By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
Home sweet home: The Yellow Jackets stung Class A third ranked Tucker County 40-28 for the first win of the season during homecoming at Yellow Jacket Field.
Having opened the season with five straight losses was a burden, but the pressure has been lifted with this monumental initial victory against the Potomac Valley Conference rival Mountain Lions for first year Moorefield High School Football coach Eric Linville.
“The monkey is off my back. I have told you since day one, our community is awesome. This win is for everybody and everything. This really isn’t about me, it was for our team. I told them for the past week that this is our season coming back from the bye week. We could very well push hard and go 5-5. They needed this to get the monkey off our backs. Now they understand what it feels like to win and hope it keeps going. They were fired up coming out before the game, they were fired up at halftime and fired up the whole game,” Moorefield coach Eric Linville stated.
“Guys were banged up and they kept trucking. That’s awesome. [First TD energy] It was great. We watched a lot of film, pretty much five days this week. They studied and knew what they were going to do and just executed. It is about execution. We had a great week of practice and I hope the energy kicks in next week and keep things going. [Crites INT] I really leaned on the seniors tonight with Ollie, Brock and Shawn getting a lot of carries. We kept leaning on them and Flinn came in and had a great game. I keep talking about my freshmen and they had a great game and it is their first win and the first of many. They are learning from these upperclassmen. [Tackles] We are always going to be physical, no matter who we play. We played Strasburg, Elkins and Petersburg. We are a very physical team. Tonight we did all the little things. It is a good feeling, a good feeling for them. I am glad to get out of here and see a smile on their face. Homecoming, the school has been great all week with powderpuff and pep rally. They didn’t let that distract them. That proves that with the school and community, they are our 12th man.”
The Homecoming crowd was loud and proud, especially with the traditional cowbells.
The team’s motto is to be TOUGH and the physicality of the Yellow Jackets made the Mountain Lions whimper away back to Tucker County.
“They just were more physical than us,” Tucker County coach A.J. Rapp noted.
A penalty on Tucker County after the opening kickoff created possession at the 39-yard line for Moorefield.
As the Hive atmosphere was buzzing with Homecoming festivities including a pep rally and parade prior to the contest, the Yellow Jackets swarmed for a touchdown on the opening drive in just seven plays.
Moorefield’s Caleb Flinn commenced the game with a carry of 19 yards to enter Mountain Lions territory for a first down at the 42-yard line.
After a false start, Moorefield’s Oliver Crites plowed ahead for three yards and Brock Linville notched a few more yards on a keeper.
Linville found Mathew Iman for a 21-yard pass play reaching the edge of the red zone.
Crites got the Yellow Jackets down to the 15 yard line, then Linville capped off the driving finishing the remaining distance with Crites tacking on the two-point conversion for an 8-nil edge at 8:33.
The kickoff went out of bounds with Tucker County starting on the 35-yard line.
Moorefield’s defense with tackles by Flinn, Shawn Reed, Zakk Keplinger and Gage Wolfe, plus a fumble helped force a fourth down.
Tucker County’s Cade Rapp moved the chains shy of midfield and two plays later a catch by Reid Kisamore created another first down at the Moorefield 37-yard line.
A bad snap on third down setup another fourth down situation and pressure by Gage Baker forced a Mountain Lions incomplete pass for a turnover on downs.
Reed appeared to have scored a 63-yard touchdown eluding defenders in his wake, but a block in the back penalty negated the Yellow Jackets score with the ball placed at the 45-yard line.
Crites pitched up about five yards in three plays before Linville converted a fourth down at the 35-yard line.
A sack by Tucker County’s Josh Crossland ended the first quarter.
Flinn collected eight yards to commence the second frame and Linville snatched a first down plowing for eight more yards reaching the 22-yard line.
The ball was jarred loose out of Linville’s hands and the Mountain Lions’ Samuel Marks recovered the fumble at their own 20-yard line.
Rapp hauled in a pass for 17 yards, then Cayden Arnold attempted a one-handed grab and couldn’t control the ball as Crites slammed in to pop the ball away for an incompletion.
The Mountain Lions gathered a first down on a 31 yard catch by Keelyn Eichelberger arriving on the Moorefield 32-yard line.
Another reception by Eichelberger put Tucker County on the edge of the red zone and three plays later Rapp garnered a 14-yard touchdown catch and Kisamore added the conversion tying the game at 8-all with 7:24 remaining in the second quarter.
Carries by Reed and Crites moved the Yellow Jackets into Tucker County domain, then Crites kept the momentum going plowing forward for a first down at the 29-yard line.
Iman caught a screen pass for a few yards, then Flinn dashed down to the one yard line on a 20-yard play.
Flinn finished off the drive with a one yard touchdown run and Cyrus Kump caught the conversion as the Yellow Jackets regained the lead 16-8 with 3:19 left in the half.
The Mountain Lions responded as Marks located Kisamore for a 52-yard touchdown strike, but the conversion attempt was denied with a slamming tackle by Reed with Moorefield keeping a 16-14 edge at the 3:00 mark.
Tucker County recovered an onside kick with Marks coming up with the ball.
The Yellow Jackets defense put the pressure on and a bad snap on fourth down forced a turnover on downs at the 28-yard line with 1:36 to go.
Moorefield went to work pounding the ball with runs by Flinn collecting a pair of first downs covering 34 yards entering Tucker County territory at the 38-yard line.
Reed moved the chains in the red zone on a 24-yard play arriving at the 12-yard line and a spike was made with 40 seconds left.
Crites and Flinn got the Yellow Jackets inside the five yard line and Linville was able to get the final snap off just before time expired and crunched three yards into the end zone for a touchdown and Crites added the conversion to put Moorefield up 24-14 entering halftime.
Yellow Jacket royalty was announced during the intermission as the 2025 Moorefield Homecoming King Dane Foster and Queen Leah Hose were given their crowns to begin the reign.
Not quite Halloween, but the Yellow Jackets had tricks with an onside kick to begin the second half with the ball bouncing everywhere only to finally be corralled by Tucker County on the 37.
However, Moorefield wasn’t done trick or treating as Oliver Crites made his first career interception on the opening play with a huge return to the Mountain Lions 13-yard line.
Moorefield assistant coach Blake Funk gave Crites the Yellow Jackets chain to celebrate after that pick.
“It was great. We have never beaten Tucker County before in the three years I have played and in my senior year we finally won. It was a big win and they were number three. [INT] It was great. That was my first one ever. I never had an interception before this. [Homecoming] It was really special, because this was the first homecoming we have had. We lost to Keyser last year and we came out this year and got a big win and everybody supported us. We are 1-5 now, but we are on the uphill and hope to keep going with it,” Moorefield senior Oliver Crites remarked.
Reed plowed for eight yards, then Crites made the final two touches with the last carry a two-yard entrance to pay dirt and Flinn added the conversion for a 32-14 advantage at 10:34.
The Mountain Lions fumbled the kickoff and Moorefield was back in business with a special treat start at the Tucker County 49-yard line.
The Yellow Jacket didn’t capitalize on the turnover and was forced to punt.
Tucker County’s Lucas Barb caught a pass for 38 yards to reach the Moorefield 41-yard line.
Rapp grabbed a first down on an 11-yard run.
The Yellow Jackets forced a fourth down which included a deflected pass by Keplinger, but Kisamore found a wide open spot for a 30-yard touchdown catch and the conversion was stopped by Daltan Ault for a 32-20 score at 5:42.
Flinn converted a third down on a nine yard run as the Yellow Jackets entered Tucker County territory at the 41-yard line.
Linville moved the chains on fourth down getting to the 30-yard line.
Crites dodged tackles and slammed ahead for a ten yard gain and a first down at the edge of the red zone.
The Yellow Jackets got inside the red zone to end the third quarter and opened the final stanza with a fresh set of downs on a 12 yard keeper by Linville to the five yard line.
Crites capped off the drive with a five yard touchdown run and Flinn added the conversion to double down on the Mountain Lions 40-20.
“[Homecoming win] It was a blessing. We needed it, the school needed it and the town needed it. We all needed it. We all put our minds to it. We came into this game knowing we were going to win. You might say they were ranked third in the state, but that doesn’t matter. We play with heart. We love football more than them. [First score energy] It just kept it where it was. We were as energized before the game as when I scored and after every other score we made. We kept the same energy the whole game. It never went down. We stayed on top,” Moorefield senior Brock Linville commented.
The kickoff went out of play with Tucker County starting at the 35-yard line and a catch by Arnold put them in Yellow Jackets domain at the 37-yard line.
Rapp collected another first down on a three yard run to the 26-yard line.
After an offensive penalty, Tucker County missed passes thrice for a turnover on downs with 9:28 remaining.
Moorefield burned off four minutes and change before a punt from midfield.
Tucker County started on the 11-yard line and was able to survive penalties and fourth downs to create a 25-yard touchdown catch by Kisamore with Barb adding the conversion with 1:30 left to cut the deficit to 40-28.
Moorefield took victory formation for the final snap and the student section rushed the field to celebrate with the team on the 40-28 homecoming win which was the first for the seniors
The Yellow Jackets (1-5) travel to Baker this Friday for the Hardy Bowl against East Hardy (3-3), while Tucker County (5-2) plays Southern Garrett.
