Photo | Paul Adkins

Chapmanville Regional High School junior wide receiver Brady Cox is tackled after making a catch in Friday night’s loss to Wayne in the home finale.

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CHAPMANVILLE — Heading into Friday night’s Senior Night game against No. 1-ranked and unbeaten Wayne the Chapmanville Regional High School football team knew its chances of reaching the Class AA playoffs were slim to none.

The Tigers would need a major upset win over the Pioneers, then go to Class AAA Point Pleasant and get an upset victory over the Black Knights.

Chapmanville’s slim chances just walked out the door as Wayne rolled to a 55-7 win over the Tigers at Tiger Stadium.

The loss dropped Chapmanville to 4-5 overall and 2-4 in the Cardinal Conference and all but eliminated the Tigers from post-season contention.

It if holds, Chapmanville’s streak of reaching the playoffs in five consecutive seasons will come to an end.

With no chance of breaking above .500, the Tigers’ string of six straight winning seasons dating back to 2006 has already been broken.

Wayne improved to 9-0 overall and 8-0 in the league.

The Pioneers, the defending Class AA state champions, scored early and often, jumping out to a 36-0 halftime lead, then scoring three more second half touchdowns to make it a 55-0 ballgame. Chapmanville then scored one late touchdown to set the final score.

Wayne wasted little time in scoring after forcing Chapmanville into a three-and-out series to start the game.

On the Pioneers’ second play from scrimmage, Brandon Spurlock raced in for a 65-yard touchdown to make it 7-0 Wayne with 10:04 to go in the first quarter.

Chapmanville was then stopped on its next drive, turning the ball over on downs at the Tiger 38-yard line.

Wayne then took charge six plays later with quarterback Grant Ferguson’s 18-yard touchdown pass to Mason Hodge. After the PAT the Pioneers were on top 14-0 with 5:35 left in the opening quarter.

The Tigers were forced into another three-and-out on their next drive but got a break as Dustin Conley boomed a punt for 56 yards, pinning the Pioneers back on their own 6-yard line.

Wayne, though, moved down field liberally with runs of 13, 14 and 37 by Spurlock on the first three plays of the drive to give the Pioneers a first-and-10 at the 30.

Then on the very next play, Hodge bulldozed forward for a 30-yard touchdown run with 2:45 remaining in the first quarter. Hodge ended up running over Chapmanville defensive back DaShawn Alexander at the 5-yard line en route to the end zone. The extra point kick was good as the Pioneers’ lead swelled to 21-0.

On Chapmanville’s next drive, the Tigers made some noise, buoyed by a fourth-down conversion on a Max Spradlin pass to Dustin Smith to the Wayne 43.

CRHS drove all the way down to the Pioneer 23 but a fourth-and-six pass to Brady Cox in the end zone was too strong and the Tigers had to turn the ball over on downs.

The Pioneers then struck pay dirt again five plays later with Spurlock’s 7-yard touchdown run up the middle with 8:44 left until the half. The conversion pass from Ferguson to Austin Pyles was good as Wayne made it a 29-0 ballgame. The drive was set up by Ferguson’s 63-yard first down run to the 16.

Wayne would score one more time before the break with Spurlock’s 1-yard TD plunge to make it 36-0 with 5:02 left.

The Tigers hoped to get on the board before halftime but fumbled the ball in Wayne territory after a 23-yard completion to Cox.

Chapmanville then took the ball right back six plays later as Ferguson was intercepted by Brandon White at the Tiger 38-yard line.

In the second half, Hodge took the opening kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown to make it 43-0.

The rout was in full swing in typical Wayne fashion.

With 3:49 to go, James Egnor’s 1-yard run upped the margin to 49-0. The PAT failed due to a bad snap.

Then with 31 ticks left in the third, J.C. Maynard’s 8-yard run made it 55-0. The two-point conversion was no good.

Chapmanville scored its only points in the fourth quarter with White’s 10-yard TD run with 8:04 remaining in the contest.

Smith led Chapmanville’s offense with 15 carries for 68 yards and three catches for 25 yards. Alexander had 11 rushes for 39 yards. White had seven carries for 43 yards and was 1-for-3 passing for five yards. Paul Workman had two totes for nine yards.

Spradlin, a junior quarterback, was 8-for-14 passing for 81 yards.

Cox had four catches for 52 yards. Zac Casto had one catch for nine yards.

On defense, Matthew Dingess led the Tigers with seven tackles, two assists and a sack. Payne had seven solos and two assists, while Austin Watts and Matt Chapman each had five tackles and one assist.

Dakota Sowers had four solos and one assist.

Zach Pridemore and Cox finished with three solos and two assists. White had three solos and one assist. Alexander contributed two solos and two assists. Smith had two solos and one assist.

Andrew Workman, Casto and Frankie Thompson had one solo and one assist each. Nate Ramey also had a stop.

Conley punted three times for an average of 42.6 yards a boot.

Wayne was penalized seven times for 55 yards. Chapmanville had five flags for 31 yards.