Challenge accepted.
The Class AAA No. 10 Tigers came prowling into Moorefield and were inundated by a swarm of Class AA Yellow Jackets defending the Hive for a 33-30 victory.
Moorefield special teams unit was a key contributor to upsetting the Tigers from onside kick recoveries to a 97-yard kickoff return touchdown by Bill Lewis-Nieves and forcing a wild snap fumble on a field goal attempt during the final drive.
“I know we can do this. These guys have been busting their butts all summer. We aren’t a big team in numbers, but we are a big team in heart. I’m almost speechless. We just sent the number 10 triple-A school in the state of West Virginia home packing. I’m just so proud of these guys. It’s about them,” Moorefield coach Eric Linville remarked.
The buzz of positivity began with tailgating fun as the Moorefield Band and Cheer squad entertained the crowd and the energy grew entering Yellow Jacket Field.
The Moorefield student section had a summer vibe with Hawaiian flair.
Moorefield had to place one player on holding the ball duty and that caused a lineup penalty issue commencing the game and re-kicks.
Elkins relied heavily on a running attack led by Seth Robinson starting the game and managed to get across midfield covering a total of 19 yards prior to punting as Moorefield’s defense led by solid tackles from Gage Baker, Matthew Iman, Thomas Simmons and Blake Snyder.
“[Halftime heart] Coaches gave us a stern talking to and Davin got up with a very heartwarming speech. The best halftime speech by a player ever. It got us up, got us going and we got out here and got the ball and ran it to the house. We got the ball back and scored again and it was amazing from there,” Moorefield senior Blake Snyder noted.
The Yellow Jackets had a rocky start on offense with two dropped passes before Matthew Iman connected with Edison Metheny for seven yards en route to a punt which went deep off the foot of Jackson Helmick rolling to the 12.
Elkins quarterback Cyrus Kump, a Moorefield transfer, moved the chains with a four-yard pass to Xavier Workman.
The Tigers collected another first down, then the Yellow Jacket defense clamped down including pass deflection by Levi Foo and a delay creating a punt.
Moorefield quarterback Matthew Iman notched 32 yards on a keeper dashing down the sideline and was tracked down by Kump to save a potential touchdown at the 35.
Metheny grabbed a first down, but a couple of penalties and incomplete passes yielded a turnover on downs.
It was scoreless in the first quarter, but that would change just 18 seconds into the second frame.
Elkins running back Tony Silvester dashed 58 yards for a 6-0 edge at 11:42 with a fumble on the extra point attempt covered up by Foo.
Moorefield started its next series at the 20-yard line with Lewis-Nieves making a shifty move for a few yards and Caleb Flinn moving the chains on a 10-yard run.
Iman recorded a first down on two carries, then the Yellow Jackets got into Tigers territory before coughing up the ball.
Elkins took over on the Moorefield 33-yard line and utilized seven plays to hit pay dirt as Kump threw under pressure for a 20-yard touchdown strike to Silvester and Robinson added the conversion to extend the lead to 14-0.
Moorefield had a quick three and out punt, but didn’t hang their heads.
The Tigers marched down into the red zone, but Moorefield’s defensive stops by Colt Sherman, Dakon Taylor and Simmons forced Elkins to settle for a 33-yard field goal and a 17-0 advantage with 1:24 left in the half.
The Yellow Jackets swiftly changed the momentum as Bill Lewis-Nieves garnered a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown (one yard shy of the all-time program record) and Helmick added the extra point kick to slice the deficit to 17-7 at 1:09.
“I went to the sidelines, because there aren’t bigger guys on that side and I saw a hole and took off. It was great. Going into halftime, we had some mistakes. We had a good speech with teammates bringing us up and we came out and got the job done,” Moorefield sophomore Bill Lewis-Nieves said.
A fumble on the ensuing kickoff went back to Elkins.
The Tigers reached the red zone in the waning seconds, then fumbled the field goal try.
Moorefield junior Davin Abreu shared passionate halftime remarks to the team in the locker room and the Yellow Jackets came out buzzing with an emphasis scoring twice in a minute and change rallying for the lead.
Lewis-Nieves showed off his wheels once again with a 73-yard touchdown run on the second play from scrimmage and Helmick’s kick closed the gap to 17-14 at 11:09.
The special teams magic was illustrious as Moorefield snatched up the onside kick.
The Hive was buzzing at a deafening level with excitement.
Caleb Flinn added to the flight school fireworks for the Yellow Jackets dashing from midfield for the lead changing touchdown at 10:58, 20-17.
“There’s not another group of guys I would want to do this with. Bill made that big return and we just needed a stop and everything was in our favor. We made mistakes, but we made up for them. I’m speechless, but surprised. [Faith] I have to give God the glory. I wouldn’t be doing anything here today without God, my family and my friends and coaches. It is surreal that these guys have my back and I have my teammates backs, too,” Moorefield sophomore Matthew Iman stated.
The Yellow Jackets nearly executed another onside kick.
The Tigers quieted the crowd momentarily during a four-play scoring drive resulting in a 31-yard touchdown by Elias Jones to go back on top 24-20.
The Yellow Jackets methodically moved the ball down the field from the 22-yard line to regain the lead.
Metheny caught an 18-yard pass from Iman for a first down, then Lewis-Nieves entered Elkins domain.
Iman moved the first down chains at the 44 and the Yellow Jackets kept on rolling.
Flinn and Lewis-Nieves kept the Yellow Jackets ground crew moving into the red zone.
Iman forced an offsides on a hard count, then powered three keepers down to the one-yard line.
Flinn capped off the drive with a fourth down touchdown punch and Helmick added the kick as Moorefield regained the lead 27-24 at 1:34.
Simmons and Baker made key tackles for the Yellow Jackets and a big run by Elkins was negated on a penalty to close the third quarter.
Four plays into the final stanza, the Tigers pounced into the end zone as Robinson found pay dirt from 29 yards out and there was a fumble on the kick attempt as Elkins took a 30-27 edge at 10:09.
The Yellow Jackets swarmed back as Iman dashed 71 yards and collided with Silvester going out of bounds at the two-yard line.
Lewis-Nieves completed the dynamic sequence with a lead-changing touchdown with 9:28 remaining, 33-30.
Moorefield’s Metheny came up with a huge fourth down deflection.
The Yellow Jackets caught the Tigers offsides twice, but ended up punting with under five minutes to go.
Kump created a 44-yard keeper and jumped up quickly to show a first down in the red zone at the 12.
However, three plays later the Tigers fumbled with Davin Abreu making the recovery for the Yellow Jackets with 1:56 left.
Moorefield wasn’t able to corral a first down and Helmick booted the ball with Zakk Keplinger making a slamming tackle at the 41 with just 1:03 remaining.
The Tigers were able to reach the red zone with 30 seconds left.
Flinn made a tackle for no gain, then Metheny swatted the ball and Kump was chased out for no gain.
The Tigers lined up for a field goal on fourth down with 13 seconds left and the snap went askew and the kicker struggled to pick up the fumble and met by a swarm of Yellow Jackets near the sideline denying a score.
Moorefield’s student section rushed the field after the final play as 10th ranked Elkins fell 33-30.
“That was amazing. Beating a triple-A school and the whole student section coming out. Everybody here supporting us is amazing, an amazing community,”
They are our 12th Man and I know it’s cliche. We want to get the winning culture back here. These guys, not us as coaches, but these guys here have killed that losing mentality. The fans will keep coming and that is important to us…the community is awesome,” Coach Linville added.
Moorefield travels to Sunrise Summit for a battle against Class AAA Hampshire this Friday.
