By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
What was on the menu to fill the Hardy Bowl?
The Cougars shook and thrashed at the Hive swarming in the Baker den and filled the 47th annual Hardy Bowl with Yellow Jackets for a huge meal to claim the title and county bragging rights in a 30-18 victory.
East Hardy (4-3) was ready to feast for the fourth consecutive win which gave coach Devon Orndorff a plate full of 50 career victories to chow down.
“Execution above all else. Of course it is a rivalry game, the Hardy Bowl. It is pretty easy to get up for these.We had the boys’ attention for that reason, but we want to win our last seven games and that’s our goal still. We had a tough slate starting out with three winnable games, then we started to get better. We just thought we had to get better each week. They have accomplished so much and we compiled it into this week. We built it well and they have been practicing hard and the execution was definitely there,” East Hardy coach Devon Orndorff remarked.
“It would have been easy to look at last week’s game with Moorefield beating Tucker and we lost to Tucker, so we know what will happen and that’s not how we are made. They dug into the film and got into the scouting reports and executed at a high level and that’s exactly what we needed. [Hardy Bowl] It was a tough game. It is always back and forth the last 15 years. They have great talent over there and great enrollment and they have good coaches. It’s always going to be a battle, but it is a challenge for us since we are smaller. These guys develop from freshmen and play when their number is called and we used all of our sophomores tonight. You don’t always wait until you are a senior to get your number called. That was a bit of a chip on their shoulder losing last year. You always want to win the Hardy Bowl. The atmosphere was fun and everybody will be talking about it. I am happy for the seniors to have this for the rest of their lives. How you prepare is what is going to determine what that scoreboard says at the end of the day.”
One could hear the stomach growl as the Cougars munched down the gridiron surging through the Moorefield (1-6) defense to score on the opening series of the Hardy Bowl.
It took six plays for East Hardy to order a touchdown appetizer starting at the 37-yard line after a return by Khristian Bauserman.
East Hardy’s Garrett Van Meter picked up a few yards on the initial play, then quarterback Trevor roof scrambled and slid for a first down at the 47.
Roof kept the Cougars moving with another six yards crossing into Yellow Jackets territory.
East Hardy’s Micah Ludwig hauled in a pass from Roof for 15 yards moving the chains at the 32-yard line.
Van Meter added three more yards and on the next carry plowed through the middle for a 29-yard touchdown run at 9:58 for a 6-nil edge as the kick went awry.
The Yellow Jackets converted three fourth down situations en route to responding with a touchdown on the ensuing possession.
Moorefield began at its own 20-yard line after the kickoff touchback, then quarterback Brock Linville was stopped for no gain by Ludwig before collecting five yards on the following keeper.
Oliver Crites added four yards for the Yellow Jackets and was tackled by East Hardy’s Bodie Brill.
Facing fourth down, Moorefield’s Shawn Reed slipped through the Cougars defense on a 39-yard run before being tripped up by Bauserman at the East Hardy 32-yard line.
Crites pounded ahead for eight yards, then Reed notched another with stops by Van Meter.
East Hardy’s Levi Price tackled Crites inches shy of the marker, then Crite converted the fourth down entering the red zone.
Crites made a dive for five yards to reach the 13-yard line during a tackle by Korbin Miller.
Another fourth down conversion by Crites put Moorefield on the three yard line.
Moorefield’s Caleb Flinn punched the ball into pay dirt from a half yard away to tie the Hardy Bowl at 6-all with 3:11 left in the first quarter as the two-point attempt failed with a stop by Ludwig.
East Hardy fielded the onside kick from Moorefield to start on the 45-yard line, then Price caught a screen pass for three yards.
Van Meter dodged Yellow Jackets for a 27 yard run before being tracked down by Flinn at the 25-yard line.
Moorefield’s Daltan Ault sacked Roof on the next play.
Price made back-to-back receptions of five yards and 19 yards with the latter a diving sequence at the three yard line.
Brady Vetter led a swarm of Yellow Jackets denying a score by Van Meter at the half-yard line to close the opening frame.
The Cougars pounced into the end zone on a carry by Van Meter to commence the second quarter at 11:57 and Price’s kick created a 13-6 lead.
“It feels great, beating the rival school from where I’m from. That’s where big brother is from, so it feels great. All the trash they talked about me on social media, I took them home. All week we have been hammering all their plays and formations. Our coaches game planned really well. We came in here and executed, so it feels really good,” East Hardy junior Garrett Van Meter said.
Moorefield started again at the 20-yard line and Linville bobbled the snap and lost a yard as a pride of Cougars surrounded him.
Mathew Iman converted a third down with a catch of 14 yards reaching the 33-yard line.
East Hardy’s Nick Roomsburg stopped Crites for no gain, then Linville’s throw under pressure went askew.
A fumble on the next play was covered by Reed for no gain forcing a punt.
Moorefield punter Levi Davis caught the back of Crites as the ball ricocheted into the air and East Hardy’s Dayton Dove snatched the ball en route for a touchdown return.
The Cougars took a 20-6 advantage with Price’s PAT kick at the 8:56 mark.
Moorefield’s Zakk Keplinger made a big kickoff return and a face mask helped move the ball to the 47-yard line.
Crites and Reed combined for a first down at the 37-yard line, then Flinn was pushed back after the whistle for a personal foul on the Cougars to move the chains in the red zone at the 15-yard line.
Three plays later, Linville found the end zone to cut the deficit to 20-12 and his conversion was denied at 6:12.
A bad snap and false start sandwiched an incompletion leading to a Cougars punt from the 21-yard line.
Van Meter’s punt sailed down to the 37-yard line.
The Yellow Jackets managed to gather eight yards on runs by Flinn, Crites and Linville setting up a fourth down which turned into a fumble recovered by East Hardy with three minutes to go inside Moorefield territory.
Roof picked up five yards for the Cougars on the first play.
East Hardy’s Nehemiah Graham took flight like Superman on a tackle by Iman and the ball was jarred loose upon hitting the ground during the four yard gain.
Van Meter moved the chains at the 35-yard line with 1:25 left in the half.
Roof snatched another first down sliding to the 24-yard line, then connected with Dove dodging down to the 10-yard line in the red zone with a stop by Flinn.
Van Meter added two yards, then the next two passes went awry with the latter deflected by Keplinger in the end zone.
The Cougars settled for a 25-yard field goal by Price with 27 seconds remaining to extend the lead to 23-12 which would be carried into halftime.
“It means a lot, since I only won during my freshman and sophomore seasons.I didn’t get to do it enough last year and that really disappointed me. To be able to come out and do it my senior year and execute what we needed to do just feels really good. We came in and knew what we needed to do and did everything right and showed how it went,” East Hardy senior Levi Price commented.
The Class A state baseball champion East Hardy Cougars team was recognized at halftime, but the ring ceremony would have to wait due to a manufacturing delay.
Moorefield opened the second half at the 20-yard line and Crites converted a fourth down at the 30-yard line.
Flinn dashed to the outside and created 18 yards to move the chains again with a tackle by Bauserman.
Reed made a reverse play to reach midfield and was stopped by Brill and Miller.
“It was very nice. Last year we fell apart, but this year we came back and it felt nice,” East Hardy senior Korbin Miller noted.
Crites carried the ball twice to collect a first down at the 40-yard line.
Flinn was denied a first down on a tackle by East Hardy’s Mason Wilkins just shy of the 30-yard line.
The Cougars took over on downs and located the end zone in four plays.
Roof picked up nine yards and Van Meter added seven yard for a first down.
Iman made a touchdown saving tackle chasing down Van Meter at the one yard line after a 53-yard dash.
Roof scored the touchdown from one yard out and Price added the kick to left the Cougars advantage to 30-12 with 3:48 left in the third quarter.
A carry by Crites was coupled with a defensive personal foul creating a 20-yard gain for the Yellow Jackets to the 40-yard line.
After a pass deflection by Van Meter, Linville went to the ground collecting a first down in Cougars domain on a 11-yard keeper.
The drive stalled with tackles by Price and Roomsburg leading to a Moorefield punt bouncing all the way to the four yard line.
Van Meter took a direct snap for two yards, then Price caught a pass for two more yards to close the third quarter.
East Hardy commenced the final stanza with a first down slide of a dozen yards by Roof.
Van Meter moved the chains on two carries to the 30-yard line.
East Hardy’s Nehemiah Graham was off to the house for a 70-yard touchdown run, but it was negated on a block in the back penalty.
The Cougars had another penalty and couldn’t make up the setback leading to a punt.
The Yellow Jackets started the next series at the 29-yard line and a face mask moved the chains near midfield.
Crites rushed twice for distances of seven and nine yards for a first down at the 36-yard line.
Iman dashed 36 yards for the Moorefield touchdown with 6:46 remaining and the conversion failed with East Hardy now holding a 30-18 lead.
The Cougars chewed up the remaining time and knelt in victory formation to feast on the Hardy Bowl victory.
East Hardy celebrated with the wooden trophy donated by Moorefield Examiner Sports Editor Carl Holcomb and created by 10-40 Custom Wood.
