space to run, putting together a solid drive to the Wildcat 34.
Sam Eason dropped the running back looking for room in the middle for a negligible gain. Then Britton Lough, Albert Ramos-Rivera, and Wyatt Hoyt gang tackled the back for a gain of one. On third and eight, Lough, who seemed to have his Wildcat claws on a number of big tackles all night, wrapped the ankles of the back for a loss of four. Pocahontas County put a pass in the air on fourth down, but found Cameron Wyatt, who intercepted the ball and ran it out to the 23. The offense did not gain a yard on the next possession and punted the ball back to, where else, the Pocahontas County 30. Early on, the game took on the aspect of a field position battle.
Again, the Warriors backed up with Smith again making a solid tackle to force fourth and 14 at the 1:46 point. Travis Owens took the punt, jitterbugged back and forth between several tacklers, then accelerated up field to the Warrior 35. A give to Cayson Armstrong on second and 10 saw him gradually angling towards the sideline, pushed out at the three. Owens came in to run the Wildcat formation play at the quarterback position.
He gave an option left look until the defense started sliding that direction, then cut into the left through the resulting hole into the endzone. The conversion failed, leaving the score at 6-0.
Life then came at Pocahontas County fast. Their one play drive ended with a fumble at the 25. Then with 16 seconds left in the first, Pocahontas County let Owens run up field with man coverage. Miller fired a beautiful arcing pass that dropped into Owens’ hands as he crossed the goal line. Miller came in for the two-point conversion.
Perhaps for the first time all year, he went under center. After the snap, he wheeled sharply right and tossed to Wyatt to set the score at 14-0 at the end of the quarter.
Pendleton County had played more cleanly for fewer points in games this year, but had a substantial lead for that point in the game.
To start the second quarter after the kickoff, the Warriors put a full house backfield look into their shotgun formation. After making a first down at their own 42, on the subsequent play Lough slipped inside the blockers and ended the running play at the 38. They made some yardage back on second down, then earned a first down at the Wildcat 44. On third down, Lough and Jonah See stopped the play to set up a fourth and four, but the Warriors punched the next play through for a first down at the Wildcat 32. Rylan Tilley made sure that Pocahontas County gained nothing on first down, which is generally the key to slowing or stopping the momentum of a running attack. On third and nine, See sprinted over and leapt in front of the receiver, distracting him enough to prevent a catch.
Pocahontas County misfired on a pass on fourth down and Pendleton County took the offensive again. On second down and 10 at the Wildcat 30, Armstrong took a handoff and sprinted to the Warrior 31. After Miller duped the defense into jumping offsides, Owens took a pass on first and five to the three. There, he tried to elude about five tacklers and nearly succeeded, but set up a first and goal from the three. The conversion was no good, making the score 20-0.
Then the Warriors started to battle back, taking the ball at their own 40. After advancing to the Wildcat 34 at the 3:48 mark, they got a receiver behind the coverage, fired the ball deep to him, and earned their first score of the game. The second touchdown came with 16 seconds left. A blocked kick ended scoring in the first half at 20-12.
The Wildcats came out in the third quarter looking for efficiency and consistency on offense, despite the onerous conditions. Starting with solid field position at their own 44, they saw Braylon Willis start generating offense for the home squad. After a five-yard gain put him at midfield, Pendleton County used him as bait. As the play developed, one could see Willis being set up for a screen and the defense closed in to defend. Miller instead dumped a pass to Wyatt as he positioned himself in front of the coverage, then ran by them after pulling in the pass all the way to a score. Owens led the Wildcat play for the two-point conversion and put the score at 28-12.
Pocahontas County’s record may not show it, but they have good talent on their team and were not daunted by the deficit at 11 minutes in the third. A 14-play, five-minute drive earned them a touchdown, bringing them to within 10 with 18 minutes left in the game. A two-point conversion gave them the 20 they had when the game was over.
Pendleton County ran the kick to their own 35. A few plays later on third and four, Willis followed Hoyt and drove 19 yards to the Pocahontas County 41. Not long after, on first down at the 28, Miller threw to the right towards Owens. A defender closed on the ball trying to grab an interception, but Owens’ hands got there first. He spun and raced to the endzone, only to have that nifty play called back for a penalty. It only deferred the outcome for two plays. Lough took a screen pass in the flat. Eason hustled up to about the 10 to lay a block springing Lough for another touchdown. Willis picked up two more points to set his team up with a 35-20 lead with 3:35 left.
While the score technically remained in reach, a team relying so much on the run takes a lot of time to score. Pendleton County added 15 more in the fourth for a commanding 51-20 score, but after a game that left coaches with work to do before Friday.
Pendleton County crosses Shenandoah Mountain Friday to take on Stonewall Jackson. They opened the season with a 17-12 loss to Bath County. They enjoyed two wins this season thus far, one coming against future Wildcat opponent Thomas Jefferson School of Science and Technology from Alexandria, Virginia.
