Parkersburg South, which came into the game as the No. 13 seed in Triple-A, dominated the line of scrimmage and rolled to a 51-8 victory over the Logan High School football team at an ice-cold Logan Stadium.
Logan, seeded No. 4 and hosting its first playoff game since 1990, closed out the season with an 8-3 record.
Parkersburg South (7-4) advanced to the Class AAA quarterfinals and will play next week against the winner of Saturday’s game between No. 5 Morgantown and No. 12 Musselman . Both teams beat the Patriots during the regular season.
Logan, still looking for its first ever playoff win, dropped to 0-5 in its post-season history.
The Patriots raced out to a 31-0 halftime lead and never looked back. Logan scored a late touchdown and two-point conversion while Parkersburg South added two more scores.
It was a disappointing end to Logan’s season.
The Wildcats had lost 38-7 last week in the regular season finale to Scott at home.
“This team means a whole lot to me,” Logan coach Gary Mullins said. “They fight hard and I’m honored to play with them. When I got the job here I tried to pattern guys as to how I think they should play football. I believe this is the closest that I’ve got.”
Despite the rout, Mullins said he’s proud of his team for having the most successful football season in Logan in 21 years.
“We learned a lot of good lessons about not quitting,” Mullins said. “They believe in each other and they play hard. The score was ugly but one thing that I’m proud of them is that they never quit fighting. Parkersburg South just whipped our rear ends. At least we kept fighting.”
Logan scored late in the game with a touchdown run by Joe Street and a two-point conversion run by senior lineman Tyler Nelson. Lineman Matt Southers also had a late 9-yard run.
“Where would we have been without our offensive line?” Mullins said. “Going into the year that was one of our question marks. We had two and we had to find three. Those guys did a great job. Maybe this year was our year to get a home playoff. Only the Lord knows, but maybe we lost tonight for a reason.”
Friday night’s game was also the final high school football game for Logan’s other senior players, including the backfield duo of Street and David Toney. Street rushed for more than 1,100 yards this season.
Also playing in their final prep contest were seniors Zach Ellis, Justin Oney, Jameson Copley, Paul VanAelst, Ryan Busick and starting lineman Marc Morris.
Logan looked to get on the scoreboard first but turned the ball over on downs at the Parkersburg South 33-yard line.
Then on the third play of the Patriots’ second possession, junior running back Logan Cox broke two tackles and raced down the field for a 56-yard touchdown. Strong-leg kicker Issac Boles then boomed the extra point and South led 7-0 with 2:34 to go in the first quarter.
Logan was forced to punt on its next drive and Parkersburg South struck again four plays later when senior Jesse Fickiesen scored on a 28-yard touchdown run. Boles was again good on the PAT and the Patriots were on top 14-0 with 9:57 left until halftime.
The Wildcats’ offense continued to sputter.
Logan went for it on fourth-and-two at the South 43-yard line but quarterback Khaleel Reynolds was tossed for a 5-yard loss.
Five snaps later, Parkersburg South was into the end zone again as quarterback Tyler Bolen rolled out to his right on play action and found a wide open Cox for a 29-yard touchdown strike. Boles tacked on the PAT to put the Patriots ahead 21-0 with 6:40 left until the break.
Logan was again three-and-out on its next drive as a big dropped pass on third-and-10 fell to the grass incomplete, forcing the Wildcats to punt again.
Parkersburg South’s offense was able to find pay dirt again just six plays later when Jordan Quiocho dashed in for a 23-yard touchdown run with 2:06 to go until the half. Boles added the extra point kick and the Patriots held a commanding 28-0 lead.
Logan’s bad luck continued.
With time running out, Logan tried to make something happen before the intermission. A 16-yard pass to Oney got the Wildcats going.
But on the very next play, Reynolds fumbled the ball away to Cox, who returned the ball to the Logan 35 with 55 seconds showing on the clock.
It looked as if Parkersburg South was not going to be able to score any more points and two straight incomplete passes left the Patriots with a fourth-and-5 at the 31.
South, though, has a weapon in Boles and called on its kicker to try a long field goal in the final seconds of the first half. Kicking into a slight breeze and on a very cold night, it seemed like a longshot. Boles, however, stunned the Logan crowd by drilling a 47-yard field goal just a foot or two over the cross bar to make it a 31-0 lead for Parkersburg South with 21 seconds to go.
The onslaught continued for the Patriots in the third quarter. A 1-yard TD plunge by Jacob Douglas pushed South’s lead to 37-0 with 7:00 remaining. The PAT try was no good after a bad snap.
The Patriots added two more touchdowns.
The last one came with 1:43 left in the game when freshman backup tailback Brendon Schwendeman ran in from 9-yards out on a fourth-and-goal play.
Reynolds finished the game 4-for-7 passing for 13 yards. Chris Marcum was 1-for-2 for two yards.
Street ran 16 times for 73 yards, including the 10-yard score. Toney rushed seven times for 41 yards. Brant Williams had a 5-yard reverse, while Marcum had a 6-yard carry.
Oney had one catch for 14 yards. Toney had two grabs for three yards, while Reynolds and Street finished with one grab each.
On defense, Ellis and Tyler Vernatter had nine tackles each to lead Logan. Thomas Hunter had five stops, while Nelson and Worm Street had four tackles apiece.
Southers and Oney each had three tackles. Toney, C.J. Williams, Clayton Marcum, T.J. Tomblin and Morris had two stops each. Kade Doss, Busick, Jameson Copley and Stephen Dilly all had one tackle.
Clayton Marcum, Williams, Vernatter and Ellis each had a special teams tackle.
Worm Street and Williams each had a pass breakup.
Vernatter blocked a PAT, while Oney had a blocked punt and recovery.
Brian Craft punted four times for an average of 30 yards per boot.
Parkersburg South dominated the game, rushing for 354 yards on 42 carries with Cox gaining 102 yards on just four attempts. Quiocho had 87 yards on 10 tries, while Fickiesen had 58 yards on six carries, Douglas 51 yards on 10 attempts and Schwendeman 47 yards on six tries.
Parkersburg South has outscored Logan 162-14 in the last three meetings. The Patriots beat Logan 61-0 and 50-6 in two games during the 2000s decade.
In other Class AAA first-round playoff games on Friday night: No. 1 Martinsburg routed Beckley 49-13; No. 2 Bridgeport got past No. 15 Robert C. Byrd 28-21; No. 3 George Washington crushed No. 14 Spring Valley 42-7; No. 7 Cabell Midland edged No. 10 Wheeling Park 27-24 in overtime; and No. 8 Huntington ripped No. 9 Parkersburg 56-20.
Two Class AAA playoff games were scheduled for Saturday as No. 12 Musselman (7-3) played at No. 5 Morgantown (8-2) and No. 6 Elkins (8-2) hosted No. 11 Hurricane (7-3).
Post a Comment
