Big Reds Fall To Indians 24-17

The Parkersburg Big Reds traveled to Bridgeport and dropped a 24-17 decision to the undefeated Indians in the first round of the 2009 Class AAA football playoffs.

Bridgeport scored the winning touchdown with 2:07 left in the game after pinning Parkersburg inside its own 10 yard line with a 58 yard punt. PHS started from the seven yard line and three plays netted just four yards, forcing the Big Reds to punt with Bridgeport calling for a fair catch on the PHS 48 with 4:48 left in the game. Eight plays later Alex Sutton scored on a fourth and goal from the two yard line.

The Big Reds, who had used all their timeouts on the Bridgeport scoring drive, had to start their final offensive series from their own 30 and after two incomplete passes, Derek Wenzel did hit Allan Wasonga on a screen pass but the play went for only five yards. On fourth down, Wenzel went back to pass as the officials blew their whistles and threw their flags. Wenzel's pass was overthrown and Bridgeport declined the penalty, taking over the ball on downs and running out the clock by taking a knee twice.

PHS came back three times to tie the score and actually controlled the ball and the clock more the Bridgeport but the home team came up with a couple of big runs from scrimmage and played nearly mistake-free football. Bridgeport had no turnovers and only two penalties. PHS had 60 offensive plays to 38 for Bridgeport. The Big Reds ran for 129 yards and passed for 89 and had a 16-11 edge in first downs as well as a 28:36 to 19:24 margin in time of possession. Bridgeport tried just one pass (incomplete) while rushing for 247 yards to Parkersburg's 218 yards of total offense.

Alex Sutton led the way for the winners with two touchdowns and 156 yards rushing on 12 carries. His 60 yard touchdown run in the third quarter was the highlight play of the game. Corey Wagner added the other Bridgeport touchdown while rushing for 79 yards on 18 carries. The Indians also got a 30 yard field goal from Brian Kaufmann on their first possession of the game.

PHS' only points of the first half came on a 29 yard field goal by Jeff Lantz. In the third quarter Allan Wasonga broke through for a 21 yard scoring run and the final PHS points came on a 10 yard pass from Wenzel to Stephen Roush, who caught five passes in the game for 42 yards. Wasonga finished with his lowest offensive output of the season, gaining 93 yards on 22 carries while catching two passes for 25 yards.

Bridgeport took its opening possession and drove from its 39 to the Parkersburg 13 before settling for the field goal.

Parkersburg started its offense on the 39 and picked up a first down to the Bridgeport 48 before a mistake set the Big Reds back. The snap from center hit man-in-motion Sonny Zickefoose and although PHS recovered, there was a loss of three yards and that was followed by an underthrown pass, forcing the Big Reds to punt.

After Bridgeport had to punt, PHS started from its own 40 and drove to the Bridgeport 12 before settling for a field goal to tie the game with 7:32 left before the half.

Bridgeport then got a good kickoff return of 25 yards to near midfield and on the first play from scrimmage, Wagner ripped off a 27 yard run to the Parkersburg 24. Although Jason Phillips broke through to tackle Wagner for a three yard loss on the next play the Bridgeport back had another big run of 11 yards to set up his 14 yard scoring run with 5:06 left before intermission.

The Big Reds were able to move the ball after that score, thanks to a personal foul penalty and an 18 yard pass to Ryan Black but on third down at the Bridgeport five, Wenzel was sacked for a three yard loss and PHS decided to settle for another field goal attempt by Lantz. However, this time the usually reliable kicker was short with a wobbly kick from the 25 yard line with 18 seconds on the clock.

PHS started the second half on a high note, getting a 45 yard kickoff return by Chad Collins into Bridgeport territory. A first down pass for six yards to Roush helped set up Wasonga's touchdown sprint on his longest run of the night. The kick by Lantz tied the game at 10-all with 7:55 on the clock.

However, the momentum immediately shifted back to Bridgeport when Sutton sped 60 yards for a touchdown on the Indians' first play from scrimmage following the kickoff.

The Big Reds battled back to tie the game again at 17-17 as Wenzel had a 30 yard kickoff return to his own 41 yard line. Thirteen plays later PHS finally reached the end zone on a rollout pass from Wenzel to a wide-open Roush in the right corner of the end zone with 1:09 left to play in the third quarter. While Wasonga carried five times early in the drive, Wenzel's 10 yard run to the 10 yard line was the biggest play of the drive.

The team's exchanged punts with Parkersburg's Tyler Gherke getting of a 56 yard to the Bridgeport 14 yard line but the Indians got out of that hole thanks to a 19 yard run by Sutton. However, the drive stalled at the Bridgeport 40 and the Indians' Brandon Bartlett got off a 58 yard punt over Roush's head which rolled to the two yard line before Roush picked it up and ran it out to the seven. After picking up just four yards on three plays, PHS had to punt and the fair catch on the Bridgeport 48 set up the game-winning drive.

Bridgeport will play host to George Washington in the second round of the playoffs next weekend.

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                            Scoring Summary (Final)

         #14 Parkersburg vs #3 Bridgeport (Nov 13, 2009 at Bridgeport)

                     Parkersburg (6-5) vs. Bridgeport (11-0)

Date: Nov 13, 2009  Site: Bridgeport            Stadium: Wayne Jamison Field

Attendance: 3000

 Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score

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

Parkersburg.........  0  3 14  0  - 17

Bridgeport..........   3  7  7  7  - 24

Scoring Summary:

1st 05:57 BRIDGE - Brian Kaufmann' 30 yd field goal

                                              11 plays, 48 yards, TOP 6:03, PHS 0 - BRIDGE 3

2nd 07:32 PHS - Jeff Lantz 29 yd field goal

                                              13 plays, 48 yards, TOP 6:05, PHS 3 - BRIDGE 3

    05:06 BRIDGE - Corey Wagner 14 yd run (Brian Kaufmann' kick)

                                              5 plays, 51 yards, TOP 2:16, PHS 3 - BRIDGE 10

3rd 07:55 PHS - Allan Wasonga 21 yd run (Jeff Lantz kick)

                                             8 plays, 49 yards, TOP 3:55, PHS 10 - BRIDGE 10

    07:38 BRIDGE - Alex Sutton 60 yd run (Brian Kaufmann' kick)

                                              1 play, 60 yards, TOP 0:10, PHS 10 - BRIDGE 17

    01:09 PHS - Stephen Roush 10 yd pass from Derek Wenzel (Jeff Lantz kick)

                                            13 plays, 59 yards, TOP 6:17, PHS 17 - BRIDGE 17

4th 02:07 BRIDGE - Alex Sutton 2 yd run (Brian Kaufmann' kick)

                                             8 plays, 48 yards, TOP 2:41, PHS 17 - BRIDGE 24

  Total elapsed time: 2:07

                            Team Statistics (Final)

                                                   PHS   BRIDGE

               FIRST DOWNS...................       16       11

                 Rushing.....................       10       11

                 Passing.....................        5        0

                 Penalty.....................        1        0

               NET YARDS RUSHING.............      129      247

                 Rushing Attempts............       42       37

                 Average Per Rush............      3.1      6.7

                 Yards Gained Rushing........      146      259

                 Yards Lost Rushing..........       17       12

               NET YARDS PASSING.............       89        0

                 Completions-Attempts-Int....   9-18-0    0-1-0

                 Average Per Attempt.........      4.9      0.0

                 Average Per Completion......      9.9      0.0

               TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS...........      218      247

                 Total offense plays.........       60       38

                 Average Gain Per Play.......      3.6      6.5

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

               Penalties: Number-Yards.......     2-10     2-20

               PUNTS-YARDS...................    3-131    3-120

                 Average Yards Per Punt......     43.7     40.0

                 Net Yards Per Punt..........     41.3     38.3

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

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

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

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

               KICKOFFS-YARDS................    4-185    5-249

                 Average Yards Per Kickoff...     46.2     49.8

                 Net Yards Per Kickoff.......     20.2     20.0

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

               Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD.    1-5-0    1-7-0

                 Average Per Return..........      5.0      7.0

               Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD  5-149-0  4-104-0

                 Average Per Return..........     29.8     26.0

               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...............    28:36    19:24

                 1st Quarter.................     3:56     8:04

                 2nd Quarter.................     9:16     2:44

                 3rd Quarter.................    10:34     1:26

                 4th Quarter.................     4:50     7:10

               Third-Down Conversions........  8 of 16   4 of 9

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

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

               Sacks By: Number-Yards........      0-0      1-3

               PAT Kicks.....................      2-2      3-3

               Field Goals...................      1-2      1-1

                                 Individual Statistics (Final)

Parkersburg                                    Bridgeport

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

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

Allan Wasonga   22   94    1   93  1 21  4.2   Alex Sutton     12  156    0  156  2 60 13.0

Derek Wenzel    14   33   13   20  0 10  1.4   Corey Wagner    18   88    9   79  1 27  4.4

Ben Clark        3   11    0   11  0  6  3.7   Jeff Hill        7   15    3   12  0  6  1.7

Daniel Shank     1    4    0    4  0  4  4.0   Totals...       37  259   12  247  3 60  6.7

Chad Collins     1    4    0    4  0  4  4.0

S. Zickefoose    1    0    3   -3  0  0 -3.0

Totals...       42  146   17  129  1 21  3.1

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

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

Derek Wenzel      18-9-0     89  1   20    1   Jeff Hill          1-0-0      0  0    0    0

Totals...         18-9-0     89  1   20    1   Totals...          1-0-0      0  0    0    0

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

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

Stephen Roush      5   42    1   11            Totals...          0    0    0    0

Allan Wasonga      2   25    0   20

Ryan Black         2   22    0   18

Totals...          9   89    1   20

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

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

Tyler Gherke       3  131  43.7   56    1    0 B. Bartlett        3  120  40.0   58    1    0

Totals...          3  131  43.7   56    1    0 Totals...          3  120  40.0   58    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

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

Stephen Roush    1   5  5  1  14 14  0   0  0  Corey Wagner     0   0  0  1  25 25  0   0  0

Chad Collins     0   0  0  1  45 45  0   0  0  Garrett Parker   0   0  0  2  47 29  0   0  0

Derek Wenzel     0   0  0  3  90 31  0   0  0  Andrew Archer    0   0  0  1  32 32  0   0  0

Totals...        1   5  5  5 149 45  0   0  0  Michael Johnson  1   7  7  0   0  0  0   0  0

                                               Totals...        1   7  7  4 104 32  0   0  0

Field goal attempts                            Field goal attempts

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

Jeff Lantz      2nd 07:32  29 yds - Good       Brian Kaufmann' 1st 05:57  30 yds - Good

Jeff Lantz      2nd 00:18  25 yds - Missed

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

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

Jeff Lantz         4  185   0   0  46.2        C. Kornbrath       5  249   0   0  49.8

  FUMBLES: Parkersburg-S. Zickefoose 1-0; Allan Wasonga 1-0. Bridgeport-None.

                                Defensive Statistics (Final)

                                      Parkersburg

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

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

    43 Jason Phillips     5    5   10  2.0/4    .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    89 Ryan Black         3    4    7     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    33 Jeremy Bell        3    3    6     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    9  Seth Fredrick      4    1    5     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    31 Chad Collins       3    2    5  1.0/3    .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    73 Zach Stanley       3    2    5     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    1  Stephen Roush      4    .    4  1.0/2    .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    78 Zach Hendershot    3    1    4     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    6  Kevin Minehart     1    3    4     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    82 S. Zickefoose      2    .    2     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    16 Tyler Gibson       1    1    2     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    24 Brandon Ruble      1    1    2     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    53 Chase Garrett      1    1    2     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

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

    29 Ben Clark          1    .    1     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    98 Josh Lewis         .    1    1     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    60 John Weber         .    1    1     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    Bridgeport

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

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

    52 Justin Carey       9    2   11  1.0/1    .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    75 Cody Cottrill      6    .    6     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    33 Alex Sutton        4    1    5     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    20 Wes Tonkery        4    .    4  1.0/2    .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    14 Jason Carey        3    1    4     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    10 Zach Veltri        3    .    3     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    63 Taylor Killian     2    1    3     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    61 Zach Stanley       2    1    3  1.0/3    .   .     .      .    .     1/3    .

    87 Jake Stafford      2    .    2     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    8  Michael Johnson    1    1    2     .     .   .     .      1    .      .     .

    98 C. Kornbrath       1    .    1     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    22 Garrett Parker     1    .    1     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    62 Dererick Bramer    1    .    1  1.0/8    .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    50 Elliott Sutton     1    .    1     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    65 Jerry Syslo        1    .    1     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    44 Zach Randolph      1    .    1     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

    67 Jerry Jolliff      .    1    1     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .