Big Reds Record Convincing 25-0 Victory Over Capital

The question now is not whether or not PHS can bounce back from a streak-ending loss but whether or not the new streak will continue through a trip to Wheeling Island Stadium.

A convincing 25-0 victory over a streaking and sixth-ranked Capital team saw the third-ranked Big Reds not only turn in a flawless offensive performance but by far the best defensive showing of the season.

Matt Lindamood did what Matt Lindamood does - ran the ball 27 times for 163 yards and two touchdowns.

Andy Thomas added 84 yards rushing on 15 carries, scored a touchdown and threw for another TD.

PHS had 264 yards in total offense, 259 of it on the ground, did not have a turnovers and only had two penalties.

The Big Red defense, led by Thomas' two blocked kicks and a great effort from Jason Phillips (returning to the lineup after missing a game with a concussion), pitched a shutout against a team which had five times scored 30 or more points and had put up 116 points in the last three games. Capital was held to 71 yards rushing and 94 yards passing.

Capital started the game much like George Washington had done the week before. The Cougars mixed the run and pass, driving from their 20 to the PHS 20. But then the Big Red defense stiffened. On a third-and-two play Derek Wenzel brought down Jermere Hall for a nine yard loss on a sweep and on fourth down pressured Malik Witten into an incomplete pass with Lindamood breaking up the attempt..

PHS then took over on the 29 and proceeded to put together a patented, grind-it-out on the ground drive of 12 plays that produced a touchdown on a one-yard run by Lindamood on the first play of the second quarter. Lindamood carried seven times for 37 yards on the drive (including one run of 12 yards) with his scoring play coming over the right side behind the blocks of Jeff Delancey, Travis Bunner and Joey Shafer. Thomas also had a 12 yard run on the drive. Tyler Warner's kick made it 7-0 but hardly anyone thought that would stand up against the speedy Cougars.

The Cougars again moved the ball, going from their 20 to the PHS 23 for a first down only to once again be thwarted. A pair of five yard penalties were sandwiched around stops by Thomas and Stephen Roushl, forcing a 37 yard field goal try, which was partially blocked by Thomas. Capital was flagged five times on that possession.

Although forced to start from inside their own five yard line, PHS got a 20 yard run from Lindamood to get out of the hole. However, the Big Reds were eventually forced into their only punt of the night. Capital got a 37 yard return and were only 38 yards from the PHS end zone with 4:24 left in the half. After Capital picked up a first down at the 26 it was Brandon Eckleberry, then Roush that came up with tackles for two yard losses. On third down Phillips stopped a scrambling Witten for no gain and on fourth down Eckelberry broke up a pass in the end zone intended for 6-foot-4 Tyrone Goard (who had caught 9 touchdown passes coming into the game).

Just like they had done on their first possession of the game, the Big Reds took the second half kickoff and put together another great scoring drive. Covering 57 yards on 11 plays and consuming 6:49 off the clock. Thomas capped the drive with a four yard option run around end With Chris James making the big block to increase the score to 13-0. Thomas had a 10 yard run earlier in the drive and the big play was a "student body right" sweep pickup of 15 yards by Lindamood with Shafer and Chris Row leading the convoy.

After giving up one first down, PHS forced Capital to punt and Thomas got through to partially block his second kick and the Big Reds took over on their own 33. Even a holding penalty could not stop the Big Reds as Lindamood rambled for a total of 41 yards on four carries to help move the ball to a first down at the 19. Thomas scampered to the three and after offsetting penalties, Lindamood followed Bunner into the end zone to score his 25th touchdown of the year and make it 19-0 with 8:33 left in the game. On the two-point conversion attempt, Lindamood dove for the goal line and lost the battle of the officials as two signaled no good while one signaled he had crossed the goal line.

PHS got the ball back four plays later on a short punt and with only 35 yards to go, Thomas got 20 of that on one carry. On fourth and goal from the five, PHS went to the air for only the second time in the game and Thomas lofted a soft pass to Tyler Humphrey at the one yard line near the sideline and the sophomore back was able to step into the end zone for a touchdown to up the final margin to 25-0.

With 1:50 left to play, Michael Winans and Phillips got through to sack Witten for a 15 yard loss to seal the fate of the Cougars.

Although Warner missed two of three extra point attempts he effectively took away a big scoring threat from the Cougars - their kickoff return team. Three of his five kickoffs went one, five and eight yards deep in the end zone while the other two were caught inside the Capital five yard line.

Parkersburg.........  0  7  6 12  - 25       Record: (8-1,7-1)

Capital.............       0  0  0  0  -  0       Record: (7-2,7-2)

 Scoring Summary:

  2nd 11:55 PHS - Lindamood, Matt 1 yd run (Warner, Tyler kick), 12-71 6:10, PHS 7 - CAP 0

  3rd 05:11 PHS - Thomas, Andy 4 yd run (Warner, Tyler kick failed), 11-57 6:41, PHS 13 - CAP 0

  4th 08:33 PHS - Lindamood, Matt 3 yd run (Lindamood, Matt rush failed), 10-67 6:15, PHS 19 - CAP 0

      02:52 PHS - Humphrey, Tyler 5 yd pass from Thomas, Andy (Warner, Tyler kick failed), 7-35 4:02, PHS 25 - CAP 0

                                                  PHS      CAP

  FIRST DOWNS...................       15       10

  RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   45-259    24-71

  PASSING YDS (NET).............        5       87

  Passes Att-Comp-Int...........         2-1-0  17-10-0

  TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....47-264   41-158

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

  Punt Returns-Yards............         0-0     1-27

  Kickoff Returns-Yards.........        1-29     2-61

  Interception Returns-Yards....      0-0      0-0

  Punts (Number-Avg)............       1-35.0   3-23.0

  Fumbles-Lost..................            0-0      0-0

  Penalties-Yards...............             2-13     6-44

  Possession Time...............           26:43    21:00

  Third-Down Conversions........     5 of 8   4 of 9

  Fourth-Down Conversions.......   2 of 2   0 of 2

  Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......     4-4      0-2

  Sacks By: Number-Yards........     1-15      0-0

                               Parkersburg                             Capital

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

 Lindamood, Matt 27  163  2 20  6.0       Witten          11   31  0 11  2.8

 Thomas, Andy     15   84  1 20  5.6         Woods           2   28  0 27 14.0

 Shafer, Joey          2   11  0  7  5.5           Lee              1    8  0  8  8.0

 Butterfield, A.        1    1  0  1  1.0           Goard           3    7  0  7  2.3

 Passing         AttCmpInt Yds TD Lng  Passing         AttCmpInt Yds TD Lng

 Thomas, Andy      2-1-0     5  1   5         Witten           18-11-0   94  0  18

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

 Humphrey, Tyler    1    5    1    5   Goard              5   33    0   11

                                                       Green              2   27    0    18  

                                                    Thomas, R          2   18    0    9

                                                     Woods              1   18    0   18

                                                     Wright                1    -2    0    0

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

 Warner, Tyler      1  35.0   35   0   Hicks              2  28.0   35   0

                                                    TM                 1  13.0   13   0

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

                                                          Hall               1   27    0   27

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

 Roush, Stephen     1   29    0   29        Hall               2   61    0   33