Big Reds Blast Morgantown, 42-14

Dominating the two-time defending champion Morgantown Mohigans, Parkersburg's Big Reds moved into the 2006 championship game with a 42-14 semifinal pounding of Morgantown before a crowd of 7,000 at Stadium Field.

Matt Lindamood ran for 193 yards on 21 carries and scored two touchdowns while Andy Thomas ran for two scores and threw for two more while passing for 102 yards. Charlie Taylor and Kyle Smith caught the scoring passes for the Big Reds, who held the high-scoring Mohigans out of the end zone for the entire second half.

PHS, now 13-0 and shooting for only its second ever 14-0 season, will play the winner of the Nov. 25 Fairmont Senior at Martinsburg game semifinal game in the Class AAA championship contest to be played at 12 noon at Wheeling Island Stadium. It will be the fourth championship game appearance for PHS in the last seven years. The Big Reds won state titles in 1999 and 2001.

The Big Reds played nearly perfect football offensively against the 10-2 Mohigans (who beat PHS 38-13 the last time they met, in the 2000 state championship game). PHS did not commit a turnover and only had to punt one time. The Big Reds piled up 22 first downs, had 316 yards rushing and 102 passing for a total offense of 418 yards on 58 plays. Defensively, PHS held Morgantown to 71 yards rushing, 212 passing (for a total offense of 283) and 16 first downs. In the second half Morgantown managed just 58 total yards. Morgantown came into the game with two 1,000 yard rushers (Derek Long and Levi Johnson) and a 1,000 yard passer in Charlie Russell.

The game started with Morgantown taking a page from the PHS playbook with a time-consuming scoring drive. The Mohigans put together a 71 yard, 14-play drive that took 6:14 and resulted in an eight-yard run by Johnson. Ten of the plays were on the ground with Russell making two big third down and long conversions - one a 15 yard pass completion and the other a nine yard scramble. Garrett Bradlyn's kick made it 7-0.

But PHS was not about to let that drive go unanswered as the Big Reds quickly took the ensuing kickoff and drove 66 yards on nine plays in 4:32. On third and 23 from the Morgantown 42, Thomas threw to Taylor out of the backfield on a screen play and the senior ran through one tackle, shook out of another and rambled all the way to the end zone with Morgantown defenders shaking their heads in disbelief. Tyler Warner's kick tied the game at 7-all.

Morgantown took the ball and put together another drive which was thwarted by a big third down stop of Long by Mason Roberts. Bradlyn came on to try a 32 yard field goal at the 8:46 mark of the second quarter but it was wide right.

The Big Reds then took just four plays to go ahead for good as Lindamood broke through the line, stepped out of a tackle and sped 65 yards for a touchdown with 7:07 left in the half. Warner's kick made it 14-7.

PHS forced a punt and took over again on their 32 with 5:02 on the clock. It was then vintage Big Red power football as Roberts, Taylor, Thomas and Lindamood all took turns putting together a 10-play drive that ate 4:12 off the click and ended with a surprising first and goal, seven yard pass from Thomas to Kyle Smith in the back of the end zone. It was Smith's first reception of the year and came with 50 seconds left in the half. Taylor had a highlight film run for 15 yards on the drive as he leapfrogged over one tackler and then ran five more yards virtually on all fours. Lindamood also had a patented dancing, spinning run for 12 yards on the drive. Warner's extra point kick was wide and that loomed large in view of what happed over the next 37 seconds.

Morgantown scored in four plays, two 42 yard passes from Russell to Long sandwiched around two incomplete attempts. The first catch saw Long run from one sideline to the other after taking a short pass. The TD catch came with 13 seconds on the clock when the 6-foot-4 Russell (a West Virginia University recruit) threw a strike in the end zone to a speeding Long. The kick made it 20-14.

But while the Mohigans showed they could put together a long drive and also score quickly in the first half, they could not do the same in the second half and they could not stop the PHS offense, which scored the first three times it had the ball in the second half.

The first drive of the second half was a masterpiece. Thirteen plays, 78 yards, 7:08 off the clock and a three yard run by Thomas. A great 31 yard reception by P.J. Polsley, who out-fought a Morgantown defender to make the catch, was the highlight of that drive. Thomas also rolled out and hit Nathan Conley with the two-point conversion to make it 28-14 and give the PHS fans some breathing room.

It turned out that breathing room wasn't needed as Justin Adkins and Joe Shafer sacked Russell on Morgantown's first play. That was followed by two incomplete passes and a punt.

Starting from their own 43 the Big Reds rode the strong legs of Lindamood for another touchdown, this one from 13 yards out as the PHS junior took a handoff heading right, immediately cut back to his left and outran defenders across the field to make it 35-14 with Warner's kick. Lindamood had 47 yards on the 57 yard, seven play drive that culminated on the second play of the fourth quarter.

In the third quarter, PHS kept the ball for 10:46 (running 19 plays), allowing Morgantown to have the ball for only four plays and 1:14.

A 17-yard quarterback sack by Matt Winans halted the next Morgantown series and PHS took over near midfield with 10:33 on the clock. Six plays later Thomas followed the blocking of Tom Farrah into the end zone from 13 yards out with 8:27 left in the game.  Warner's kick ran the score to 42-14.

A fumble recovery by Anthony Thorpe ended Morgantown's next series and that was followed by the only Big Red punt of the night. The Mohigans took over on their own 15 with 4:23 to play and ended with three straight incomplete passes near midfield.

Roberts, Winans, Polsley, Farrah and Matt Littleton were the unofficially the leading tacklers for the Big Reds.

Morgantown's Russell completed 14 of 29 passes for 212 yards with Long catching six for 129 and Andrew Saab grabbing seven for 68 yards. Johnson ran for 62 yards on 11 carries while Long was held to 23 yards on nine carries.

Scoring

Morgantown (10-3)              7       7       0       0       -        14

Parkersburg (13-0)              7       13     8       14     -        42

^{Scoring Plays}

M – Levi Johnson 8 run (Garrett Bradlyn kick) 5:46 1^st

P – Charlie Taylor 42 pass from Andy Thomas (Tyler Warner kick) 1:04 1^st

P – Matt Lindamood 65 run (Warner kick) 7:07 2^nd

P – Kyle Smith 7 pass from Andy Thomas (kick failed) :50 2^nd

M – Derek Long 42 pass from Charlie Russell (Bradlyn kick) :13 2^nd

P – Thomas 3 run (Nathan Conley pass from Thomas) 4:52 3^rd

P – Lindamood 13 run (Warner kick) 11:49 4^th

P – Thomas 13 run (Warner kick) 8:27 4^th

Individual Statistics