First comes a mea culpa. Mason Miller was identified as a freshman quarterback by this publication last week. Despite the roster saying otherwise, Miller is a proud 10th grader at Pendleton County High School. Being a sophomore, however, does not make his accomplishment of standing in for Colton Roberson and leading the team any less remarkable.
Friday saw the Wildcats enjoy a significant accomplishment that will prepare them for the postseason. They got behind a strong Bath County, Virginia, team by double digits, only to storm back and wallop the visitors from the Old Dominion in the second half.
Bath County started work after the opening kickoff on their own 30 and opened their drive with a nine-yard run. This served as a good omen early for a team that lives by the “ground and pound” philosophy.
The Chargers run the wing-T offense similarly to the football team at the United States Military Academy, with the quarterback always under center. This differs from the wing-T run by the Keyser Golden Tornadoes in that they run it from the shotgun.
Pendleton County faced the full slate of misdirection options from the wing-T. Bath County started off by running a number of plays that sent the wingback around the back of the formation to the opposite side. The ball could go to the wingback coming around, to the tailback on the dive play, or the quarterback on his own. The Chargers do not have an effective passing game, but their game plan lies in using misdirection in the running game to slow down an aggressive and fast defense such as Pendleton County has. Also, occasionally, Bath County will fire a pass deep against man-to-man coverage in hopes of surprising the defense.
With the Bath County offense grinding behind a big offensive line, once they gain momentum, stopping them becomes a challenge.
Nine plays and 3:40 into the opening drive, Bath County had a first down just inside of Wildcat territory. There they fired a pass deep, but good man-to-man defense prevented the completion. The Chargers at the 7:25 mark did complete a pass for a first down to the Wildcat 23. Three plays later, the Chargers took the lead to the sound of absolute silence at Leo Slusher Field. A kick made the score 7-0.
Part of the benefit of a strong running offense comes in keeping the defense on the field longer, tiring out their bodies and minds until they make mistakes or can’t make plays. Pendleton County’s offense assisted Bath County in their time of possession strategy, but not in the manner that the visitors wanted. With 5:25 left in the first, the kickoff put the home squad on their own 37. Miller on first down threw the ball to his right to Travis Owens for a bubble screen on the line of scrimmage near the sideline. Owens made a move past a would-be tackler, then outran the rest of the defense all the way down the field for the initial Wildcat touchdown. The kick failed, leaving the score 7-6.
Bath County received the ball with five minutes left in the first quarter and started to roll again. Wildcat defenders started to get wise about playing the wing-T. The key lies in patience, staying at home on defense, not pursuing the ballcarrier too hard, working with teammates to slow the ballcarrier before attacking him. On first and 10 at the home team 40, Bath County attempted a reverse. Defensive linemen moved into position and with the quarterback to slow the runner. Then the linebacking corps rocketed in and took him down for a loss of one. Trying to gain every advantage possible, they rushed out of a timeout to get a play off with the Wildcat coaching staff still on the field. The Wildcats were almost all out of position, but stopped the play anyway.
The visiting team adjusted by running more plays straight ahead and directly at the defense, taking away their speed and skill in pursuit, using the big Charger linemen to bust holes for the backs. Another touchdown was earned by the Chargers after a 15-play and nearly eight-minute drive.
Pendleton County fielded a “worm burner” ground kickoff at their own 39 with nine minutes to go. Britton Lough took a bubble screen pass ahead to the Bath County 48. Next, Braylon Willis showed that he does know what he’s talking about. He ran the ball right, but saw a hole widening to his left and bolted through. He turned up field and didn’t stop until the officials raised two hands in the air signaling another score.
The home team had the ball for all of about 20 seconds, running three plays, and, after the made conversion, were down 14-13. That said, Bath County scored two more touchdowns to force Pendleton County to stare up at a 28-13 halftime deficit.
Bath County walked into the half having accomplished everything they could have hoped. They had played mistake-free football, ran the ball with dominance, and kept the Wildcat defense on the field for almost the entire half. That said, Zac Smith, Pendleton County head coach, and his staff have excelled in halftime adjustments and got their players to flip the game in the second half.
Pendleton County did not start off well on play one, which was a fumble that they recovered. On second and 11, Willis from his own 35 sprinted up field. A defender’s hand swiped his ankle, slowing him enough to get dropped at the 47. If not for that hand, Willis would have scored again. Not long after, on first and 10 from the Charger 38, Willis charged himself through a hole, made a cut that, as the kids say “broke the ankles” of the linebacker, then he accelerated to the 20. Willis took the next play in, running through a massive hole plowed by the Wildcat offensive line.
Bath County got their chance with 10:07 left, still up 28-20. On first and 10, however, Lough blitzed through a hole and dropped the wingback for a loss of six. On the next play, the Chargers once again tried to snap quickly to catch the Wildcats off guard. It resulted instead in their own fumble and a Pendleton County recovery, the first real error of consequence in the game for the visiting squad.
At the 8:56 mark in the third, Bath County put single coverage on Cameron Wyatt. He made a move and zipped up field past the defensive back and Miller delivered a perfect ball to keep Wyatt in stride, allowing him to get to the endzone, making the score 28-26.
With their lead sliced to two points, Bath County tried to seize momentum. They called a play action pass from their own 46 that led to a completion at the Pendleton County 38. Not long after on second and five, Noah Lockard wrapped the legs of the runner and dropped him for no gain. The Chargers converted a fourth and one at the 29 to stay alive offensively and got as far as the 16. Then Albert Ramos-Rivera and Lough stacked up the back for a five-yard loss. Not long after on fourth down again, the Chargers called up a pass play. With Wyatt Hoyt bearing down on the quarterback, he fired a wounded duck pass into traffic. Normally, a defense should never intercept a pass on fourth down because it often costs their offense yards, but with so many offensive squad hands in the vicinity, Willis got his on the pass and got possession back for Pendleton County.
The defense slowed the Wildcat attack at first, but then with 46 seconds left in the half Miller rolled left and got the ball to a leaping Wyatt at the Wildcat 35. Owens then took a pass at the 40 and ran almost to the 30. At the visiting team 34, Miller hit Owens on a bubble screen. Lough pancaked the defensive back and Owens sprinted through the heart of the Charger defense for his team’s first lead of the day. Owens then came in to run the offense for the two-point conversion in a Wildcat-style play. He took the snap and shoveled the ball forward to Lough who made the score 34-28.
After charging out to their own 42, Bath County dropped another fumble for the home team to leap upon. Pendleton County lost ground in the first two downs. They then set up a bubble screen to the right, but Miller passed left to Wyatt who was left in man coverage. He took the ball quickly upfield for a touchdown. Owens once again picked up a two-point conversion, running the Wildcat play but taking the ball himself across the goal line to set the score at 42-28.
With 8:46 left and Pendleton County’s offense now looking unstoppable, Bath County tried to find opportunities against the defense. Owens dove to ankle-tackle a back for no gain at the Charger 45. Then Ty Heavner strung out the back until the rest of the defense snowed the ball carrier under at the 44. On the next play, third and 11, Heavner once again loomed large in getting in the way of the back until Lough sliced in and dropped him for a loss. On fourth and 12, Bath County ran play action out of a power running formation, but Owens knocked the ball down.
Taking over at the opponent 43, the offense ran through the legs of Cayson Armstrong. On second down, he dragged tacklers to the 36. On the next play, he exploded through the line and carried the ball to the 11. At the 4:20 mark, Armstrong ran untouched for nine yards before picking up the score. The kick made it 49-28. Bath County added a touchdown for pride with the Wildcats content to allow them to eat the remainder of the time in the game to do so and ending the game at 49-36.
Miller could not have enjoyed a better day, completing all 12 passes for 285 yards. Willis had 10 rushes for 101 yards and Armstrong four for 43. Owens had five receptions for 144 yards, Wyatt four for 108 and Lough three for 33.
Friday, Pendleton County hosts the Warriors of Pocahontas County. Their season started strong with a win over Tucker County, but they have only seen a single victory since.
