By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
Pendleton County returned a fumble and interception for touchdowns in the final two minutes elevating a 56-36 win to deny a rally by the Cougars in Franklin.
“We had everything, but I can’r say we had them right where we wanted them. We didn’t want to be in that situation and down late, but we did claw our way back into the game. We were battling back and forth. We had a ton of adversity. They are a great team and we knew that coming in. I was proud that we put ourselves in position for that last touchdown and game winning drive essentially that we had. We started moving the ball, but had an untimely fumble by Trevor Roof. He takes full responsibility for that. It isn’t something we want to see happen, but we are playing to win the game and sometimes when we are being a little more free and trying to extend plays and stuff like that we get careless with the ball. We will put an emphasis on that going forward, but we wouldn’t be in that position without him. I am proud of his effort,” East Hardy coach Devon Orndorff commented.
“Last year we had some learning moments and opportunities that we failed and lost in close games. We swore that we were going to build off of those and learn from those this year. Pendleton County is much better than they were last year and we are much better than we were last year. We just. Have to play better defense. I know we don’t have the numbers and we are young and have a bit of the injury bug as is, but at the same time this is the opposite of what East Hardy Football is. We gave up 79 points to start and 56 tonight trying to make plays. That is uncharacteristic of how we play football. We shouldn’t be having scores that high. We have a lot of ground to cover and improvements to make. We got the pieces to make it to the playoffs and that’s where the focus needs to be to play one game at a time to get where we want to be.”
East Hardy trailed 43-30 with five minutes remaining, then momentum began to change.
The Cougars faced fourth down and Garrett Van Meter took a direct snap and burst through the line moving the chains at the 43-yard line on a six yard gain.
Van Meter took the handoff from quarterback Trevor Roof and plowed over the defense 20 yards reaching Wildcats territory at the 37.
East Hardy’s Khristian Bauserman caught a four yard pass from Roof and Nehemiah Graham added two yards on the ground to keep the energy flowing.
Roof spun an away from a couple defenders to get to the 25-yard line for a first down.
Van Meter twirled around the Wildcats deep inside the red zone on a 17-yard carry.
Van Meter notched two more yard before Roof punched the ball into the end zone on a six yard keeper cutting the deficit to 43-36 with 4:20 remaining as the kick went awry.
After an offsetting unsportsmanlike situation, East Hardy kicker Levi Price garnered a touchback.
The Cougars defense forced Pendleton County into a three and out punt on stops by Bodie Brill, Korbin Miller, Mason Wilkins and Dayton Dove, plus a pass denied Price with 3:08 left.
East Hardy converted third down on an eight yard reception by Bauserman to get near midfield at the 46.
Roof scrambled away from initial danger before being rocked by Chase Owens with the ball being jarred loose and Pendleton County’s Travis Owens scooped it up and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown and the kick by Kammron Redman extended the advantage to 50-36 with 1:41 to go.
A Cougars player was ejected from the game after the kickoff return which backed up possession to the 12.
Dove hauled in a 15-yard pass from Roof, then the next pass was incomplete and another toss to Dove created six yards.
Roof dashed for 15 yards for a first down near midfield.
Dove collected a nine yard catch getting into Wildcats domain before stepping out to save time.
Price made a diving catch at the 43-yard line with 39 seconds left.
Dove garnered the next pass from Roof to move the Cougars into the red zone at the 11-yard line.
Two plays later, Roof scrambled and tried to avoid a tackle tossing the ball up and Pendleton County’s Spencer Hartman created a pick six interception as time expired for a 56-36 final score.
East Hardy opened the game getting a first down at the 41-yard line on an 11-yard run by Van Meter, then the drive stalled leading to a punt.
Pendleton County started on its own 25-yard line and in one play was deep in the red zone as Chase Owens snatched a 70-yard pass from Colton Roberson with the Cougars’ Dayton Dove making a touchdown saving tackle at the five yard line.
Three plays later, Roberson scored from one yard out and Redman’s kick put the Wildcats up 7-nil at 9:13.
The Cougars couldn’t generate much on the ensuing series and punted away at 7:06.
Roberson gained a first down for the Wildcats on a 22-yard run getting into East Hardy territory at the 46.
Redman would get a couple more first downs playing Pendleton County at the 23.
The Wildcats were staring at fourth down from the 18, then Roberson found a seem dashing down the sideline and was taken down by Price at the two-yard line as the ball popped out of play.
Roberson notched a touchdown at 3:20 and kick put the Wildcats ahead 14-0.
The Cougars got back o track as Roof notched six yards anD Van Meter plowed ahead for nine yards.
Bauserman caught a pass for eight yards and Price snatched another one for five yards.
Roof ignited for a 54-yard touchdown run with 54 seconds left in the first quarter and Price added the extra point kick cutting the deficit in half, 14-7.
Pendleton County’s Britton Lough made a 31-yard catch for a Wildcats first down at the East Hardy 40.
Redman added nine yards to close the frame.
The Wildcats fumbled the ball on the first play of the second quarter and East Hardy took over on the 32-yard line.
After an ineligible receiver penalty, the Cougars missed two passes prior to Roof coming up short of the first down marker on a spinning scramble leading to a punt at 11:06.
The Wildcats covered 90 yards on a 10-play drive resulting in a six yard touchdown keeper by Roberson and Travis Owens added the conversion for a 22-7 lead at 6:20.
East Hardy answered with a dynamic play facing third down from their own 10-yard line and Roof connected with Dove leaping at midfield, who dashed 90 yards for the touchdown at 5:11 and Price’s kick helped close the gap to 22-14.
Roberson converted a third down on a 15-yard run to the 35-yard line and forced out of bounds by Micah Ludwig.
Roberson notched another first down with a tackle by Ludwig at the 45-yard line.
The Wildcats got past midfield before a fumble moved them back across the threshold.
Pendleton County kept the drive going as Roberson moved the chains again at the Cougars 40-yard line, then East Hardy was flagged for back-to-back personal fouls putting the Wildcats at the six yard line and he drive was capped off on Roberson’s plow into pay dirt at 1:54 for a 29-14 advantage.
East Hardy started at the 39-yard line with a three yard catch by Ludwig, then Roof dodged tackles for a 23-yard gain reaching the Wildcats 35-yard line.
Dove made a catch for five yards and Price picked up ten more yards for a first down at the edge of the red zone with a minute left in the half.
Price corralled a 20-yard touchdown strike and the conversion failed as the Cougars now trailed 29-20 with 54 seconds on the clock.
Pendleton County got near midfield before East Hardy’s Dayton Dove leapt for an interception and crashed into the sidelines at the 48-yard line with 25 seconds remaining.
The Cougars spiked the ball at the 45-yard line with 13 seconds to go and a delay occurred for time adjustment on the scoreboard.
A pass went just over a defender and nearly caught by Price, then Roof scramble for a few yards to close the half, 29-20.
Pendleton County burned five minutes off the clock to commence the third quarter with a 11-play scoring drive ending with a fourth down touchdown conversion covering 21 yards on a leaping reception by Chase Owens for a 36-20 lead.
East Hardy responded with its own scoring drive spanning 76 yards in seven plays.
Van Meter garnered a big portion of that drive with four carries including a plowing type 36 yard run and capped off the series with a ten yard run into the end zone and Price’s kick made it 36=27 with 3:40 left in the third quarter.
After a face mask for a first down, the Wildcats pounced for a 60-yard strike from Roberson to Travis Owens getting down to the four yard line and three plays late Roberson scored a touchdown for a 43-27 lead with the kick by Redman at 1:23.
Bauserman made a huge return for the Cougars reaching the Pendleton County 35-yard line.
Van Meter notched a first down at the 24-yard line and Roof was stopped for no gain to close the third stanza.
The Cougars settled for a 35-yard field goal by Price at 10:35 for a 43-30 score.
The Wildcats faced third and long after a bad snap and intentional grounding, then an interception by Roof was negated on pass interference.
Pendleton County wasn’t able to reach the marker and punted at 8:26.
The Cougars started a scoring drive, then Pendleton County stymied the rally capitalizing on miscues in the final few minutes to secure a 56-36 win.
“Definitely one of those back and forth games like last week. Defense was a little bit worn out in the second half. They had a good game plan with the Van Meter kid running the ball and he was hard to bring down. He is a big, strong runner. Offense and defense came up with a couple big plays, then we had Chase making that big hit and Travis making the scooped and scored that one and to cap it off Spencer Hartman had that interception there. East Hardy, credit to them, they are big and strong year in and year out. We try to prepare for that mentally and physically for that. I am just proud of our guys for hanging in there and keeping their composure for the most part, except for the one unsportsmanlike and penalties like that can make the difference down the road. It was phenomenal [team resolve]. I didn’t like giving them the ball back at the end of the game with two or three minutes to go, but we found a way to win and get it done,” Pendleton County coach Zac Smith remarked.
East Hardy hosts Tucker County this Friday, while Petersburg visits Franklin.
