Fort Frye running back Gavin Rauch (11) follows his blocker Blake Wheeler during the Cadets’ 40-0 win over Wheeling Central, Friday in Beverly. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

BEVERLY – Even Fort Frye coach Eric Huck was in disbelief.

The Cadet coaching staff had just finished their postgame talk with the team and Huck could not imagine the outcome turning out the way it did, which included a running clock going into effect late in the third quarter.

Friday night at Fort Frye High School, Wheeling Central had no answer for the Cadets’ wing-T in a 40-0 defeat.

“I could never imagine this score coming into the game,” Huck said. “Wheeling Central is a good football team. They had some injuries, had some guys injured. You could tell there were a couple of starting linebackers out.”

Frye Frye (2-1), winners of two straight with the rivalry game set for next Friday at Waterford, amassed 424 yards on the ground. Leading the charge were Gavin Rauch and Tyce Beardsley. Rauch gained more than 100 yards for the second straight week after finishing with 127 yards on just eight carries and two touchdowns.

Fort Frye running back Tyce Beardsley (4) runs through a hole during Friday’s game against Wheeling Central, Friday in Beverly. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Considered their featured back, Beardsley added 97 yards on seven rushes.

“Gavin has some quickness and he sees the field very well,” Huck said. “We knew he would be really good for us this year, and he has had a good start to the season. A part of that is they are overloading the side that Tyce runs the ball to. They try to take him away, and he does open it up for our other running backs. But it starts with Tyce – he is the one we are trying to get the ball to.”

Wheeling Central coach Mike Young extended kudos to the Fort Frye program and how well they executed its offensive scheme.

With Williamstown next on the docket next week on the road, Young doesn’t figure to lose any sleep trying to defend the wing-T for a second week unless Yellowjacket coach Chris Beck decides to throw a curve, and try to replicate the Cadets’ approach.

The Maroon Knights enter Week 3 of the high school football season in West Virginia at 1-1.

Fort Frye’s Tytan Waller (12) looks to make the tackle on Wheeling Central quarterback Nico Kusic (2) during Friday’s game in Beverly. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“Credit to coach Huck and his staff – they are a well-oiled machine over there,” Young said. “They run the wing-T as good as anybody in the valley. They definitely showed us a lesson or two, and we got to recover.

“If I were coach Beck, I might put (the wing-T) in with the amount of success that Fort Frye has with it. They just took it to us.”

Fort Frye started on the right footing from the very start.

Wheeling Central did not manage a first on the opening drive after getting stopped on fourth-and-1 and its own 44.

The Cadets needed just six plays to strike with the first of six TDs. Sam Bricker punched it in from a yard out and Fort Frye led 6-0 at the 8:15 mark of the first quarter.

With the Maroon Knights finally able to cross midfield on their third drive of the game, Fort Frye was going three-for-three on drives resulting in six points.

The Cadets first pass attempt resulted in quarterback Grady Hesson finding Tytan Waller for a 27-yard score and a 13-0 lead less than a minute into the second quarter.

After Wyatt Erb picked off a pass with Wheeling Central flirting with the red zone midway in the second period, the Cadets followed the fast track to cover 78 yards in just four plays.

Beardsley opened the drive with a 34-yard run and Rauch completed the series with a 39-yard touchdown run. Fort Frye took the 20-0 advantage into intermission.

“We got a pretty good ripping the first week (in a loss to Barnesville), so I knew I had to flip the switch,” Rauch said. “I thought tonight was going to be a really tough game – I was super nervous and we came in and put it to them.”

On the first play of the opening drive in the second half, Rauch’s 38-yard run put the junior over the century mark. With the Cadets moving into the red zone, Wheeling Central came up with consecutive quarterback sacks and it appeared the drive stalled.

However, on the second sack the Maroon Knights were flagged for a face mask penalty. On third-and-goal from 9, Rauch’s number was called and with the help of his linemen the 5-foot-7 running back continued the surge with several defenders on his back. The touchdown run increased the margin to 27-0 at the six-minute mark.

“Tyce is a big part of our offense – he is a big key for me,” Rauch said. “On that (9-yard TD), I just knew I gotta get in. I definitely got some help from my teammates giving me a push.”

Exactly as they did in the first half, the Cadets scored on its first three drives of the second half. Wyatt Erb broke free and untouched for the final 40 yards of a 59-yard TD run, while Clayton Tullius gave the second unit some lovin’ with a 1-yard TD plunge to complete the scoring with 10:48 still showing in regulation.

The one issue coach Huck will address during the week are the penalties, more specifically the five holding penalties. The linemen might find themselves in a separate room for film study taking extra notes.

Otherwise, the Cadets were encouraged by the win over a quality opponent.

“We’ve got to clean up some penalties,” Huck said. “But other than that, the offensive line did a tremendous job. They fired out and blocked well.”

Quarterback Nico Kusic led the Maroon Knights with 49 yards on seven carries. He also completed 5-of-13 passes for 74 yards.

“We got to start catching the ball – we were missing some catches,” Young said. “We have to start throwing the ball better. We also have to start blocking. The game comes down to blocking and tackling, and reading your keys.

“We got games left. We got to recover.”

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com