South Charleston                               

Big Reds Show Comeback Ability; Beat Black Eagles 30-26

The number one ranked Big Reds have shown a lot of ability in the past.

The ability to play great defense, the ability to control the line of scrimmage and the ability to run the ball through most defenses.

This time they showed some comeback ability and the ability to make some last-second defensive heroics as PHS defeated South Charleston's Black Eagles 30-26 at Stadium Field.

Finding itself behind 26-23 with only five minutes left to play following a 78-yard pass play from Deion Spurlock to Aaron Dobson, PHS found itself 81 yards away from a go-ahead score but went to work with a diligence that has seen this team never lose at home and win 17 games in a row.

Matt Lindamood, who would score two touchdowns and run for over 200 yards, broke away for a 73 yard run on the first play from scrimmage but a penalty wound up moving the ball back to the 17. Andy Thomas picked up eight yards then Lindamood carried twice for 12 to pick up a first down at the 38. After an incomplete pass Thomas found Allen Butterfield for a gain of 34 to the SC 28. Thomas had a one yard run while Lindamood carried three times for 25 yards for a first and goal at the one. With 1:15 left on the clock, Thomas followed his left guard into the end zone to make it 29-26 and Tyler Warner's kick upped the margin to four - forcing South Charleston to go for a touchdown with only 75 seconds remaining.

For most teams this would have been a lot to ask but with Spurlock, who had already ran for two and passed for two touchdowns, anything was possible. The Black Eagle senior completed four passes to move the ball to the Parkersburg 29 with 20 seconds left to play and a first down. With the clock ticking down, Spurlock tried to go over the middle again but the ball was tipped and Jason Phillips was there to pick it off and save the victory. Phillips ran around before Matt Littleton tackled him with one second left to secure possession of the ball for one final, kneel-down play.

Lindamood finished with 204 yards rushing on 28 carries. He scored two touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving. He caught two passes for 24 yards. Thomas ran 18 times for 59 yards and completed 10 of 14 passes for 136 yards with Butterfield catching three for 77 and Stephen Roush three for 17. In all, PHS rushed for 300 yards and finished with 22 first downs and 436 total yards on 67 plays.

South Charleston had 367 yards on 56 plays with Spurlock throwing for 277 on 17 of 25 while also rushing for 94 on 23 attempts. Dobson caught seven passes for 172 yards.

PHS took the opening kickoff and drove 59 yards on 12 plays - all on the ground. Lindamood went around right end for the final two yards.

South Charleston answered with a 78 yard, 13-play drive capped by Spurlock's one yard run around end.

The Big Reds scored on their next possession when they took advantage of the Eagle's preoccupation with the run. With all 11 defenders within eight yards of the line of scrimmage, Thomas faked the run, dropped back and found a wide open Butterfield behind the secondary for a 38 yard scoring toss to cap a four play, 64 yard drive.

After forcing a punt, PHS went back to work and scored on its third straight possession, going 55 yards on five plays. A 27 yard run by Lindamood on the first play got things going and the senior Kennedy Award candidate finished things by scoring on a 21 yard pass and run play to run the score to 20-6 in the middle of the second quarter.

The Eagles drove to the PHS 20 but on fourth and three Littleton sacked Spurlock for an eight yard loss. PHS then drove to the South Charleston 16 before settling for a field goal try from that 33 that Warner hooked slightly left.

South Charleston controlled the third quarter with Spurlock throwing to Dobson for one TD on a 48 yard play and then taking advantage of a fumble recovery to get the ball back in four plays. Derek Wenzel ended that threat with an interception and long return to the SC 14 (ruined by another penalty). PHS then returned the favor by suffering an interception near midfield.

The Eagles got pushed back to the 47 by a penalty but Spurlock sped all the way for a touchdown to pull his team to within one at 20-19 and shift the momentum back to the visitors.

PHS drove to the South Charleston 16 only to fumble that opportunity away. However, they did force a punt and ran 11 plays before settling for Warner's 25 yard field goal to push the lead to four, 23-19, with 6:09 left in the game.

As all Big Red fans feared, South Charleston pulled off another big play just a minute later when Spurlock hit Dobson and the Eagle end sped 78 yards to paydirt to put his team up by three following the extra point kick.

With their backs to the wall and facing the end of two winning streaks, the Big Reds put on their comeback helmets and went to work to pull out the victory.

South Charleston (0-2)    6     0   13    7  -  26

Parkersburg (3-0)            7   13    0   10  - 30

P - Matt Lindamood 2 run (Tyler Warner kick) 5:56 1st

SC - Deion Spurlock 1 run (kick failed) 0:52 1st

P - Allen Butterfield 38 pass from Any Thomas (Warner kick) 10:51 2nd

P - Lindamood 21 pass from Thomas (run failed) 7:06 2nd

SC - Aaron Dobson 48 pass from Spurlock (Jacob Skinner kick) 9:46 3rd

SC - Spurlock 47 run (kick failed) 3:57 3rd

P - Warner 25 field goal, 6:09 4th

SC - Dobson 78 pass from Spurlock (Cody Taylor kick) 5:00 4th

P - Thomas 1 run (Warner kick) 1:15 4th

                                                                  SC      PHS

                   Score.........................       26       30

                   FIRST DOWNS...................       20       22

                   RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............    31-90   53-300

                   PASSING YDS (NET).............      277      136

                   Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  25-17-2  14-10-1

                   TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   56-367   67-436

                   Fumble Returns-Yards..........     1-72      0-0

                   Punt Returns-Yards............      0-0     2-13

                   Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     3-48     4-48

                   Interception Returns-Yards....      1-7     2-29

                   Punts (Number-Avg)............   2-36.0    0-0.0

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

                   Penalties-Yards...............     4-48     7-76

                   Possession Time...............    31:41    21:28

                   Third-Down Conversions........   2 of 5  8 of 13

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

                   Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      1-2      2-4

            South Charleston                        Parkersburg

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

 Spurlock, Deion 23   94  2 47  4.1       Lindamood, Matt 28  204  1 27  7.3

 Skinner, Jacob   6    0  0  5  0.0            Thomas, Andy    18   59  1 13  3.3

 Turner, Cylan    2   -4  0  0 -2.0            Butterfield, A.  2   19  0 14  9.5

                                                            Winans, Matt     2    9  0  7  4.5

 Passing         AttCmpInt Yds TD Lng  Passing         AttCmpInt Yds TD Lng

 Spurlock, Deion  25-17-2  277  2  78  Thomas, Andy     14-10-1  136  2  38

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

 Dobson, Aaron      7  172    2   78   Butterfield, A.    3   77    1   38

 Sweeney, N         5   50    0   16   Roush, Stephen     3   17    0   13

 Taylor, Aaron      3   36    0   15   Lindamood, Matt    2   24    1   21

 Spurlock, Tevin    1   10    0   10   Ankrom, Wes        1   13    0   13

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

 Skinner, Jacob     2  36.0   38   0

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

                                                           Roush, Stephen     2   13    0    8

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

 Dobson, Aaron      2   26    0   13   Roush, Stephen     2   41    0   24

 Spurlock, Deion    1   22    0   22   Eckelberry, B.     1   -1    0    0

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

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

 PHS      1st 05:56  Lindamood, Matt 2 yd run                       Warner, Tyler kick          12-59     6:04        0 - 7

 SC       1st 00:52  Spurlock, Deion 1 yd run                       Skinner, Jacob kick failed  13-78     4:54        6 - 7

 PHS      2nd 10:51  Butterfield, A. 38 yd pass from Thomas, Andy   Warner, Tyler kick           5-64     1:55        6 - 14

 PHS      2nd 07:06  Lindamood, Matt 21 yd pass from Thomas, Andy   Ankrom, Wes rush failed      5-55     2:10        6 - 20

 SC       3rd 09:46  Dobson, Aaron 48 yd pass from Spurlock, Deion  Skinner, Jacob kick          5-77     2:05       13 - 20

 SC       3rd 03:57  Spurlock, Deion 47 yd run                      Skinner, Jacob kick failed   3-43     1:21       19 - 20

 PHS      4th 06:09  Warner, Tyler 25 yd field goal                                           11-54     0:00       19 - 23

 SC       4th 05:00  Dobson, Aaron 78 yd pass from Spurlock, Deion  Taylor, Cody kick            3-78     1:09       26 - 23

 PHS      4th 01:15  Thomas, Andy 1 yd run                          Warner, Tyler kick          11-81     3:40       26 - 30