MAN – Many people expected a close battle on Friday night between the Man and Chapmanville high school football teams.

The game lived up to the hype as the Chapmanville Regional High School football team upended the unbeaten Man Hillbillies, 16-14, in a thrilling matchup of county rivals.

The game was close throughout.

The Tigers secured the win when Man kicker Derrick Earnest’s potential 38-yard game-winning field goal was wide right with 39 seconds left in the game.

With the win, Class AA No. 14-ranked Chapmanville claimed its third straight county championship and beat Man for the fourth year in a row. The Tigers improved to 4-2 on the season, won their third straight game and also spoiled Man High School’s annual homecoming.

Man, the No. 1-ranked team in the state in Class A, was handed its first loss of the season and dropped to 5-1.

The Billies had no answer for Chapmanville’s Todd Terry, who single-handedly beat Man as he rushed for 147 yards, blocked a punt for a touchdown, rushed for an 11-yard score and also booted a 24-yard field goal and an extra point to account for all of Chapmanville’s 16 points.

“Todd Terry proved he is a cut above the rest,” Chapmanville coach George Barker said. “He had a blocked punt and he kicked a field goal. We just found a way to win.”

The victory was significant for Chapmanville, which is hoping to make it to the playoffs for the third straight year. With games left against Tug Valley, Tolsia, Wayne and Point Pleasant, the Tigers are going to need at least two or three wins in order to make it to the post-season.

Man is hoping to finish in the top eight and secure home field advantage for the Class A playoffs. The Billies have had to travel to post-season games in their last three appearances.

Even with the loss, Man could still stay atop the ratings this week because of the Billies’ strength of schedule.

“Man’s got a great football team,” Barker said. “We kept them in bad field position in the first half. After the first period we played great defense. I think Man will come back and win the state title.”

Man coach Harvey Arms said there’s no need to panic just because you lose one game.

“It was a tough game,” he said. “The biggest mistake of the game was my fault there just before the half. We should of been up 6-0. The best players in the world don’t go undefeated. The whole thing now is how do we reach from this? We’ve got to come back and move on.”

The Billies struck pay dirt first as senior Brandon Plymale broke loose in the pouring rainstorm on a 42-yard touchdown run.

Earnest’s PAT kick was blocked, but Man had a 6-0 lead with 6:57 left in the opening period.

CRHS took over on its 32-yard line after the kickoff and later fumbled at Man 46.

Then on first down for Man the Billies fumbled the ball back to the Tigers on the muddy field as the first quarter came to a end.

Man took over on its 38-yard line to open the second stanza.

The Billies fumbled the pigskin back to the Tigers, however, giving Chapmanville good field position at mid-field.

Man’s defense, though, forced CRHS into a punt.

Chapmanville punter Terry boomed a good one, pinning Man back on its own 6-yard line.

Man could not move the ball, however, and was forced to punt. But a roughing the kicker penalty was called on the Tigers to keep the Billies’ drive alive. However, Chapmanville’s Brad Parsons intercepted a Ryan Crum pass to halt the drive.

Both teams struggled to move the ball in the wet conditions and steady downpour.

The Tigers got their big break with just 10 ticks on the clock as Terry blocked a Ryan Crawford punt and raced in for an 11-yard TD. The two point conversion failed as the game was tied 6-6 at halftime.

Man got the opening second half kickoff and got good field positon at the 40-yard line. But Crum fumbled the snap three times in a row, forcing a punt. The Tigers took the lead at the 4:29 mark of third period, marching 57 yards in five plays as Terry bulldozed his way in the mud. The drive was capped off by Terry’s 11-yard TD. Terry then kicked the extra point to give Chapmanville a 13-6 lead.

The Tigers took the ball at their own 43-yard stripe to open the fourth quarter of play.

CRHS chewed up a lot of clock, moving deep into Hillbilly territory and being pushed along thanks to a personal foul penalty on Man.

Tigers’ quarterback Josh Easterling managed to hold on the pigskin better and completed a pass in the drive, giving CRHS a first-and-goal at Man’s 9-yard line. Terry, though, had a 9-yard touchdown run called back as the Tigers would have to settle later for Terry’s 24-yard field goal to give Chapmanville a 16-6 lead with 5:43 to play.

Down 10 points and two scores, Man did not quit.

Andrew Hale got the Billies energized with a big kickoff return and a horse-collar tackle penalty on the Tigers to give Man a first-and-10 at the 14-yard line.

The Billies scored on the very next play as Crum tossed a 14-yard strike to Jeremy Hatfield with 5:15 to go in the game. Man then surprisingly decided to go for the two-point conversion in a gutsy late-game call. It worked out for Man as Earnest caught the conversion pass on a tipped ball to make it 16-14.

Chapmanville looked to run out the clock and preserve the win but the Tigers fumbled the ball away to Man at the Tigers’ 33-yard line, giving the home team one final shot at scoring and winning the game.

Man worked its way to the 19-yard line with 1:55 left after Crum keeper.

Derek Lomax was then stopped for no gain by the Tigers’ defense.

Crum then fumbled the snap on second down and a third-and-10 pass by Crum fell incomplete and was almost intercepted.

Earnest then had a shot at winning the game put missed his 38-yard field goal attempt.

Man received a blow during the game when leading rusher Plymale left the game in the third quarter after sustaining a sprained knee.

Terry led the Tigers with 31 rushes for 147 yards. He also caught three passes for 31 yards.

Easterling was 3-of-7 passing for 31 yards and a pick.

Chapmanville’s Dylan Wiley was held to just six yards on seven carries. Scooter Farley had two rushes for five yards.

Andy Bender had one rush for three yards.

On defense, Farley had seven solo tackles, one assist and one fumble recovery.

Jon Casto had six solos, three assists and a sack.

Brandon Ferguson had six stops, an assist and one sack.

Joe Woody had five tackles, three assists and a sack. Jacob Browning had five solos and one assist.

Terry had four tackles.

John Toler contributed three solos, two assists and one fumble recovery.

Parsons had two solos and an assist. Andy Bender had two tackles and one assisted stop.

Zack Maynard and Tyler Cox each had a solo tackle and an assist.

Trevor Payne, Thomas Belcher and David Kovalkevich all had one tackle.

Man returns to action next Friday night at home against Gilbert. Chapmanville hosts Tug Valley for its homecoming game.

Both games are set to kick off at 7:30 p.m.