It was mixed results for the Tigers, which were ousted in the first round in 2009 and lost in the state quarterfinals last year after winning an opening round game.
The Tigers would like nothing more than to nail down their first Class AA home playoff berth in three years.
The Orange and Black machine edged closer to that goal as Chapmanville went to Man on Friday and spoiled Man High School’s homecoming game with a resounding 61-14 victory over the Hillbillies at Man’s George A. Queen Memorial Field.
Chapmanville, which entered the night ranked No. 8 in the state in Double-A, improved to 6-1 on the season and are looking good heading into this week’s bye week.
In the eighth spot, the Tigers are at the cusp of hosting a first-round playoff as the top eight teams in each class begin the post-season with an opening-round contest at home.
Chapmanville would like to win out in its last three games – Oct. 21 at winless Tolsia, Oct. 28 at No. 15 Wayne and Nov. 4 at No. 3-ranked Point Pleasant – to leave no doubt.
The Tigers clearly outclassed Man on Friday night, beating the Class A Billies for the sixth straight year and leveling the cross-county series 6-6 since the rivalry was renewed in 2000.
Chapmanville led Man 14-0 after one quarter and held a commanding 35-0 lead at the half before scoring three more touchdowns in the third quarter to up the margin to 55-0. Tigers’ coach George Barker then emptied his bench in the fourth quarter as Man reached the end zone twice and Chapmanville made it in one more time.
Coach Barker was pleased with the way his team played.
“We came out of the gate pretty hot,” he said after the game. “The kids were excited about playing. I could tell all week long that there was a little something in the air because they were banging on each other. They came out and played well tonight.”
Chapmanville dominated the game in the trenches, particularly early and were able to get some quick-strike scores.
The Tigers’ defense held Man to just 91 net yards with 43 rushes for 86 yards and five yards passing.
“(Chapmanville assistant) Coach (Bo) Berry does a great job of getting everyone in the right place,” Barker said of his defensive unit. “We’ve got great kids. The seniors have been a long time with us and they understand what to do. Our first-team defense shut them down pretty good.”
Man, which lost 21-0 at Fayetteville last week, dropped to 2-5 on the season and saw its playoff hopes slip further away.
The Billies held Fayetteville to only 168 yards of total offense last week but Man’s defense was no match for the Tigers on Friday. Man’s offense also had a tough time moving the chains.
“Big, quick guys are hard to deal with,” Barker said of his players. “Joe Woody is a good one, but Markie Lawson is, too. Brandon Killen is really coming on. We play a lot of guys. I don’t know how many guys Man High plays but we play a lot of guys and it really makes a difference up front. Our offensive starters don’t start on defense and our defensive starters don’t start on offense. That helps us out a whole lot.”
Chapmanville wasted little time getting on the scorebook, marching 78 yards in just six plays, capped off by a 20-yard touchdown run up the gut by Tyler Cox. After Max Spradlin’s extra point kick it was 7-0 Chapmanville with 7:46 left until halftime.
Man went three-and-out on its first series and then disaster struck for the Billies as Cox returned the ensuing punt 59 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-0 Tigers at the 5:34 mark of the first quarter.
Down two scores, the Billies didn’t panic and looked to get right back into the game.
After a 39-yard kickoff return by Shane Browning, Man was in business with a first-and-10 at the Chapmanville 33-yard line.
A 26-yard run by Brandon Gibson set up the Billies nicely with a first-and-goal at the 2. The Man coaching staff wanted the ball placed on the 1 after an apparent horse-collar tackle by the Tigers on Gibson but no penalty flag was thrown by the referees.
Instead, Man had a no gain by Jimmy Duba and a 1-yard run by Gibson to force a third-and-goal at the 1.
But instead of getting back to within one score it was another disaster for the Billies as Browning fumbled the ball away and Chapmanville’s Chase Queen was able to pounce on it at the 2.
Both teams traded punts as the first quarter came to a close.
However, on Chapmanville’s next drive, the Tigers found the end zone again as quarterback Brandon White went back in the pocket for a five-step drop and rifled a 69-yard bomb to Dylan Wiley for a nifty touchdown pass. Spradlin tacked on the PAT and CRHS was in control with a 21-0 lead at the 9:56 mark of the second quarter.
The Billies never recovered.
With 4:08 left, Coach Barker turned to the back page of the playbook and went with a little razzle-dazzle as Cox fired a 20-yard halfback pass for a touchdown to quarterback White in the end zone. Spradlin added another extra point kick and the Tigers led 28-0.
But Chapmanville was not done.
Set up by White’s 25-yard pass to Smith at the Man 19, the Tigers reached paydirt again four plays later as Tyler Killen caught a 5-yard TD pass from White on a slant pattern with 18 seconds left until the half. Spradlin was again true on the PAT and Chapmanville was on top 35-0 at the break. The touchdown drive was helped along three plays earlier as Man was called for a pass interference penalty, giving Chapmanville a first-and-goal at the 9.
Barker said Chapmanville’s team speed was helped along by Man High School’s excellent field conditions. The last two weeks, the Tigers have had to play in mudbog-like conditions in the rain back on their home field.
“This is a great track and this field is in great shape,” Barker said. “We’ve been playing in the mud and it has been slowing us down. We felt really good about being on a good, dry track. We’ve got great speed with the Wileys and Cox. We got some other people involved, too, and I’m really proud of my kids.”
In the third quarter, Chapmanville picked up right where it left off, adding three more touchdowns to take a 55-0 lead.
A 19-yard touchdown by Cox with 8:56 to go in the third made it 42-0 Chapmanville.
It was then 49-0 Tigers as backup quarterback Spradlin hit a wide open Brady Cox on an 18-yard TD pass with 6:52 left in the quarter. Spradlin added the PAT – his seventh straight in the game.
Jake Compton’s 49-yard touchdown run then pushed the Chapmanville lead to 55-0 as the Tigers’ conversion attempt failed.
The Tigers upped the lead to 61-0 early in the fourth quarter with Devin Wiley’s 4-yard touchdown run. Spradlin missed the PAT – his only miss of the night.
Man then scored a pair of late touchdown runs by quarterback Caycee Mullins (15) and running back Neil Mullins (9) to close out the scoring.
Chapmanville-Man notebook
n Tyler Cox led the Tigers with eight carries for 80 yards and three TDs.
Devin Wiley had six rushes for 53 yards, while Dylan Wiley had two attempts for 22 yards and the touchdown grab.
Dustin Smith had seven rushes for 38 yards and one catch for 26 more yards.
White ran with the ball six times for 39 yards and was 6-for-10 passing for 119 yards. He also had the touchdown catch.
Brady Cox had two catches for 33 yards for the Tigers.
Matt Chapman ran twice for 15 yards, while Tyler Goble had one rush for 14 yards and Paul Workman had two carries for 14 yards.
n Chapmanville’s defense was led by Joe Woody who had 15 total tackles, including nine solos and six assists.
Frankie Thompson had five solo tackles, while Queen had four solo tackles, four assists and a fumble recovery. Matthew Dingess also finished the game with four solos.
Brandon Killen had three solo tackles, one assist and one QB sack.
Simon Anderson, a sophomore defensive lineman and foreign exchange student from Copenhagen, Denmark, finished with three solo tackles and one QB sack.
John Toler had three solos and one assist for the Tigers.
Erik Siljeholm, a senior from Stockholm, Sweden, had three solo tackles.
Caleb Belcher added two solos and a sack, while Mark Lawson contributed two solo tackles and one assist.
Tyler Cox, Smith, Brent Bigley, Goble and Jeffrey Oxley all had two stops.
Andrew Workman, Compton, Devin Wiley, Trevor Payne, Paul Workman, Waylon Dingess and Donovan Abraham all had one tackle.
Dustin Conley punted once deep out of the end zone for 35 yards.
The Tigers were penalized 11 times for 85 yards. Man had seven hankies for 65 yards.
n Man was led by Neil Mullins, who had nine rushes for 35 and one TD. Brandon Gibson had 13 carries for 30 yards. Caycee Mullins had six attempts for 22 yards and a score. Braden Griffin had 14 yards on seven tries.
Caycee Mullins was 1-for-5 passing – a 5-yard completion to David Belcher.
n Erin Burgess was crowned Miss Man High School, Man’s homecoming queen, during halftime festivities. Her escort was Man High School baseball and basketball standout Jordan Simpson.
n Man will try to get back in the win column as the Billies travel to Spencer to take on the Roane County Raiders in the Black Walnut Bowl Game. Man then has Pocahontas County and Buffalo to close out the season.
n Chapmanville’s next opponent, Tolsia, is 0-7 on the season after falling 51-14 at home on Friday night to Mingo Central.
n There will soon be a new Chapmanville Tiger in the backfield as St. Albans High School football standout and running back Deshawn Alexander has reportedly enrolled at CRHS.
Alexander, a junior tailback, has played for a St. Albans program which has been on a downward spiral since 2007.
He rushed for 700 yards for the Red Dragons as a sophomore in 2010 but moved to Florida after the end of the season. He returned without having played at his school there and was granted a waiver by Kanawha County, which overturned its policy that requires transfers to wait 365 days before playing at their new school after a move.
Now, he has turned up at Chapmanville Regional, his third school in two years. It is not known when he will be suiting up to play for the Tigers.
Alexander’s dad, Robert Alexander, played collegiate football at WVU and with the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL. He was born in South Charleston and was drafted by the Rams in the 10th round (the 269th overall pick) in the 1981 NFL draft.
The elder Alexander, also a running back, had 1,064 yards and six touchdowns for the Mountaineers in his senior season in 1980.
He had 2,456 total rushing yards in four seasons at WVU.
He chose West Virginia over USC, Penn State, Ohio State and Maryland.
When he is expected to suit up at practice this week, the younger Alexander will make history in that he will become the first-ever African-American to play athletics for a Chapmanville varsity sports team.
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