Big Reds Blank Red Dragons, 21-0; Thomas Has Hand In All 3 TDs

While Any Thomas had a hand in all three touchdowns on offense, the Big Red defense thwarted the St. Albans Red Dragons in posting a 21-0 shutout in the Class AAA quarterfinals at Stadium Field.

Thomas ran for one score and 97 yards on 14 carries while also finding Charlie Taylor for two touchdown passes to power PHS to its 12th straight victory and set up a semifinal showdown on Nov. 24 against visiting two-time defending state champion Morgantown.

Morgantown defeated Robert C. Byrd  33-14 in the other quarterfinal game. The Mohigans are 10-2 on the year and will probably select Friday night as the game time since West Virginia University plays at home on Saturday afternoon. The winner of the PHS-Morgantown game will play in the state finals on Dec. 2 in Wheeling.

After a lackluster first half which saw PHS cling to a 7-0 lead on the strength of Thomas' 12 yard scoring toss to Taylor, the Big Reds turned it up a notch in the second half with Thomas, Taylor and Matt Lindamood all taking turns picking up yardage on the ground. Thomas tacked on a 32 yard TD run in the third quarter and found Taylor through the air again, this time from six yards away, early in the fourth quarter. While Thomas had 100 yards rushing until he was sacked for a three yard loss on his final carry, Taylor had 68 yards on 12 carries and Lindamood picked up 79 yards on 10 attempts after having minus four yards in the first half. The Big Reds gained 194 of their 248 ground yards in the second half. In the air, Thomas was five of nine for 34 yards with Taylor catching three passes and Nathan Conley grabbing two for 15 yards.

Meanwhile, the PHS defense limited the Red Dragons to 98 yards on the ground and 59 through the air as they shut out their MSAC rival for the second time in three weeks. Back on Oct. 27 PHS won 31-0 in the mud at St. Albans. St. Albans' 1,000 yard rusher Jeremy James was held to 62 yards on 17 carries. Last week the Big Red prevent unit held Cabell Midland 1,000 yard rusher Christian Edwards to 99 yards.

The game started with PHS holding St. Albans to one yard on three plays and forced a punt. Starting from their own 46 yard line the Big Reds moved to the St. Albans 16 but misfired on a third down pass and elected to try a 33 yard field goal. But Tyler Warner's boot was blocked and the Red Dragons recovered on their 26.

The Red Dragons put together their only serious offensive threat of the night, picking up three first downs and moving the ball to a first down at the Parkersburg 11. Three running plays netted five yards as Joe Shafer, Matt Littleton and Matt Winans made the big stops. Nick Watts tried a 22 yard field goal but Thomas and Mason Roberts broke through to block that kick with 1:26 left in the first quarter.

The teams exchanged punts before PHS began from its own 47. Taylor ran through and over players for a gain of 34 yards but netted only two yards after a holding penalty was called. The Big Reds struggled but moved the ball thanks to two big fourth down plays from Thomas. On a fourth and four near midfield, Thomas ran the ball for four yards and one-quarter of a inch for a first down. Then, on fourth and one from the St. Albans 34, Thomas sneaked for four yards and was hit while he was down for a 15 yard personal foul penalty that took the ball to the 15. After a three-yard gain by Roberts, Thomas rolled out and found Taylor in the end zone for the touchdown with 3:26 left in the half. Warner's kick made it 7-0.

St. Albans then got a break when Roberts fumbled a punt return away with 1:42 showing but Roberts atoned for his mistake 72 seconds later with an interception and 19 yard return.

The first half saw St. Albans have a 90-82 edge in total yards and a 12:31 to 11:29 advantage in time of possession.

But the second half was a different story as the Big Reds came out and dominated play. PHS took the opening kick and drove 74 yards on nine running plays with Taylor picking up 28 yards on five tries while Thomas did the rest on four attempts - the final one a great 32 yard scamper where he faked a handoff up the middle then broke one tackle past the line of scrimmage to break into the open.

St. Albans ran four plays and punted with PHS getting the ball back on their 18. Ten running plays (and one five yard penalty) later the ball was on the six yard line thanks to 17 yards from Taylor, 32 yards from Lindamood and 24 yards from Thomas. On a second down play Thomas rolled out and again found Taylor in the end zone for six points. Thomas passed to Conley for the two-point conversion to make up for a missed PAT kick on the second score.

In the third quarter PHS ran 16 plays to four for St. Albans, all on the ground, and kept the ball for 9:23 to 2:37 for the Red Dragons.

St. Albans failed to threaten the rest of the way but did block another Warner field goal try, this one from 27 yards, at the 3:41 mark of the fourth quarter.

Scoring

St. Albans (8-4)                    0       0       0       0       -        0

Parkersburg (12-0)              0       7       6       8       -        21

^{Scoring Plays}

P – Charlie Taylor 12 pass from Andy Thomas (Tyler Warner kick) 3:26 2^nd

P – Thomas 32 run (kick failed) 6:52 3^rd

P – Taylor 6 pass from Thomas (Nathan Conley pass from Thomas) 10:16 4^th

Individual Statistics