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St. Marys too much for Wirt County, 26-7

Photo by Jay W. Bennett St. Marys running back Ben Long uses a stiff arm against Wirt County’s Garrett Parsons, who corraled him for a 4-yard loss, during the Blue Devils’ 26-7 victory Friday night in Elizabeth, W.Va., at Wilson-Eismon Field.

ELIZABETH, W.Va. — William Steele found paydirt thrice and Lucas Lipscomb had the highlight-reel catch of the game here Friday night at Wilson-Eismon Field as visiting St. Marys sent Wirt County to its fourth straight setback following a 26-7 triumph.

The No. 12 Blue Devils, now 4-2 with a home game next Friday scheduled against Magnolia, managed to take a 7-0 cushion into halftime thanks to their defense. The Tigers were facing fourth down at the 4 and needed a little more than a yard with 34 ticks left, but Garrett Parsons was held to just a yard.

Momentum of the affair quickly changed after the break. Steele, who had a 47-yard scoring strike from Jason Clayton late in the first quarter, hooked up with signal-caller Brennan Boron for a 53-yard catch-and-run TD on the first series after the break. Tiger defensive back Brandon Richards made a leaping attempt at the ball, but it deflected off his hand and into Steele’s gut. Following a three-and-out, the Blue Devils started their next drive on the 15, but a penalty put them back to the 10. That didn’t prove to be a problem as Lipscomb ran a quick slant and snared a Boron aerial with one hand, split two defenders and raced 90 yards to the house for a 20-0 lead at the 7:50 mark following Max Kreiseler’s extra point.

Tiger signal-caller Dylan Lowe hit Parsons for a 20-yard gain on the ensuing drive and the Tigers got another first down after a 7-yard completion to AJ Garrett. That eventually led to the 2-5 Tigers’ lone score, a 26-yard TD strike from Lowe to Trent Richards. Shelby Simonton’s extra point was true and the hosts were back in it down 20-7 with 4:31 to play in the third.

Logan Powell’s sack helped the Tigers get off the field on the next St. Marys drive, but the orange and black couldn’t take advantage of field position with the ball at their own 42 as consecutive holding calls proved costly.

Although Boron hit Lipscomb, who finished with game-highs of five catches for 148 yards, for 11 yards and a first down to close out the third quarter, it was Trent Richards and Dylan Toler who combined to sack Boron on the first play of the fourth. Two snaps later, Wirt County defensive back Nathan Murray recorded his eighth interception of the campaign to put the Tigers in business at the Blue Devil 30 after he returned it 25 yards.

Wirt County, which plays host to Hannan for homecoming next Friday, went four-and-out after being flagged for a false start on first down.

SMHS used the running of Ben Long, Steele and Richard Dornon to help move the ball down the field on its next drive. Lipscomb had a big 27-yard grab on third-and-10 and Steele eventually dashed in from the 17 for his final six-pointer with just 3:17 to go. Parsons, though, timed the snap perfectly and almost collided with Kreiseler, but the Tiger managed to block the extra point attempt with his foot.

“We came knowing we’d have to throw the football. Proud of the team,” said Blue Devil boss Jodi Mote, who watched Boron hit 8 of 14 for 223 yards while Clayton was 4 of 5 for 71 stripes. “Jason coming in and being able to do what he did and then Brennan coming in.

“I was very pleased with the team and their leadership at those positions. I felt like the defense did a nice job keeping them from moving the football and I’m very proud of that. Very pleased with the guys after a tough, tough loss (Williamstown) to come back and fight like that.”

Steele paced the Blue Devils with 62 ground yards on nine attempts and finished with four receptions for 109.

The Blue Devils held a 376-162 advantage in total yards, but the Tiger defense allowed just 82 rush yards on 34 totes.

Trent Richards had eight rushes for 56 yards in the first half, but carried just once for 1 yard after intermission.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

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