Riverside			

 Sweet Home Stadium Field;

Big Reds Nip Warriors In OT

 There's no place like home.

Just ask the 2008 Parkersburg Big Red football team after it knocked off visiting Riverside 35-34 in overtime before 4,000 fans at Stadium Field.

A gutsy comeback was capped when Chris Row went up the middle on a fourth down play from the one yard line to tie the score in overtime and sophomore kicker Jeff Lantz then came on to win the game by booting the ball straight through the uprights to give the Big Reds their first win of the season and hand the Warriors their second loss.

The victory kept this year's PHS squad from becoming the first in the history of the school to start the season with four straight losses. It also was the fourth straight victory over their Mountain State Athletic Conference rivals.

The regulation game ended on an unusual note as PHS drove to the Riverside 16 yard line before running out of time and, after a timeout, decided to send Lantz on to try a 33 yard field goal with 1.7 seconds remaining. Riverside then proceeded to call three straight timeouts to try to ice the 10th grader. Although Lantz didn't appear to be rattled by the move he did miss the kick, just wide to the left.

PHS won the toss for the overtime and decided to go on defense first.

Riverside took just one play to score as Seth Shanklin hit speedy Rasheem Waiters over the middle for 20 yards and a touchdown. Chris Inghram came on to try to make his fifth straight extra point but he missed the kick low and to the right. The presence of team members from three former PHS state championship teams, 1938, 1958 and 1978, and the mystique of Stadium Field could have helped with that bit of good luck for the Big Reds.

PHS then took over on the 20 and decided to go its tried-and-true tradition of power football. The Big Reds ran six straight plays inside the tackles to put the ball on the one yard line. From there Chris Row plowed over left guard with Cody Craig leading the way on a fourth down play. Lantz came on, withstood another Riverside timeout, and kicked the ball through the middle of the uprights for the fifth time to win the game. Christian Ong had four carries for 13 yards on the winning drive.

Row finished the game with three touchdowns, two on the ground and one on a 43 yard reception from Matt Newlon, 6-foot-6 senior quarterback who was making his first start as the signal caller for the Big Reds. Row had 58 yards rushing and 43 receiving while Newlon completed five of nine passes for 82 yards.

But the big stories on offense for PHS were Ong and Derek Wenzel. Ong rambled for 128 yards on 18 carries, many coming at crucial times in the game. Wenzel, who was moved from quarterback to wingback for this game, scored two touchdowns. He had a 14 yard TD run and picked up 53 yards on 13 attempts but, more importantly, had 179 yards in kickoff returns including a 91 yard touchdown.  

PHS had a 320-272 advantage in total yardage but were whistled for 80 yards in penalties (three coming on one Riverside touchdown drive).

Waiters had two TD receptions from Seth Shanklin for Riverside with Shanklin and Josh Vance collecting touchdowns on the ground. The Warriors also had a kickoff return for a touchdown, a 95 yard scamper by Issac Crews.

Defensively, Cory Ohse was in on nine tackles while Michael Winans match that total and Frank Settle contributed seven unofficial stops including two sacks. Justin Johnson and Sonny Zickefoose also had sacks for the Big Reds.

PHS scored on its first possession, going 55 yards on six running plays with Wenzel showing he liked his new position with three carries for 33 yards, including the TD on a 14 yard run.

The Big Reds made it 14-0 early in the second quarter. Taking over on their own 23, they turned Ong loose for 27 yards up the middle before Newlon hit Wes Ankrom for eight yards and then dropped back and found a wide open Row behind the Riverside defense for a 43 yard scoring pass.

Riverside showed its speed on the ensuing kickoff, however, as Crews picked the ball up at the five and raced up the left sideline for a 95 yard scoring run. The Warriors tied the game up with just 34 seconds left in the half when they capped an 80 yard, 13 play drive with a five yard pass to Waiters. A 33 yard run by Belcher on the first play of the drive was the big gainer.

But PHS was not about to go into the locker rooms tied on its own turf as Wenzel grabbed the ensuing kickoff on his own nine yard, started up the middle, cut left and put on a burst of speed at mid-field to go thru the last two defenders on his way to a 91 yard touchdown run. Lantz added the PAT for a 21-14 lead.

Riverside tied the score thanks to some generosity on the part of the Big Reds as the Warriors went 65 yards on 11 plays but were aided by three penalties against PHS - a facemask call, a pass interference flag and a personal foul. Shanklin sneaked across from the three on a fourth down play for the tying touchdown.

PHS drove to the Riverside 22 only to fumble away a scoring chance and Riverside responded with a 73 yard drive that produced a five yard scoring run from Josh Vance with seven minutes left to play. The Warriors stayed on the ground for all but one play on the drive and took advantage of some poor tackling by the Big Reds (five misses on one play alone).

Trailing 28-21, PHS answered quickly as Wenzel produced a 63 yard kickoff return to put the ball on the Riverside 27 and Ong followed that with a 24 yard run on the first play from scrimmage. Ong ran one more time to the two and Row went up the middle with 5:55 left to play to tie the game at 28-all after the PAT.

The teams traded punts with PHS starting its last regulation possession from the Riverside 44 after a 13 yard return by Row. Row picked up seven and Ong 13 before a pass went incomplete. Wenzel ran the ball twice for eight yards to the 16 but on fourth down Lantz missed the kick from a sharp angle after a all the timeouts by Riverside.

  Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4 OT    Score

-----------------    -- -- -- -- --    -----

Riverside...........  0 14  7  7  6   - 34

Parkersburg High....  7 14  0  7  7  - 35

 Scoring Summary:

1st 09:34 PHS - Derek Wenzel 14 yd run (Jeff Lantz kick)

                                                   6 plays, 55 yards, TOP 2:26, RI 0 - PHS 7

2nd 10:42 PHS - Chris Row 43 yd pass from Matt Newlon (Jeff Lantz kick)

                                                  3 plays, 77 yards, TOP 1:09, RI 0 - PHS 14

    10:27 RI - Issac Crews 95 yd kickoff return (Chris Inghram kick)

                                                                               RI 7 - PHS 14

    00:34 RI - Rasheem Waiters 5 yd pass from Seth Shanklin (Chris Inghram kick)

                                                13 plays, 80 yards, TOP 5:51, RI 14 - PHS 14

    00:19 PHS - Derek Wenzel 91 yd kickoff return (Jeff Lantz kick)

                                                                              RI 14 - PHS 21

3rd 05:47 RI - Seth Shanklin 3 yd run (Chris Inghram kick)

                                                11 plays, 65 yards, TOP 6:03, RI 21 - PHS 21

4th 07:00 RI - Josh Vance 5 yd run (Chris Inghram kick)

                                                12 plays, 78 yards, TOP 5:28, RI 28 - PHS 21

    05:55 PHS - Chris Row 2 yd run (Jeff Lantz kick)

                                                 3 plays, 27 yards, TOP 0:48, RI 28 - PHS 28

OT  12:00 RI - Rasheem Waiters 20 yd pass from Seth Shanklin (Chris Inghram kick failed)

                                                  1 play, 20 yards, TOP 0:00, RI 34 - PHS 28

    12:00 PHS - Chris Row 1 yd run (Jeff Lantz kick)

                                                 6 plays, 20 yards, TOP 0:00, RI 34 - PHS 35

             Team Statistics (Final)

                                                    RI      PHS

               FIRST DOWNS...................       18       17

                 Rushing.....................       11       14

                 Passing.....................        4        2

                 Penalty.....................        3        1

               NET YARDS RUSHING.............      174      238

                 Rushing Attempts............       42       43

                 Average Per Rush............      4.1      5.5

                 Yards Gained Rushing........      217      245

                 Yards Lost Rushing..........       43        7

               NET YARDS PASSING.............       98       82

                 Completions-Attempts-Int....   9-15-0    5-9-0

                 Average Per Attempt.........      6.5      9.1

                 Average Per Completion......     10.9     16.4

               TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS...........      272      320

                 Total offense plays.........       57       52

                 Average Gain Per Play.......      4.8      6.2

               Fumbles: Number-Lost..........      2-0      1-1

               Penalties: Number-Yards.......     4-30     6-80

               PUNTS-YARDS...................    5-178    4-155

                 Average Yards Per Punt......     35.6     38.8

                 Net Yards Per Punt..........     28.8     24.0

                 Inside 20...................        0        1

                 50+ Yards...................        1        0

                 Touchbacks..................        1        1

                 Fair catch..................        1        0

               KICKOFFS-YARDS................    5-238    5-222

                 Average Yards Per Kickoff...     47.6     44.4

                 Net Yards Per Kickoff.......     -0.4     18.0

                 Touchbacks..................        0        0

               Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD.   2-39-0   2-14-0

                 Average Per Return..........     19.5      7.0

               Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD  5-132-1  5-240-1

                 Average Per Return..........     26.4     48.0

               Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD..    0-0-0    0-0-0

               Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD.    0-0-0    0-0-0

               Miscellaneous Yards...........        0        0

               Possession Time...............    26:45    21:15

                 1st Quarter.................     5:07     6:53

                 2nd Quarter.................     6:34     5:26

                 3rd Quarter.................     6:41     5:19

                 4th Quarter.................     8:23     3:37

                 OT  Quarter.................     0:00     0:00

               Third-Down Conversions........  8 of 12   5 of 9

               Fourth-Down Conversions.......   0 of 0   0 of 0

               Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      4-4      3-4

               Sacks By: Number-Yards........      0-0     4-23

               PAT Kicks.....................      4-5      5-5

               Field Goals...................      0-0      0-1

                                 Individual Statistics (Final)

Riverside                                      Parkersburg High

Rushing         No Gain Loss  Net TD Lg  Avg   Rushing         No Gain Loss  Net TD Lg  Avg

--------------------------------------------   --------------------------------------------

Marvin Belcher  17  115    8  107  0 33  6.3   Christian Ong   18  129    1  128  0 27  7.1

Aaron Bowyer     5   24    1   23  0 12  4.6   Chris Row       11   58    0   58  2 12  5.3

Seth Shanklin   11   46   24   22  1 11  2.0   Derek Wenzel    13   58    5   53  1 14  4.1

Josh Vance       3   16    0   16  1 10  5.3   Matt Newlon      1    0    1   -1  0  0 -1.0

Chaz Robinson    6   16   10    6  0  6  1.0   Totals...       43  245    7  238  3 27  5.5

Totals...       42  217   43  174  2 33  4.1

Passing         Att-Cmp-Int Yds TD Long Sack   Passing         Att-Cmp-Int Yds TD Long Sack

--------------------------------------------   --------------------------------------------

Seth Shanklin     15-9-0     98  2   20    4   Matt Newlon        9-5-0     82  1   43    0

Totals...         15-9-0     98  2   20    4   Totals...          9-5-0     82  1   43    0

Receiving        No.  Yds   TD Long            Receiving        No.  Yds   TD Long

-----------------------------------            -----------------------------------

Rasheem Waiters    6   54    2   20            Wes Ankrom         3   22    0    9

Thomas Gray        3   44    0   17            Chris Row          1   43    1   43

Totals...          9   98    2   20            Christian Ong      1   17    0   17

                                               Totals...          5   82    1   43

Punting          No.  Yds   Avg Long In20   TB Punting          No.  Yds   Avg Long In20   TB

---------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------

Aaron Bowyer       5  178  35.6   50    0    1 Derek Wenzel       4  155  38.8   43    1    1

Totals...          5  178  35.6   50    0    1 Totals...          4  155  38.8   43    1    1

                  Punts   Kickoffs  Intercept                    Punts   Kickoffs  Intercept

All Returns     No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg  All Returns     No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg

---------------------------------------------  ---------------------------------------------

Rasheem Waiters  2  39 27  0   0  0  0   0  0  Chris Row        2  14 13  0   0  0  0   0  0

Craig Estep      0   0  0  1   0  0  0   0  0  Seth Fredrick    0   0  0  2  61 41  0   0  0

Issac Crews      0   0  0  4 132 95  0   0  0  Derek Wenzel     0   0  0  3 179 91  0   0  0

Totals...        2  39 27  5 132 95  0   0  0  Totals...        2  14 13  5 240 91  0   0  0

Field goal attempts                            Field goal attempts

----------------------------------------       ----------------------------------------

                                               Jeff Lantz      4th 00:02  33 yds - Missed

Kickoffs         No.  Yds  TB  OB   Avg        Kickoffs         No.  Yds  TB  OB   Avg

---------------------------------------        ---------------------------------------

Chris Inghram      5  238   0   0  47.6        Jeff Lantz         5  222   0   0  44.4

                                Defensive Statistics (Final)

    Riverside

    ## Player          Solo  Ast  Tot  TFL/Yds  FF FR-Yd Intc BrUp Blkd Sack/Yds QH

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    21 Josh Vance         6    3    9    2/6    .  1-0    .      .    .      .     .

    5  Thomas Gray        7    .    7     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    3  Issac Crews        6    1    7     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    41 Jacob Neil         4    1    5     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    52 Derek Scott        3    2    5     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    44 Jordan Beard       3    2    5    1/1    1   .     .      .    .      .     .

    8  Rasheem Waiters    3    .    3     .     .   .     .      1    .      .     .

 Parkersburg High

    ## Player               Solo  Ast  Tot  TFL/Yds  FF FR-Yd Intc BrUp Blkd Sack/Yds QH

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    22 Michael Winans     7   12   19    1/0    .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    29 Frank Settle       3    9   12    3/12   1   .     .      .    .     2/10   1

    3  Cory Ohse          9    2   11     .     .   .     .      1    .      .     .

    52 Ben Clark          4    6   10    2/2    .   .     .      .    .     1/2    .

    43 Jason Phillips     7    2    9     .     .   .     .      1    .      .     .

    69 Michael Riblett    3    4    7     .     1   .     .      .    .      .     .

    82 S. Zickefoose      3    4    7    1/9    .   .     .      .    .     1/9    .

    16 Tyler Gibson       3    1    4     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    12 Derek Wenzel       2    2    4     .     .   .     .      1    .      .     .

    2  Justin Johnson     1    2    3    2/6    .   .     .      .    .     1/4    .

    75 Kyle Smith         1    1    2    1/2    .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    73 Zach Stanley       .    2    2     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    11 Jeff Lantz         1    .    1     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    34 Chris Row          1    .    1     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    15 Jon DeGarmo        1    .    1     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    89 Ryan Black         .    1    1     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    58 Alex Clegg         .    1    1     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

2007

Lindamood's 3 TDs, 273 Yards Carries PHS Past Riverside, 22-12

Matt Lindamood's performance each week has sports writers talking and opposing coaches and players shaking their heads.

The Big Red senior running back put up impressive numbers for the fourth week in a row as he led a Parkersburg comeback effort that resulted in a 22-12 win at Riverside before a crowd of 2,500 stunned fans.

Lindamood scored all three of his team's touchdowns, running around, through and even jumping over defenders en route to 273 yards rushing on 26 carries. His scoring plays were 67, 17 and three yards, the final coming midway through the fourth quarter and capped another Big Red comeback as they knocked off the previously unbeaten Warriors while running their own unbeaten streak to 18 in a row.

While opposing fans marvel at "The Mood" the Big Red defense continues to find a way to make the big play when necessary. This time it was a shutout effort in the second half after falling behind 12-7 at intermission. A big third down sack by Zach Nolan and a blocked punt by Andy Thomas led to the go-ahead score while Thomas came through to knock down a fourth-and-goal potential touchdown pass on his own goal line early in the fourth quarter. With Lindamood breaking away for runs of 65 and 24 yards, PHS quickly tacked on an insurance touchdown and then sophomore Derek Wenzel came up with an interception in the Big Red end zone with 3:30 left to seal the victory.

As Lindamood pushed his season totals to over 900 yards rushing and 92 total points, the rest of the PHS offense managed just 31 total yards and did not complete a pass (except one to the other team) in four attempts. Riverside held a 15-11 edge in first downs, ran for 108 yards and completed half of its 20 passes for 168 yards. An amazing statistic for the usually ball-control fanatic Big Reds was that Riverside had the ball for nearly 27 minutes while PHS had it for only 21. In the first half the possession margin was 15:27 to 8:33 in favor of the home team, which ran nine more plays than PHS.

“Our defense really did a great job,’’ said Riverside coach Ralph Hensley. “But that 21 [Lindamood], he’s a man, and he’s hard to bring down. And he’s got some people in front of him that helped him too.’’

Riverside got on the board first after a blocked punt put the Warriors in possession on the Big Red 39 yard line. The home team was faced with a fourth-and-12 situation from the 30 when Nolan got a sack - but the play was wiped out by offsetting penalties and Riverside tried again. This time quarterback Chuckie Erby threw a touchdown pass but that play was wiped out by a penalty and the Warriors had to run another fourth-down play, this time from the 35. This time Erby hit Raheem Waiters in the end zone as the Riverside receiver out-leaped the PHS defender to pull down the six-pointer. The extra point kick was blocked by Matt Winans.

A 20-yard kickoff return by Steve Armitage gave PHS the ball on its own 33 and in one play Lindamood had tied the score. The bruising Big Red back, took a handoff up the middle, broke through the line, stiff-armed one tackler and then outran the rest up the sidelines to complete his TD journey. Tyler Warner's kick was partially blocked but there was still enough leg behind it to go over the uprights sideways instead of end-over-end. 

Riverside responded by driving to the PHS 20 but a fumbled pitch lost six yards and on fourth down Nolan, with help from Winans and Matt Littleton, was able to sack Erby for an eight yard loss. 

After a three-and-out offensive effort by the Big Reds, Riverside drove to the PHS 25 this time before running out of downs on miss-fired passes. But the Warriors got a break moments later with an interception and 20 yard return to the PHS six yard line. Two plays later Rashif Hill raced into the end zone to put the home team up 12-7 with 2:59 left in the first half.

Things were not going much better for PHS early in the second half until Nolan came up with a big sack followed by Thomas' blocked punt.

Starting from the Riverside 43, PHS went the distance in seven running plays, five of them by Lindamood. From the 17 the talented senior went up the middle, leaped over a pile of bodies at the line of scrimmage, got in the open and scored standing up with 3:32 left in the third quarter. On the conversion Thomas turned a nifty option play into two points and PHS led 15-12.

Riverside's speed enabled them to move to a first and goal at the PHS nine yard line but Chris James, Winans and Littleton took turns making key stops and on fourth down, Erby tried to pass over the middle only to have Thomas come across and break up the attempt.

From the shadow of their own goal posts, the Big Reds knew how to get out of that predicament. After a four yard run, Lindamood went up the middle again, broke free and sped up the left sidelines 65 yards to the Riverside 29 before he was run out of bounds. After a one yard gain by Joey Shafer, Lindamood side-stepped his way for 25 yards to the three and then followed his now dominating offensive line directly up the middle standing up with 7:22 left in the game. Warner's kick made it 22-12 and forced Riverside into a two-possession game.

With just over five minutes left on the clock, the Warriors came upon a fourth down near midfield and oddly enough elected to punt. The kick went to the PHS 12 yard line and ploy appeared to have worked when the Big Reds fumbled the ball away three plays later at the 25.

But on the first play from scrimmage following the fumble, Riverside tried to go deep to the end zone and Wenzel was there to intercept and wisely take a knee. PHS was then able to run out the clock.

Parkersburg (4-0)             7    0    8    7    -    22

Riverside (3-1)                 6    6    0    0    -    12

R - Waiters 35 pass from Erby (kick failed) 4:36 1st

P - Lindamood 67 run (Warner kick) 4:17 1st

R - Hill 12 run (kick failed) 2:59 2nd

P - Lindamood 17 run (Thomas run) 3:32 3rd

P - Lindamood 3 run (Warner kick) 7:22 4th

                                                         PHS      RIV

                   Score.........................       22       12

                   FIRST DOWNS...................       12       15

                   RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   43-317   34-105

                   PASSING YDS (NET).............        0      169

                   Passes Att-Comp-Int...........    4-0-1  21-11-1

                   TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   47-317   55-274

                   Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0

                   Punt Returns-Yards............      0-0     2-23

                   Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     2-55     2-57

                   Interception Returns-Yards....      1-0     1-19

                   Punts (Number-Avg)............   3-25.0   3-26.3

                   Fumbles-Lost..................      2-1      2-0

                   Penalties-Yards...............     4-30     8-50

                   Possession Time...............    21:01    26:59

                   Third-Down Conversions........   1 of 8  3 of 11

                   Fourth-Down Conversions.......   1 of 2   2 of 5

                   Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      2-2      1-3

               Parkersburg                          Riverside

   Rushing         No  Yds TD Lg  Avg    Rushing         No  Yds TD Lg  Avg

 Lindamood, Matt 26  287  3 67 11.0   Hill, Rashif    17   97  1 16  5.7

 Thomas, Andy    12   15  0  9  1.2      Walls, Adam      5   10  0  3  2.0

 Shafer, Joey     4   13  0  5  3.2           Belcher, Marvin  1    0  0  0  0.0

 Butterfield, A.  1    2  0  2  2.0            Erby, Chuckie   11   -2  0 11 -0.2

 Passing         AttCmpInt Yds TD Lng  Passing         AttCmpInt Yds TD Lng

 Thomas, Andy      4-0-1     0  0   0     Erby, Chuckie    21-11-1  169  1  35

 Receiving        No.  Yds   TD Long   Receiving        No.  Yds   TD Long

                                                       Waiters, Raheem    3   67    1   35

                                                       Allen, Dustin      3   44    0   19

                                                       Gray, Thomas       2   39    0   27

                                                       Hill, Darrell      2   11    0    8

  Punting          No.   Avg Long I20   Punting          No.   Avg Long I20

 Warner, Tyler      2  37.5   43   0       Erby, Chuckie      2  36.0   43   1

 TM                 1   0.0    0   0           TM                 1   7.0    7   0

   Punt returns     No.  Yds   TD Long   Punt returns     No.  Yds   TD Long

                                                       Harmon, Jacob      1   10    0   10

                                                       Stump, Joshua      1   13    0    0

  Kick returns     No.  Yds   TD Long   Kick returns     No.  Yds   TD Long

 Armitage, Steve    1   20    0   20      Waiters, Raheem    1   17    0   17

 Roush, Stephen     1   35    0   35      Gray, Thomas       1   40    0   40

Team     Qtr Time   Scoring play                               Conversion                Plays-Yards  TOP      PHS - RIV

 ----     --- ----   ------------                                               ----------                -----------  ---  -----------------

 RIV      1st 04:36  Waiters, Raheem 35 yd pass from Erby, Chuckie  Ivey, James kick blockd      7-39     4:02        0 - 6

 PHS      1st 04:17  Lindamood, Matt 67 yd run              Warner, Tyler kick           1-67     0:13        7 - 6

 RIV      2nd 02:59  Hill, Rashif 12 yd run                        Ivey, James kick failed      1-6      0:31        7 - 12

 PHS      3rd 03:32  Lindamood, Matt 17 yd run              Thomas, Andy rush            7-57     2:53       15 - 12

 PHS      4th 07:22  Lindamood, Matt 3 yd run                Warner, Tyler kick           5-98     2:09       22 - 12