By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
The Class A defending state champion White Falcons swooped across the field for 660 rushing yards overshadowing a stellar 367 yard offensive performance by Cougars quarterback Trevor Roof who accounted for all six touchdowns in the 79-40 season opening defeat at Wahama.
Roof connected for 14-of-22 passes for 288 yards with four touchdowns and rushed in for two scores as East Hardy kept battling.
The Cougars were trailing 22-20 early in the second quarter, then the wheels fell off in that frame as Wahama hammered out 37 points to collect a 59-26 halftime advantage.
The second half was closer in the scoring department with the White Falcons holding a 20-14 edge during the onslaught.
One of the highlights of the game for the Cougars was the kickoff accuracy as Levi Price landed five boots into the end zone for touchbacks for a total of 300 yards.
Price was a key on offense snatching six passes for 171 yards with two touchdowns which included a 65-yard strike in the opening frame.
The Cougars aerial attack from Roof continued with three passes to Khristian Bauserman for 90 yards and one touchdown, plus two targets to Dayton Dove for 15 yards and one touchdown.
Roof led the East Hardy rushing attack with 10 carries for 79 yards with two touchdowns with a two-yard first quarter keeper and a 36-yard dash in the second quarter.
Nehemiah Graham contributed five carries for 66 yards for the Cougars.
East Hardy finished with 453 total yards of offense, while the White Falcons’ talons scraped up 712 yards.
Defensively, Price led the Cougars with eight tackles and Garrett Van Meter garnered seven tackles.
East Hardy remains on the road this week against Pendleton County, then returns home to host the Mountain Lions on September 13.
