By Stephen Smoot
To learn to fly, one must first walk. That walk will inevitably involve adversity until one begins to fly and rises above it.
Last Friday night, the Wildcats hosted a Moorefield team whose record has not matched the normal expectations of the Yellow Jacket faithful. They had defeated Pocahontas County and Southern in similar fashion as Pendleton County while falling to East Hardy, Tucker County, and Petersburg.
Moorefield brought with them a senior and junior laden team playing for pride against a Wildcat squad with an outside shot at the postseason. The Yellow Jackets also ran an offense different from the Rodriguez influenced spread common in this region, using a system favored by Keyser that features a run heavy offense and misdirection, but discipline to execute properly.
For the Wildcats, quarterback James Vincell returned on offense, but Dillon Smith only had limited availability on defense.
Moorefield started quickly, taking the opening kickoff to their own 44. On the very next play, the Yellow Jackets took the ball and weaved through tacklers to score on a 56-yard run. Thirteen seconds into the game, Moorefield led 7-0.
The younger Wildcats kept fighting back the entire game. In their opening drive Chase Owens started with a 13-yard gain up the middle, powering through a tackler at the end of the run. Once again, Owens ran for almost four yards a carry in the game, gaining 45 yards on 12 attempts. Unfortunately, the drive stalled at the Wildcat 44 and Gabriel Harvey executed a nice punt to put Moorefield back at its own 28.
Five straight strong runs, however, put the Yellow Jackets at first and goal at the six. The defensive line blocked two attempts to run it in, but Moorefield scored its second touchdown on a pass play.
At the start of the second quarter, Pendleton County started a drive at their own nine. Owens started with a gain of six. On the next play a flag negated a big gain on a sweep by Josiah Kimble. Vincell then completed a nine-yard pass to Clayton Kisamore and another for three yards to Kimble. A penalty set the offense back on third down, however, and the drive stalled at the Wildcat 30.
Moorefield started its next drive at its own 33 after a chop block personal foul, but saw the Wildcat defense end it quickly. Owens jumped a pass route and intercepted the ball, evading tacklers on a 30-yard return for the first Wildcat score of the night.
After the Owens touchdown, Moorefield received the ball with approximately six minutes left in the half. They settled in and executed a sustained drive that placed them on the Wildcat 27 with 14 seconds left. From there, Moorefield took a deep handoff to the endzone and led at halftime 21-7.
Pendleton County took the next opportunity to punch back as they opened the third quarter with the ball, starting with Bradey Bowers returning the kickoff to the Wildcat 36. On the first play, Kisamore broke up what could have been an interception, keeping the ball with the offense. On second down, Justus Kuykendall exploded up the middle for an eight-yard gain, followed by a 14 yard completion from Vincell.
Moorefield’s defense then sacked Vincell and stopped a sweep for no gain. On third and 16, Vincell fired a pass to Connor Armentrout who walked a tightrope on the left sideline to scurry into the endzone. A Harvey PAT brought Pendleton County within seven at 21-14.
Again, Moorefield responded with a long, sustained, patient drive with 11 runs and a pass that ended in a touchdown extending their lead to 28-14. The Wildcats tried to fire back. Taking the ball at their own 32, the offense gave up 11 yards on a block in the back penalty. On third and 15, Vincell floated a short pass to Owens that he advanced 18 yards to the Pendleton County 45.
In the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, Kimble took a pass to the Moorefield 36, followed by a 13-yard run by Owens. Just as Moorefield’s defense found themselves on their heels, however, they recovered a fumble and ran the ball back for their final score of the night.
Owens turned in one of his best games of the season, making big plays in the run and pass game, as well as on defense. The defensive line also turned in a strong performance, accounting for nearly half of the tackles. Terry Harvey Jr. led the team with 10 and Blake Harris and Lucas Redman each posting eight.
Tomorrow night, the Wildcats will host Cameron. Cameron comes in undefeated and ranked third in single A as of press time. They enjoyed an undefeated season last year as well, but fell to Gilmer County in the first round of the playoffs.
Offensive Statistics
Passing: Vincell 17/23 201 yards TD
Rushing: Owens 12-45, Kuykendall 3-4, Vincell 3-2
Receiving: Kisamore 7-70, Armentrout 2-60 TD, Owens 5-54, Kimble 3-17
Defensive Statistics
Tackles: Terry Harvey Jr. 10, Dillon Smith 8, Redman 8, Harris 8, Bowers 6, Vincell 5, Kuykendall 5, Owens 3, Armentrout 3, Alex Reyes 3, Kisamore 1, Kimble 1
