Greenbrier East                                   

Lindamood's 4 TD's, 213 Yards Lift PHS Over G. East 28-6

Matt Lindamood doesn't start on offense for the Big Reds.

But he certainly does finish well.

Lindamood scored all four PHS touchdowns and ran for 213 yards on 21 carries to lift the third-ranked Big Reds to a 28-6 victory over stubborn Greenbrier East at Spartan Stadium in a game delayed one day by heavy rains from Hurricane Ernesto.

Playing under beautiful Saturday afternoon weather conditions on a virtually dry field, PHS scored quickly for the second week in a row, reaching the end zone just 1:47 into the contest. The Big Reds then tacked on three more touchdowns with a strong running attack to notch its second win of the young season and hand the Spartans their second straight loss in Mountain State Athletic Conference play.

East returned the opening kickoff to the 24 yard line but on the first play from scrimmage the Spartans fumbled with Joe Shafer falling on the ball at the 22 yard line. PHS ran one play, a bobbled pitch that lost nine yards, then gave the ball to Lindamood around the right side and the speedy junior went 31 yards for the touchdown with 10:13 showing on the clock. Tyler Warner kicked the first of his four extra points.

In the season's opener, PHS scored on the first offensive play of the game, returning an interception for a touchdown.

East, which lost its starting quarterback on the first offensive series of last week's loss to Cabell Midland, did not seem affected by the quick score, however. The Spartans proceeded to drive 75 yards on 13 plays, eating six minutes off the clock, to score on a three yard run by fullback Jacob Coleman. Lindamood broke through to block the extra point kick attempt.

The East wishbone offense seemed to cause the Big Red defense some problems on that first drive, especially when quarterback Edgar McClintic found Josh Norman for a 31 yard pass over the middle. McClintic had a couple of first down runs on the drive while Dexter Johnson picked up six yards on a fourth and five play that started on the PHS 25 yard line.

On its second series, PHS picked up a first down but then lost a fumble at the East 33. This time the Big Red defense did a better job against the wishbone. After a four yard gain on first down, Shafer and then Lindamood broke through to tackle Spartan runners behind the line of scrimmage, forcing a punt. East got off only a 12 yard kick and PHS started from the Spartan side of midfield at the 46.

Running the identical play to his first touchdown, Lindamood raced around the right end and scored with 16 seconds left in the quarter. Warner's kick made it 14-6.

Although East ran eight plays on the ensuing series, PHS got the ball back via a punt to the Big Red 33 yard line and promptly started its third scoring drive. This time it was Mason Roberts (with two runs for 24 yards) and Andy Thomas (a 12 yard run and a 26 yard pass completion to Nathan Conley) that sparked the drive. Thomas' pass to Conley came on a fourth down and 21 to go play from the 27 yard line immediately following an 11 yard quarterback sack. With the ball on the one yard line, Thomas tried a sneak but was stopped before Lindamood followed his left side blocking (led by Tommy Farrah) into the end zone with 1:35 left in the half.

The second half saw PHS put together a serious drive on its second possession. The Big Reds started from their own six and drove to the East 25 before running out of downs on an incomplete pass after a 13 play drive that ate over seven minutes off the clock.

Taking over on their 25 the Spartans wound up losing three yards on three plays (plus a penalty) and were forced to punt. Josh Jenkins, the 6-foot-5 all-state defensive end, broke through to block the kick and wound up recovering the ball on the 11 yard line.

Again it took just one play, this time an 11 yard run up the middle, for Lindamood to find the end zone for a fourth time.

East looked like it would finish strong, driving from the 26 to the Big Red four yard line only to cough up the ball with Chris James picking up the loose pigskin and running 23 yards before being caught from behind. A 41 yard run on the next play pushed Lindamood over the 200 yard mark and two plays later Anthony Thorpe took a knee to end the contest.

East was led by Coleman with 68 yards rushing in 18 carries while McClintic added 67 yards on 15 carries and Johnson 55 yards on five attempts.

 Scoring

#3 Parkersburg (2-0)               14      7        0        7        -        28

Greenbrier East (0-2)                 6        0        0        0        -        6

^{Scoring Plays}

P – Matt Lindamood 31 run (Tyler Warner kick) 10:09 1^st

GE – Jacob Coleman 3 run (kick blocked) 4:19 1^st

P – Lindamood 46 run (Warner kick) :16 1^st

P – Lindamood 1 run (Warner kick) 1:35 2^nd

P – Lindamood 11 run (Warner kick) 6:14 4th

Individual Statistics