By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
The Yellow Jackets strategy was working in the first half keeping the ball away from Class AA defending state champion Frankfort for 17 minutes with two forced fumbles during Military Appreciation Night, but the Falcons overcame and adapted to persevere for a 34-10 victory in Moorefield.
West Virginia Army National Guard brought camo jerseys for the Yellow Jackets to battle in on the gridiron and displayed a tactical vehicle for the fans.
“It’s great. I’d love honoring the military every Friday night. We are all very patriotic and those guys have been great with the jerseys and everything. It is always special to do something for them. My dad was Airborne and grandfather was killed in the C-130 crash in’92 and of course, Vincent [Cyrus] is heading to El Paso next. Anything we can do for the military, we love,” Moorefield Football coach Eric Linville remarked.
Moorefield marched out on the field carrying the American flag and a Moorefield flag at the beginning of the contest.
There was a moment honoring all military members in attendance before the national anthem was played by the Moorefield Marching Band.
“It means a lot. We aren’t just playing for Moorefield. We are playing for the Army and all the military branches in general. It is an honor,” Moorefield senior Brock Linville commented.
“I might have the name as the leader of captain of the team, but all 50-some of us are captains. It is a team full of captains. Our team is not led by the coaches, it is led by the players and that is the anthem of our team. It is a privilege to play for him. When I am on the field, he’s not dad, he is coach. When I am home, he’s dad. He is like a dad to the whole team. We are all his children.”
During the opening kickoff, a Moorefield returner Shawn Reed brought his knee down too far on the catch touching the ground as the referee whistled the play down on the spot of the catch at the one yard line.
Moorefield wasn’t able to get much breathing room and Levi Davis punted from the end zone.
Frankfort’s Bradyn Tyler dodged tackles on the punt return getting deep into the red zone where he was wrestled to the ground by Moorefield’s Matthew Iman at the 11-yard line.
Three plays later, the Falcons punched the ball into the end zone on a three yard run by Kaiden McKenzie and the kick was good for a 7-nil edge at 8:44.
Moorefield quarterback Brock Linville converted a third down on a three yard keeper to the 30-yard line.
Caleb Flinn notched another first down with a 13-yard dash to the 43-yard line.
Linville added one yard, then connected with Cyrus Kump for a seven yard play just inside Falcons territory.
Linville moved the chains on fourth down at the 43.
Iman made a leaping catch and was slammed to the ground, but not before snatching a first down at the 33.
Moorefield converted another fourth down on the second play of the second quarter as Shawn Reed made a sideline catch in the red zone at the 19.
Oliver Crites created five yards for the Yellow Jackets, then Bill Lewis was stopped for no gain.
The Yellow Jackets settled for a 31-yard field goal by Levi Davis at the 9:39 mark and cut the deficit to 7-3.
“It’s the number one team in the state, it is what it is. They’re Frankfort. They are always going to be hard-nosed tough. It’s just a matter of like little things, game situation-wise our guys weren’t blocking. That was our game plan and that will be our game plan a lot, to keep the ball out of the opposing team’s hands. It’s not that our defense is weak. We want to control the game, control the field, control the tempo, control the scoreboard and things like that,” Coach Linville noted.
“When Brock went down in the first half, we had a freshman go in there and that makes it tough. Yo’ve got to get experience some time. It’s just a matter that we need as much experience as we can. I don’t want it to be shock and awe. We still had that fight in us and wanted to fight back, but we had so many subs in there. We got beat up and we need to heal up. It was good for the young guys. We had three freshmen on the field at one time. That shows our depth, we are not deep. [First game] It was what I expected in the first half, but when Brock went down it kind of felt like someone came out and popped a balloon. I think it was an ankle issue, We aren’t going to push him. We have nine more weeks or more.”
During the kickoff, Moorefield forced a fumble withThomas Simmons making the recovery at the Frankfort 32-yard line.
After a false start, Flinn erased that deficit with a five yard run and Crites picked up three yards.
Frankfort’s Keiton Nester managed to jar the ball loose from Reed as he fell into the end zone.
A field goal attempt by Davis was partially blocked and tracked down by Frankfort’s Bradyn Tyler who made a huge return past midfield before fumbling the ball back to the Yellow Jackets at the 42-yard line.
Flinn collected seven yards and Linville converted third down in Falcons domain for a first down at the 47.
Crites kept the ground game going with a tough yard, then Flinn created a first down at the 36.
After a deflected pass, Linville was stopped for no gain being tossed into the sideline.
A bad snap fumble and illegal shift forced a Moorefield punt and fair catch by Frankfort at 3:51 on the 12.
Frankfort’s Carder Shanholtz gathered back to back first downs reaching the 33, then quarterback Blake Jacobs dashed across midfield moving the sticks again at the 49.
Moorefield’s defense of Cites, Gage Wolfe and Daltan Ault slowed the Falcons attack down forcing a fourth down, but Frankfort would be ended as Shanholtz sliced seven yards for a fresh set of downs at the 35.
The Yellow Jackets got two big defensive plays as Flinn made a tackle for no gain and Cyrus Kump leapt to deflect a pass denying a touchdown.
Frankfort went bal to the ground as Shanholtz broke free for 17 yards reaching the red zone and was flipped dtothe ground by Reed at the 18.
Two plays later, McKenzie foundry dirt from ten yards out for a 14-3 Falcons advantage with 50 seconds remaining in the half and Flinn closed the half for Moorefield with a short run.
Linville sat out in the second half due to an injury and Iman came in as the quarterback for the Yellow Jackets.
Moorefield attempted an onside kick to commence the second half and it was secured by the Falcons.
Frankfort collected a first down, then a potential touchdown was called back on a block in the back, however a defensive unnecessary roughness penalty counterbalanced it for placement int he red zone at the 14.
Two plays later, Shanholtz rushed into the end zone for a five yard touchdown and the kick was good for a 21-3 lead at 8:58.
Frankfort’s Anthony SMith sacked Iman and the Falcons defense forced a three and out punt by Moorefield.
The Falcons started at the 42-yard line and needed six plays to find the end zone, despite tackles by Reed, Iman, Blake Robinette, Crites and Levi Foo.
Foo and Iman forced Jacobs out of bounds on a red zone play at the one yard line after a 14-yard scamper.
Jacobs punched the ball into the end zone on the ensuing play and the extra point snap went awry with a subsequent intentional grounding on a chase to the sideline as the score stood at 27-3 with 3:23 left in the third frame.
During a keeper by Iman there was a defensive personal foul which helped the Yellow Jackets move the chains at the Falcons 46-yard line.
Flinn eluded defenders for a 21-yard run to the 25-yard line.
A penalty and defensive stops stalled the Yellow Jackets drive which came to an end on a turnover on downs at the start of the final stanza.
Two wide open receivers for the Falcons dropped the ball, then a fake punt was denied for no gain by Reed.
Crites ushered Moorefield into the red zone and Flinn added a couple yards.
Iman dodged tackles to collect a first down inside the ten yard line.
Flinn and Iman got the ball down to the two yard line as Moorefield now faced a decision on fourth down.
The Yellow Jackets went for it as Crites punched the ball into pay dirt for the first Moorefield touchdown of the season with 7:26 to go and Davis added the extra point to close the gap to 27-10.
Frankfort answered in three plays as Shanholtz dashed 40 yards for a touchdown at 5:53 to push the lead up to 34-10 for the final score.
The Yellow Jackets picked up a first down with the help of a roughing the passer call at the 35, but a miscue on a handoff was smothered before a bad snap developed into a fumble recovered by the Falcons.
Frankfort started at the 24-yard line and was flagged for a delay, then got a first down as the result of an unnecessary roughness call moving the possession to the 10-yard line.
The Falcons moved the ball down to the one yard line before taking a knee with a minute and change to go.
Cries was able to move the Yellow Jackets out to the 20-yard line as time expired with Frankfort saluting a 34-10 win.
“It was a nice win, but we made a lot of mistakes. We did a lot of dumb things, Thy controlled the first half with the ball. They had the ball so much in the first half, I didn’t think we’d get it back. We can’t do things when we were up 27-3 when we punted and we had 10 guys on the field. That’s on me. It’s not first game jitters. They make it 27-10. That can change the momentum of the game drastically. I’m happy with the way we played. I thought we were physical and battled through adversity. I am happy we got our first win. Our kids came in knowing it is a new year. We are proud of last year, bur we have a lot of new faces. I have never been in a game like that before. They battled and didn’t break. We played with hustle and energy,” Frankfort coach Kevin Whiteman stated.
“[Coach Linville] He will do a good job. He’ll have a nice season. He has a lot of good players there and had a lot of success at the middle school level. I know he is excited about having the job. He is a good coach.”
The Yellow Jackets visit Elkins this Friday night.
