Lindamood Scores 4 More; PHS Beats University 31-21; Advances To Finals Again

Matt Lindamood ran for 241 yards and four touchdowns as the Big Reds beat number two ranked University 31-21 at Pony Lewis Field in Morgantown to earn a repeat trip to Wheeling Island Stadium on Dec. 1 to face St. Albans for the Class AAA championship.

The 2007 Big Reds, now 12-1, are just one win away from becoming the first team in the 104 year football history of Parkersburg High School to become back-to-back champions. Kickoff is set for 12 noon at Wheeling where PHS will face a St. Albans team that it defeated twice last year en route to a perfect season. St. Albans defeated visiting East Fairmont 14-12 with a strong defensive showing in the other semifinal contest.

Meanwhile, Lindamood was putting up more amazing numbers as he continued to have the greatest season ever in the annals of Big Red football. The PHS standout carried the ball 32 times for his 241 yards and his touchdown runs came from five, 76, four and nine yards away. The hard-running senior has pushed his school-record totals to 2,384 yards and 37 touchdowns. He has scored eight touchdowns in the last two games against teams reputed to have two of the top defenses in the state. University came into the semifinals having allowed just 17 total touchdowns in 12 games and only four in their last four games.

The PHS offense rolled up 316 yards on 52 carries, enjoyed a 21-8 margin in first downs and a 30:39 to 17:21 advantage in time of possession. The Big Red defense limited University to just 23 yards rushing on 24 attempts while allowing 12 completions on 25 attempts with one interception. PHS had three quarterback sacks in addition to Stephen Roush's interception. Brandon Tucker of University, who came into the game with over 1,000 yards rushing, was held to 17 yards on 11 carries.

Jason Phillips led the defense with 15 tackles, including one sack and one tackle for loss, while causing one fumble and recorded five quarterback pressures. Thomas was second with 12 total tackles and Mike Winans added  nine.

Andy Thomas added 55 yards rushing for the Big Reds while Tyler Warner kicked a 27 yard field goal with 5:40 remaining that gave PHS breathing room. Warner also had four extra point kicks.

The Big Reds got off to a great start as Roush returned the opening kickoff 53 yards up the middle to the University 28 yard line. From there Lindamood ran once for four, Thomas for nine and Lindamood for 10 more to set up the TD run over right guard from the five yard line with only 1:53 gone in the contest.

University had two three-and-out series while PHS matched that once before beginning its third series from the Big Red 14 yard line. Lindamood carried twice for seven yards while Thomas picked up three and a first down at the 24. At that point Lindamood turned in probably his greatest run of the season as he bounced around the left side, appeared to be tackled by two Hawks, only to shake off both of them and speed to the wide-open sidelines where he won a foot race to complete his longest run of the season - 76 yards - with 3:58 left in the first quarter.

The Big Red defense turned in another three-and-out effort with PHS getting the ball back on its own 24. But on the first play a fumble gave the Hawks the ball on the 22 with 2:53 on the first quarter clock. University immediately went to its star receiver, Ryan Nehlen (grandson of former WVU coach Don Nehlen), as Mark Golden lofted one for the right corner of the end zone and Nehlen out-leaped a PHS defender to grab the ball for six points with 2:39 showing. The PAT made it 14-7 and University made it clear the home team was not going to lay down.

A short, high-bouncing kickoff ensued with the Hawks forcing a fumble and recovery the ball on the Parkersburg 35. Although University picked up a first down at the 25 the PHS defense stiffened and took over on downs thanks mainly to a 10 yard tackle for loss in the backfield of Tucker by Big Red senior Joey Shafer. 

The teams then traded punts with PHS starting from its own 23. The Big Reds put together an eight-play drive with Lindamood doing the scoring honors right up the middle from four yards away with just 1:36 left before halftime. 

University appeared to be in a punting situation four plays later and PHS, thinking it would get the ball back, called two timeouts along the way. But on fourth and three from the Hawks' 40 yard line they completed a fake punt pass to a wide-open Ryan Watts for 26 yards. Then, with one second on the clock, Golden scrambled around until he found Garet Bishop all alone in the end zone for a 34 yard touchdown play. The extra point kick was blocked by Anthony Thorpe but the PHS 14 point lead had be cut to 21-13 at intermission.

University coughed the ball up just three plays into the second half with Thorpe recovering after a completion to Nehlen on the University 34 yard line. With a short field to work from, it took just four plays for the Big Reds to go the distance as Lindamood scored standing up from nine yards out behind a crushing block from Josh Jenkins. Warner's kick made it 28-13 with 9:14 left in the third quarter.

A sack by Zach Nolan helped thwart the next University drive while Roush came up with a interception on the Hawks' most serious scoring drive of the night a few minutes later. Starting from their own 38 the Hawks drove to the PHS 23 only to have Roush step in front of a pass near his own goal line. The sophomore defensive back returned the ball to the 21 only to have a illegal block penalty put the ball back on the 11 with 2:07 left in the third quarter.

PHS had to punt from its own 25 and Warner got off a 43 yarder on the second play of the fourth quarter, only to watch Bishop return it up the sidelines all the way for a touchdown with 11:10 left in the game. The two-point conversion pass was good and the score was a too-close-for-comfort 28-21 in favor of the Big Reds.

The Big Reds rode the running of Lindamood and Thomas on a drive that started from the PHS 33 and ended with Warner kicking a 27-yard field goal with 5:40 remaining in the contest to up the lead to 31-21 and force University to try to score twice in the time remaining.

PHS immediately held on four downs, taking over at the University 35 but then returned the favor by running out of the downs at the Hawks' 16 yard line with 2:46 on the clock. University did pick up one first down by Jenkins sacked Golden for a 10 yard loss on third down and a fourth down pass was overthrown with PHS taking over on the 36 with 1:24 left and Thomas took three kneel-downs to secure the victory and trip to the finals.

                            Scoring Summary (Final)

                    Parkersburg (12-1) vs. University (11-2)

Date: Nov 23, 2007  Site: Morgantown     Stadium: Pony Lewis Field

Attendance: 4000

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score

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

Parkersburg......... 14  7  7  3  - 31

University..........    7  6  0  8  - 21

Scoring Summary:

1st 10:07 PHS - Lindamood, Matt 5 yd run (Warner, Tyler kick)

                              4 plays, 28 yards, TOP 1:53, PHS 7 - UNI 0

    03:58 PHS - Lindamood, Matt 76 yd run (Warner, Tyler kick)

                             4 plays, 86 yards, TOP 1:48, PHS 14 - UNI 0

    02:39 UNI - Nehlen, Ryan 22 yd pass from Golden, Mark (Springgate, S kick)

                              1 play, 22 yards, TOP 0:29, PHS 14 - UNI 7

2nd 01:36 PHS - Lindamood, Matt 4 yd run (Warner, Tyler kick)

                             8  plays, 77 yards, TOP 3:48, PHS 21 - UNI 7

    00:01 UNI - Bishop, Garet 34 yd pass from Golden, Mark (Springgate, S kick blocked)

                            5 plays, 67 yards, TOP 1:28, PHS 21 - UNI 13

3rd 09:14 PHS - Lindamood, Matt 9 yd run (Warner, Tyler kick)

                            4 plays, 34 yards, TOP 1:53, PHS 28 - UNI 13

4th 11:10 UNI - Bishop, Garet 68 yd punt return (Shade, Chad pass from Golden, Mark)

                                                                               PHS 28 - UNI 21

    05:40 PHS - Warner, Tyler 27 yd field goal

                                 10 plays, 57 yards, TOP 5:25, PHS 31 - UNI 21

                           Team Statistics (Final)

                                                   PHS      UNI

               FIRST DOWNS...................       21        8

                 Rushing.....................       17        3

                 Passing.....................        1        5

                 Penalty.....................        3        0

               NET YARDS RUSHING.............      316       23

                 Rushing Attempts............       52       24

                 Average Per Rush............      6.1      1.0

                 Yards Gained Rushing........      330       49

                 Yards Lost Rushing..........       14       26

               NET YARDS PASSING.............        7      165

                 Completions-Attempts-Int....    2-5-0  12-25-1

                 Average Per Attempt.........      1.4      6.6

                 Average Per Completion......      3.5     13.8

               TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS...........      323      188

                 Total offense plays.........       57       49

                 Average Gain Per Play.......      5.7      3.8

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

               Penalties: Number-Yards.......     2-15     5-41

               PUNTS-YARDS...................    4-140    5-193

                 Average Yards Per Punt......     35.0     38.6

                 Net Yards Per Punt..........     11.8     38.2

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

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

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

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

               KICKOFFS-YARDS................    6-311    3-105

                 Average Yards Per Kickoff...     51.8     35.0

                 Net Yards Per Kickoff.......     25.0     13.3

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

               Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD.    2-2-0   2-93-1

                 Average Per Return..........      1.0     46.5

               Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD   3-65-0  7-161-0

                 Average Per Return..........     21.7     23.0

               Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD..   1-17-0    0-0-0

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

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

               Possession Time...............    30:39    17:21

                 1st Quarter.................     5:29     6:31

                 2nd Quarter.................     7:55     4:05

                 3rd Quarter.................     6:45     5:15

                 4th Quarter.................    10:30     1:30

               Third-Down Conversions........   3 of 9  2 of 12

               Fourth-Down Conversions.......   0 of 1   1 of 4

               Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      4-5      0-0

               Sacks By: Number-Yards........     3-14      0-0

               PAT Kicks.....................      4-4      1-2

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

                                            ---

                                 Individual Statistics (Final)

Parkersburg                                                University

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

Lindamood, Matt 32  248    7  241  4 76  7.5   Tucker, Brandon 11   28   11   17  0  5  1.5

Thomas, Andy    15   62    7   55  0 12  3.7   Dixon, Dom       3    9    0    9  0  5  3.0

Shafer, Joey     5   20    0   20  0  8  4.0      Watts, Ryan      2    6    0    6  0  3  3.0

Totals...       52  330   14  316  4 76  6.1      Bohon, Steven    1    0    0    0  0  0  0.0

                                                                  Shade, Chad      1    0    1   -1  0  0 -1.0

                                                                   Golden, Mark     6    6   14   -8  0  3 -1.3

                                                               Totals...       24   49   26   23  0  5  1.0

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

Thomas, Andy       5-2-0      7  0   10    0           Golden, Mark      24-11-1   139  2   34    3

Totals...          5-2-0      7  0   10    0                   Cunningham         1-1-0     26  0   26    0

                                                                       Totals...         25-12-1   165  2   34    3

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

Shafer, Joey       1   10    0   10            Nehlen, Ryan       4   42    1   22

Lindamood, Matt    1   -3    0    0         Shade, Chad        4   31    0   17

Totals...          2    7    0   10            Bishop, Garet      2   60    1   34

                                                       Watts, Ryan        1   26    0   26

                                                       Tucker, Brandon    1    6    0    6

                                                       Totals...         12  165    2   34

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

Warner, Tyler      4  140  35.0   43    0    0     Cunningham         5  193  38.6   51    1    0

Totals...          4  140  35.0   43    0    0         Totals...          5  193  38.6   51    1    0

                  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

Lindamood, Matt  0   0  0  1   9  9  0   0  0          Bishop, Garet    2  93 68  1  12 12  0   0  0

Row, Chris       0   0  0  1   3  3  0   0  0        Tucker, Brandon  0   0  0  3  96 38  0   0  0

Roush, Stephen   2   2  2  1  53 53  1  17 17     Hines, Kyle      0   0  0  1   9  9  0   0  0

Totals...        2   2  2  3  65 53  1  17 17        Cunningham       0   0  0  2  44 28  0   0  0

                                                                   Totals...        2  93 68  7 161 38  0   0  0

Field goal attempts                                    Field goal attempts

Warner, Tyler   4th 05:40  27 yds - Good

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

Warner, Tyler      6  311   0   0  51.8            Springgate, S      3  105   0   0  35.0