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Big Reds Outscore Beckley 38-27

Alex Ash threw for three touchdowns and ran for another as the Parkersburg Big Reds outscored visiting Beckley Woodrow Wilson 38-27 on a rainy Oct. 14 at Stadium Field.

The wild win gave PHS a 6-2 record and probably clinched a playoff berth for the 9th ranked Big Reds, who are now gunning for a first-round home game with two games remaining in the season. The loss dropped the Flying Eagles to 3-4 and means they must win out to reach the playoffs.

Ash completed 11 of 22 passes for 177 yards while running nine times for 32 yards. Jeremy Bell caught seven of those passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns while Adam Lindamood ran 31 times for 134 yards and a touchdown. Skyler Terrell had the other TD on a 14 yard reception and Cody Roney kicked a 38 yard field goal which cleared the crossbar by inches.

For Beckley, junior quarterback Andrew Johnson ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns while passing for 129 yards and two more scores in addition to kicking three extra points and also doing the punting and kickoffs.

Woodrow Wilson scored first, putting together a 13-play, 80-yard drive capped by Johnson's one yard sneak with 3:05 left in the first quarter. The Eagles were aided by a 16 yard personal foul penalty against PHS and Johnson had a crucial fourth-and-six pass completion to Zach Tilley for nine yards on the drive.

PHS quickly answered on an 11-play, 66-yard drive which got off to a big start with a 27 yard run by Lindamood. Ash had a 10 yard run on fourth down and 10 to go to keep the drive going and scored himself on a one yard sneak behind left guard on the second play of the second quarter.

The Big Reds went up 21-7 after touchdowns by Terrell and Bell on passes from Ash. The first of those two scores came after passes of 17 yards and 26 yards to Bell and Randall Taylor respectively set up Terrell's 14 yard catch and run in the right flat. Cody Roney had to kick that extra point from the 35 yards away after a personal foul penalty moved the ball back to the 18 yard line. Bell's two yard TD reception with 12.9 seconds left in the half was set up thanks to some good defense which gave PHS the ball on the Woodrow Wilson 44 yard line after a punt from the one yard line. The big play on that scoring drive was a 12 yard catch by Bell and a third down quarterback draw by Ash that picked up seven yards on a third-and-five situation.

But things quickly turned the other way for the Big Reds when they allowed a 72 yard kickoff return by speedy Ramon Edwards to the PHS 13 yard line with three-tenths of a second remaining. Johnson then threw over the middle to a wide-open Tilley for the touchdown as the clock ran out to end the half. The extra point kick made it 21-14.

The PHS offense got the ball back on its own 49 yard line just two minutes into the second half and the running of Lindamood proved too much despite a valiant effort by a stingy Beckley defense. The junior tailback ran the ball eight of 10 plays and finally scored from a yard away when he hit the right side of the line and bounced outside to reach the end zone after the Beckley defense had held PHS to zero yards on three straight running plays from the one yard line. The extra point kick made it 28-14 with 4:32 left in the third quarter.

However, it took Beckley just 58 seconds to pull back within one touchdown when Johnson picked up a bad snap, scrambled back into his own end zone and unleashed a bomb downfield that Edwards gathered in around the 50 and out-ran the PHS defenders to complete an 82-yard scoring play with 3:34 left in the quarter.

Trailing 28-21 now, Beckley got another break when Lindamood fumbled on the next offensive play and the Eagles had the ball just 40 yards from the end zone. With 19.9 seconds remaining in the quarter, Johnson broke loose for a 23 yard run to the end zone but missed the extra point kick that would have tied the game and left his team behind by one, 28-27.

Beckley tried an onside kick but Nic Sandy fell on the ball at the PHS 43 and eight plays later the Big Reds had another touchdown. A 22 yard scramble by Ash was the big play that set up an on target pass to the goal line that Bell gathered in from 19 yards away for his ninth touchdown of the year. Bell now stands just one touchdown away from tying the single-season TD reception record for PHS.

PHS got the ball back four plays later with Paul Fichtelman forced a fumble which Brandon Gandee recovered on the Big Red 16 yard line. A 66 yard completion over the middle to Bell was the big play that set up Roney's 38 yard field goal with 3:39 left in the contest.

Beckley had two more possessions but both times ran out of downs on the Big Red 22 yard line. The first drive was helped by an 11 yard completion and 10 yard holding penalty (on the same play). The second possession saw Beckley reach the 22 again thanks to a pass interference penalty in which Fichtelman of PHS had inside position and would have made the interception had he not been hit from behind only to be flagged for interference. Johnson then threw four straight incomplete passes.

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FUMBLES: Beckley WW-Chase Hancock 1-1; Andrew Johnson 1-0; Shaq. Hannah 1-1. Parkersburg Big