Huntington                                  

3 Blocked Punts, 4 Lindamood TDs Lift #3 Big Reds Over Highlanders, 35-7

Four Matt Lindamood touchdowns, three of them set up by first half blocked punts, powered the number three ranked Big Reds to a 35-7 homecoming victory over the visiting Huntington Highlanders.

It was a special night at Stadium Field as PHS celebrated its homecoming, crowning Sammy McCarthy and Kim Dent as King and Queen. But it was an even bigger night for the Big Red special teams as they blocked three of Huntington's first four punt attempts and all three led to Lindamood touchdowns.

In raising their record to 5-0 while handing Huntington its second loss in four outings, the Big Reds got a punt block from Andy Thomas on the Highlanders' second kick attempt of the night. Charlie Taylor picked up the ball and ran 19 yards to the Huntington 17 yard line with five minutes remaining in the first quarter. Six plays later Lindamood followed the blocks of Tommy Farrah and Sean Chichester into the end zone with 2:32 on the clock.

On the fifth play of the second quarter Huntington kicker Aaron Burns went back to punt again, this time from inside his own 10 yard line. This time it was Lindamood who came through to get a hand up and knock the ball toward the end zone. The junior linebacker appeared to have recovered the ball in the end zone with his knees and the ball still inbounds but his momentum carried him over the back line and the official ruled it a safety.

The ensuing free kick was returned 19 yards to the Huntington 44 and five plays later Lindamood danced through the middle of the line and into the end zone from 14 yards away. Tyler Warner's kick made it 16-0 with 7:45 remaining in the half.

Once again the PHS defense held Huntington's offense and forced a punt with the line of scrimmage being the Huntington 42. This time Taylor pressured the kicker and the ball struck a player at the line with PHS recovering on the 31 yard line.

This time it took six plays for another six pointer by Lindamood, who covered the final eight yards over the left side virtually untouched thanks to blocks by Chris James, Joe Shafer and Josh Jenkins. Warner's kick made it 23-0 with 3:05 left in the half.

Although Huntington scored on an interception return just before the half and then held onto the ball for 10 of the 12 minutes in the third quarter, PHS came through with big defensive plays to keep the Highlanders out of the end zone. In the fourth quarter Lindamood tacked on his fourth TD of the night and 15th of the year while reserve running back Zach Duncan also found the end zone to cap the scoring and set the stage for next week's big showdown at Hurricane.

For the game, Lindamood led all rushers with 87 yards on 16 carries while Taylor added 56 on 13 attempts. The Big Reds ground out 221 yards rushing and added 40 passing to go with 16 first downs. Huntington was held to 92 yards rushing and 32 passing while getting seven first downs. In the first half PHS held the Highlanders to one first down (that coming on a penalty). Nine times the Big Red defense limited Huntington to minus yardage, not counting the three blocked punts.

In addition to the punt blocking antics of the Big Red defense, there were four turnovers in the first half. PHS coughed the ball up first near midfield on its second possession but Mason Roberts' interception evened things up in the turnover department. That gave PHS the ball on the Huntington 31 and a 15 yard pass from Thomas to Sean Chichester moved it to the 16. A Roberts five yard run pushed the ball to the 11 but the Big Reds gave the ball up when 6-foot-4 defensive end Drew Cummings grabbed a Thomas pass attempt to thwart the scoring drive.

After three straight blocked kicks, Huntington's punter got one away with just over two minutes left before intermission and the ball rolled 54 yards to the end zone. Starting from its own 20, PHS took to the air but this time Cummings reached up, got a hand on the ball and it was deflected into the waiting arms of Daniel Fuller, who caught it in full stride and raced 34 yards for a touchdown with 1:26 on the clock.

That seemed to give Huntington a lift to start the second half as the Highlanders put together a 12 play drive from their own 20 to the PHS six for a first and goal. But on the second play quarterback Isaiah Keyes fumbled the center exchange and Zach Nolan fell on the ball with 6:30 on the clock.

PHS ran three plays, punted and Huntington put together another drive, going from its 33 to the PHS 12 before things began to unravel. A bad snap cost them 10 yards followed by an incompletion. Keyes threw to speedy Michael Taylor behind the line and Nathan Conley came through to make the stop for a four yard loss. On fourth down, Lindamood blitzed through and tripped up Keyes for another loss, this time 13 yards.

The Big Reds then put together a 61 yard, eight-play drive that was capped with Lindamood's four yard run over the left side with 8:14 left in the game.

Leading 29-7, PHS got a TD saving tackle on the kickoff return by Chip Ferrell and then a 12 loss on a sack by Lindamood. Huntington successfully kicked the ball away only to have Mason Roberts run it back 28 yards to near midfield. Seven plays later Duncan sped through the Huntington defense on his was to a 25 yard run to the end zone to cap the scoring for the night.

Scoring

Huntington (2-2)                    0        7        0        0        -        7

Parkersburg (5-0)                  7        16      0        12      -        35

^{Scoring Plays}

P – Matt Lindamood 1 run (Tyler Warner kick) 2:32 1^st

P – Safety, Lindamood blocked punt out of end zone, 10:08 2^nd

P – Lindamood 14 run (Warner kick) 7:45 2^nd

P – Lindamood 8 run (Warner kick) 3:05 2^nd

H – Daniel Fuller 34 interception return (Aaron Burns kick) 1:26 2^nd

P – Lindamood 4 run (pass failed) 8:14 4^th

P – Zach Duncan 25 run (kick failed) 2:37 4^th

Individual Statistics