— By Greg Carey & Joe Brocato
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A closer look at some notable results on the first Friday of the high school football regular season:
Class AAA
Martinsburg 40, Salem (Va.) 7: Although the Class AAA No. 1 Bulldogs didn’t score an offensive touchdown in the opening half, they blocked a punt for a score, got two Brent Terwilliger field goals and let their defense handle matters to build a lead and handle business against the Spartans.
Hear the key plays from @MburgFootball 40-7 win over Salem, Virginia.#wvprepfb @MetroNewsPrep @AydinFleming @DMooreMHS @murphy_clement2 @BagentEzra @GranthamZion pic.twitter.com/VhAQYpUA6E
— Panhandle News Network: WEPM & WCST (@EPNewsNetwork) August 27, 2022
Martinsburg’s offense came to life in the second half and produced touchdowns on Zion Grantham’s 12-yard run, Ezra Bagent’s 1-yard run, Murphy Clement’s 71-yard run and Bagent’s 27-yard pass to Jameer Hunter.
Jefferson 27, Millbrook (Va.) 22: Quintin Goins threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Spencer Powell late in the third quarter, giving the Cougars a 27-15 lead they made stand in a season-opening win.
Class AAA No. 6 Jefferson scored the game’s first 20 points before having to hang on down the stretch. Goins opened the scoring with a 12-yard run, then threw a 59-yard TD pass to Tay’Shaun Roper, before Dylan Harich’s 8-yard run left JHS with a 20-0 lead late in the first half.
University 16, John Marshall 14: The Class AAA No. 7 Hawks got a rushing touchdown from West Virginia commit Noah Braham, who later suffered an injury in the team’s narrow season-opening win.
A blocked punt in the second quarter that went through the end zone for a safety proved pivotal in the outcome and UHS overcame Jacob Coffield’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Wesley Hughes and Klypsan Wallace’s 14-yard touchdown run to defeat John Marshall in Mark Cisar’s first game as Monarchs’ head coach.
Hurricane 48, Winfield 21: Hurricane quarterback Noah Vellaithambi threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns and Redskins’ running back Jeremiah Riffle rushed for 190 yards and four scores as coach Donnie Mays began his tenure with a victory.
The Redskins led 28-0 at halftime and were hardly threatened by the Generals in Eddie Smolder’s first contest guiding Winfield.
Class AA
Point Pleasant 30, Greenbrier East 7: Evan Roach rushed for 208 yards and four touchdowns on 26 carries and the Class AA No. 5 Big Blacks kept the Spartans off the scoreboard through the first three quarters to roll to a win in their opener.
Roach’s longest touchdown run was from 14 yards, with his three others coming on rushess of 1, 13 and 3 yards.
Gavin Jeffers added 120 rushing yards on 18 carries in the win as Point Pleasant outrushed Greenbrier East 412-56.
Ian Cline’s 58-yard touchdown pass to Lucas McCallister prevented the Spartans from being shutout.
Scott 34, Herbert Hoover 19: The Skyhawks rattled off 28 unanswered points to end the game and hand the Class AA No. 4 Huskies a loss one year after Herbert Hoover ran the table in the regular season.
Isaiah Bush starred in the victory, intercepting three passes, two of which he returned for touchdowns. Bush also hauled in a touchdown 15-yard touchdown pass from Matt Frye that put Scott on top for good at 20-19.
Carson Brinegar tipped a pass to himself to bring in a 19-yard touchdown pass on fourth down in the fourth quarter, before a 54-yard interception return for a touchdown by Bush with just inside 6 minutes remaining helped Scott wrap up the victory.
Roane County 30, St. Marys 20: The Raiders forced three turnovers to race out to a 24-0 lead in the opening quarter, one of which was Matthew Shaffer’s 25-yard interception for a touchdown.
Jacob Greathouse also had an interception in the victory for RCHS.
It marks the second straight season the Class A No. 6 Blue Devils have been beaten by the Raiders.
Fairmont Senior 42, Lewis County 6: Dylan Ours scored four rushing touchdowns and toted the ball for 167 yards as the two-time defending Class AA state champions opened their latest title defense with a victory. Gavin Michael returned an interception for a touchdown.
Class A
Tyler Consolidated 41, Ritchie County 0: Behind 279 rushing yards and two touchdowns from Sean Winfrey, the Silver Knights had their way with the defending state champion Rebels.
Jayden Helmick was also pivotal to Tyler’s success and his touchdown runs of 2 and 18 yards, combined with an 11-yard TD reception, allowed TCHS to lead 22-0 at halftime.
Tyler outgained Class A No. 4 Ritchie, 439-144.
Doddridge County 25, South Harrison 6: Trenton Hoffman threw touchdown passes of 4 yards to Gabe Stewart and 51 yards to Landon Thomas to help the Class A No. 3 Bulldogs build a first-half lead they’d never relinquish against the Hawks.
Seth Richards added a 6-yard rushing touchdown, while Huffman scored on a 1-yard run for the Bulldogs’ fourth and final TD.
Caden Davis’ 2-yard run provided the Hawks with their only points in the setback.
Greenbrier West 33, Buffalo 0: Ty Nickell toted the ball 23 times for 237 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Cavaliers rolled in a weather-shortened victory in Charmco. Cole Vandall scored on a 24-yard run for GWHS and Dalton Heath reeled in a 10-yard scoring strike from Tucker Lilly.
As a team, the Cavaliers rushed for 314 yards on 32 attempts.
Webster County 28, Richwood 20: The Highlanders won the Battle for the Wagon Wheel as Eddie Williams won his debut as Webster County’s head coach. Peyton Amos had a receiving touchdown, intercepted 3 passes and returned one for a score.
Williamstown 46, Waterford, Oh. 22: Max Molessa passed for 132 yards and rushed for 2 touchdowns as the Yellowjackets avenged their season-opening loss from 2021.