Local Sports

Williamstown prevails in LKC showdown with Doddridge, 27-0

WEST UNION, W.Va. -- Birthday boy Jack Moore put the icing on the cake of Class AA, No. 2 Williamstown's 27-0 victory here Friday night versus No. 7 Doddridge County at Cline Stansberry Stadium with a late 1-yard touchdown plunge as the Yellowjackets locked up the Little Kanawha Conference title.

Trenton Hall had a breakout game for the 8-0 'Jackets of head man Chris Beck, who aside from having the ball at their own 24 with 65 ticks left in the first half had just two possessions in the opening 24 minutes.

Breck Allen, who completed 7 of 12 attempts for 101 yards while rushing 14 times for a game-high 126 stripes, hit Hall on scoring strikes of 19 and 50 yards to build a 13-0 intermission advantage.

The dual-threat signal-caller also bolted 61 yards to paydirt for a 20-0 edge at 7:08 of the third. The Bulldogs were able to contain tailback Daniel Cunningham, who finished with 17 carries for 53 yards.

"Just a little bit. Just a little bit," Allen said of the feeling this season as opposed to last fall's 40-26 setback to the Bulldogs at Yellowjacket Field. "I think it's (the win) expected. I think it's expected of our team.

"We came in with a different mentality and a different goal this year, and we're going to achieve it. The brilliance about me and Daniel is we're both good and our O-line is awesome, so anytime there's a hole, anytime there is anything, we hit it. We trust our O-line and that's all that matters."

Head coach Bobby Burnside's Bulldogs, who slipped to 6-2 and head next Friday to Lincoln, won the toss and elected to receive. The hosts were just outside the red zone when they fumbled and Moore was able to pounce on the loose ball.

The Yellowjackets proceeded to go on an 11-play, 76-yard scoring march that was capped by Hall's 19-yarder as Carter Hoops' extra point with 1:36 to go in the first put WHS ahead for good.

Doddridge County looked like it might answer the six-pointer as the hosts drove down the field, but a fumble on third-and-4 from the 'Jacket 17 resulted in a loss of 2 yards as a pass from Evan Cross to Heston Hayes came up just short of a first down.

Taking possession at their own 15, the 'Jackets picked up a first down on a fourth-and-1 from the 24 play when the 'Dogs were called for being offside. Two plays later, Allen hauled in a trick play 19-yard reception from Owen Lefebure, which got the visitors near midfield.

Facing a third-and-9, Allen hit Hall in the flat and as he turned up the field he got a key block from Mason Kern just inside the 40 that took out three DCHS defenders as Hall darted to the end zone. A bad snap resulted in the 13-0 edge with 2:21 to go in the half.

"Both of them started up front," Allen said of the touchdown passes. "I had all day back there, but great catches by him and then on that one on the other side of the field to just make something out of nothing. That wasn't me. That was all him, and good job to the other wide receivers blocking their tails off."

Williamstown's first play of its second drive after the break resulted in a 7-yard completion from Allen to JT Amrine, but Kyle Satterfield forced a fumble and then recovered it. However, the 'Dogs had a three-and-out and Allen had his explosive run two plays later.

After the 'Jackets were forced to punt coming out of halftime, Corben Hall muffed it, which resulted in a Carson Sutton recovery.

"They are a very good team. Proud of our guys. Proud of the effort," said Beck. "We weren't fully healthy. We had a guy or two out. JP (Strobl), our leading tackler and leading receiver, so to see the defense step up like they did without him and offensively to make the plays we made. A lot of guys stepped up and contributed. It was a grind. You know what you're getting into.

"You know what Bobby wants to do, so we had two possessions in the first half. We knew it was going to be a limited possession game. You play them, you get six or seven of them, but you go in and do what we did in the first half and go up two scores. It might be like three or four. You feel like if they only have three or four possessions the rest of the game we're in a really good spot."

Late in the third, DCHS forced a punt when Blaine Ash had a 5-yard tackle for loss on Cunningham, but once again the 'Jacket defense stood tall and forced a three-and-out.

Moore had his 1-yard scoring plunge with 3:32 remaining as JT Amrine's extra point set the final score.

WHS, which got three receptions for 74 yards from Hall, finished with a 310 to 194 total yards advantage. Hall, who had been limited to four games previously, came in with just one grab – a 41-yard touchdown.

Hall's 42 yards rushing on 13 attempts led the hosts, who got 39 yards on three carries from Satterfield. Brandon Davis, who was limited with an injury, rushed four times for a baker's dozen stripes.

"Proud of our offense. Very workman-like," Beck added. "We made some big plays on the perimeter. Breck made some plays. They did a good job bottling up Danny.

"Defensively, a couple of drives we bent and that's what the defense has been able to do this year. These guys have stepped up and did a great job."

Williamstown will try to keep its undefeated run going next Friday when Wayne invades.

Coach Burnside watched Cross carry five times for 21 yards while completing 6 of 10 aerials for 51 yards. Tommy Walters-Hickman chipped in 23 ground yards on six totes.

"I'd say missed opportunities and learn from it," Burnside said. "You don't turn the ball over against a really good team. We had a great drive. Driving it right down the field and turned it over. The second drive was also a very good drive and we put it down.

"We recovered it, but it put it behind the chains. Second half, we came out and got some stops, but it was a perfect situation for them building that two touchdown lead and trying to get us out of our gameplan. It is what it is. We just take it and learn from it."

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

At Cline Stansberry Stadium

Williamstown 27, Doddridge County 0

#2 WHS (8-0) 7 6 7 7 – 27

#7 DCHS (6-2) 0 0 0 0 – 0

W: Trenton Hall 19 pass from Breck Allen (Carter Hoops kick) 1:36, 1st

W: Hall 50 pass from Allen (kick failed) 2:21, 2nd

W: Allen 61 run (Hoops kick) 7:08, 3rd

W: Jack Moore 1 run (JT Amrine kick) 3:32, 4th

Team stats

WHS: First downs: 14; Rushes-yards: 36-190; Passing yards: 120; Total yards: 310; Passing: 7-12-0; Punts-average: 2-37; Fumbles-lost: 1-1; Penalties-yards: 7-45

DCHS: First downs: 11; Rushes-yards: 32-139; Passing yards: 55; Total yards: 194; Passing: 8-13-0; Punts-average: 3-39.3; Fumbles-lost: 4-2; Penalties-yards: 8-74

Individual stats

WHS: Rushing: Team 1-(-1), Breck Allen 14-126, Daniel Cunningham 17-53, Jack Moore 3-5, Carter Hoops 1-7; Passing: Owen Lefebure 1-1-0, 19 yards; Allen 7-12-0, 101 yards; Receiving: JT Amrine 3-22, Trenton Hall 3-74, Allen 1-19, Mason Kern 1-5

DCHS: Rushing: Evan Cross 5-21, Tommy Walters-Hickman 6-23, Corben Hall 13-42, Brandon Davis 4-13, Kyle Satterfield 3-39, Jacob Riffle 1-1; Passing: Ayden Pigg 1-2-0, 4 yards; Cross 6-10-0, 51 yards; Receiving: Ryder Mitchell 1-4, Satterfield 1-15, Hall 2-13, Davis 1-7, Heston Hayes 1-4, Aaron Glaspell 1-12

Next games: Wayne at Williamstown on Friday; Doddridge County at Lincoln on Friday.