The West Virginia squad delivers a rousing rendition of "Take Me Home Country Roads" after downing the Ohio squad 26-7 in Friday night's BACF Classic at Bill Hanlin Field in St. Marys. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

ST. MARYS — West Virginia put on a strong defensive effort here Friday night at Bill Hanlin Stadium as the Mountaineers snapped a two-game losing streak to Ohio thanks to a 26-7 victory in the 31st Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis Football Classic.

Doddridge County’s Landon Thomas, who finished with game-highs of four catches and 108 yards, scored twice and was named the MVP for the Mountain State, which now holds a 17-14 lead in the all-time series.

Not to be outdone, Tucker County wideout Reid Kisamore also had a pair of touchdown grabs as the duo caught one six-pointer apiece from Bulldog signal-caller Brysen Dixon and Wirt County quarterback Tyler Smith, who hit 8 of 9 attempts for 94 yards while the ‘Dog finished 6 of 9 for 134 stripes.

The Mountaineers actually used the combo of Smith and Dixon on the first play from scrimmage as Ohio won the toss, took the ball and had their drive ended when Marietta quarterback Owen Riley’s pass was intercepted by St. Marys’ Eli Cox.

West Virginia took possession at its own 36 with Smith under center, but Dixon took a lateral from Smith and then hit his old teammate Thomas in stride for a 64-yard touchdown. East Fairmont’s Karson Church booted the extra point with 8:50 on the clock as the ‘Eers led for good.

West Virginia quarterback Brysen Dixon is tackled by Ohio's Jack Anderson Friday night in the BACF Classic. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

Ohio’s second drive featured a pair of first downs before the Buckeyes faced a fourth-and-5 at the W.Va. 42, but Riley’s pass was incomplete.

Mountain State head man Shane Eakle, who coached as an assistant back in 2023 during the last win, watched Dixon find Parkersburg’s Tytan Parsons (3-56) on back-to-back plays that covered 15 and 22 yards, respectively, as the hosts reached the red zone.

Three plays later Dixon hit Kiasmore from 11 yards out and Ohio trailed 14-0 after another boot by Church just 21 ticks into the second quarter.

The Ohio squad of Frontier head man Damon Metheney started at the 20 and had a key 30-yard hookup from Riley to Buckeye Trail’s Sammy Brown, but it was nullified due to a hold.

Buckeye State MVP and Nelsonville-York graduate Austin Gautier, who went for game-highs of 22 carries and 129 yards, got the call on a third-and-5 snap from their own 47, but Doddridge County’s Brycen Eidel had a solo stop.

West Virginia's Jerod Trent eludes a tackler Friday night in the BACF Classic at Bill Hanlin Field in St. Marys. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

Facing a fourth-and-4 at their own 48, the Buckeyes opted to go for it, but Bulldog Calob James sacked Riley for a 4-yard loss.

Smith went to work under center on the ensuing drive and after a 10-yard connection with East Fairmont’s Gavin Murphey and an 11-yard completion to Thomas, Smith found Thomas for a 26-yard scoring strike where he floated a ball into the end zone and the ‘Dog made a diving grab.

However, the score remained at 20-0 with 4:38 left in the half after Church’s kick drilled the right upright and fell into the end zone.

Ohio was able to immediately flip the field when Gautier took a snap as the Wildcat quarterback and raced 46 yards to the West Virginia 26. However, a fumble resulted on the next play that was recovered by Eidel.

The Buckeyes, who joined the ‘Eers with 14 first downs but lost the total yardage battle 308 to 211, started their next drive with a 10-yard pass from Riley to River’s Trail Thompson. However, a 10-yard sack by Roane County’s Cooper Greathouse thwarted the drive as Riley managed a 59-yard punt.

West Virginia's Landon Thomas out races Josiah Kerns from Ohio into the end zone for a touchdown Friday night at the BACF Football Classic in St. Marys. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

West Virginia got the ball to open the second half and Smith found Parsons open for a 19-yard gain. Marietta’s Teddy Bauer had a key solo tackle on Williamstown running back Jackson Kerr (8-34), which helped lead to a punt.

The Buckeyes put their lone scoring drive together next as the 11-play, 89-yard march was culminated by a 2-yard Gautier touchdown burst. Waterford’s Ryker Hutchins booted the extra point, which made it 20-7 with 2:32 left in the third. Gautier also had a key 28-yard run on the drive and Marietta’s Kobe Alexander had an 11-yard scamper that also resulted in a first down.

Although the Ohio defense forced a three-and-out, the offense couldn’t get anything going and turned the ball over on downs at midfield.

Parkersburg’s Ethan Jones, who had nine totes for 28 stripes, ripped off a 15-yard gain to get the final scoring drive of the night started.

Facing a first-and-goal at the 9, Jones got the call again but was tackled for a loss of 2 yards by Fort Frye’s Blake Wheeler. However, two plays later Smith scrambled around and found Kisamore in the back corner of the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown with 1:49 remaining. The two-point conversion attempt failed.

Ohio's Austin Gautier is tackled after a carry in Friday night's BACF Classic in St. Marys. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

“We talked about it,” said coach Eakle of the trick play touchdown on the first drive. “We ran it a couple of times in our regular season and had it against Bridgeport and we just dropped it.

“That was something we put in and coach (Ben) Callaway, he’s my OC and does a great job scheming.”

Brown led the Buckeyes in receiving with three catches for 57 yards while Kisamore had three grabs for 31 stripes.

Between the two teams, the players were able to raise more than $21,000 for sponsorships, which is a new benchmark.

“That’s first and foremost is that’s the most money all-time, which is great for these kids,” added coach Eakle. “It was just a blast to get to work with all the coaches. I had (head coach) A.J. Rapp from Tucker (County) and my staff, and (Doddridge County head coach) Bobby Burnside was great. These kids, you know, they play hard all week.

Ohio's Trail Thompson leaps to make a catch while being covered by West Virginia's Keelyn Eichelberger in the first half of Friday night's BACF Classic in St. Marys. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

“Practice, we made it fun to come in and try to figure something out and then put it together on Friday night. They (the defense) did a good job. Those guys were disciplined. Kudos to them. Guys were very selfless. Job assignment and trying to put stuff in in three or four days and adjust to what we may see out here. Kudos to all those kids defensively.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

31st Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis Football

Classic at St. Marys’ Bill Handlin Stadium

West Virginia 26, Ohio 7

Ohio 0 0 7 0 – 7

W.Va. 7 13 0 6 – 26

WV: Landon Thomas 64 pass from Brysen Dixon (Karson Church kick) 8:50, 1st

WV: Reid Kisamore 11 pass from Dixon (Church kick) 11:39, 2nd

WV: Thomas 26 pass from Tyler Smith (kick failed) 4:38, 2nd

Ohio: Austin Gautier 2 run (Ryker Hutchins kick) 2:32, 3rd

WV: Kissamore 10 pass Tyler Smith (two-point failed) 1:49, 4th

Team stats

Ohio: First downs: 14; Rushes-yards: 36-126; Passing yards: 85; Total yards: 211; Passing: 6-15-1; Punts-average: 1-59; Fumbles-lost: 1-1; Penalties-yards: 6-40

WV: First downs: 14; Rushes-yards: 22-78; Passing yards: 228; Total yards: 306; Passing: 14-18-0; Punts-average: 3-35.3; Fumbles-lost: 0-0; Penalties-yards: 5-51

Individual stats

Ohio: Rushing: Team 1-(-6), Austin Gautier (Nelsonville-York) 22-129, Ronnie Golden (Eastern) 1-4, Owen Riley (Marietta) 9-2, Sammy Brown (Buckeye Trail) 1-4, AJ Rutter (Monroe Central) 1-3, Josiah Kerns (Eastern) 1-(-10); Passing: Golden 1-1-0, 9 yards; Brown 0-1-0, 0 yards; Riley 5-13-1, 76 yards; Receiving: Riley 1-9, Brown 3-57, Trail Tompson (River) 2-19

WV: Rushing: Team 1-(-1), Brysen Dixon (Doddridge) 1-(-1), Ethan Jones (PHS) 9-28, Reid Kisamore (Tucker) 1-8, Tyler Smith (Wirt) 2-10, Jackson Kerr (Williamstown) 8-34; Passing: Smith 8-9-0, 94 yards; Dixon 6-9-0, 134 yards; Receiving: Eli White (St. Marys) 1-1, Tytan Parsons (PHS) 3-56, Gavin Murphey (East Fairmont) 1-10, Landon Thomas (Doddridge) 4-108, Jerod Trent (Doddridge) 1-11, Kisamore 3-31, Cole Magers (Cameron) 1-11

Note: West Virginia snapped a two-game losing streak and now leads the all-time series 17-14.