East Hardy Triumphs In Contest Between Class A Contenders
Coming out of week one, Pendleton County and East Hardy both looked like contenders for the Class A football title. Each program made an early statement with big wins over Petersburg and Madonna, respectively.
One could arguably say that after last Friday’s game, both of these teams still look like they could meet again in the finals. Big time players made big time plays, as expected. The contest between two disciplined and well-coached teams came down to a handful of mistakes by the visiting squad and the ability of their less-than-accommodating host to capitalize on them.
East Hardy took the ball first at their own 30. For much of the game, running back Trevor Roof lined up directly behind quarterback Nehemiah Graham taking the shotgun snap. Roof took the handoff on the first play and advanced the ball to the 35.
Two plays later, Graham completed a short pass on first down that picked up a first down at the Cougar 47. The team continued moving the ball about five yards at a time down to the Wildcat 24.
There, East Hardy faced third and five. Graham lined up in an empty backfield, but handed off to Roof running from right to left across the formation. East Hardy picked up the first down at the Pendleton County 11.
With 7:30 left on fourth and six, however, Cameron Wyatt got a hand on a pass fired into the endzone, giving his team the ball deep in its own territory.
Colton Roberson moved the ball ahead five yards in two plays. Then on third and six, he unleashed a missile deep to Britton Lough after a play fake froze the defense. He gained 33 on the reception.
East Hardy put Pendleton County into a fourth and four at midfield. Roberson rolled left and outraced the edge defender to the first down marker and went out at the 40. On the next play, the quarterback found Travis Owens over the middle. The fleet footed receiver evaded a tackle and took the ball the rest of the way for the initial score of the contest.
The kick went wide, however.
Up six to nothing after an eight play, three minute drive, the Wildcats kicked to East Hardy, who started from the 38. On first and 10, a half second delay in the handoff gave David Noble the chance to explode into the backfield and drop Roof for a loss of three. Graham, however, got much of the yardage back finding a crease in the defense on second and 13. He exploded ahead to the 48 after a gain of nine.
On third and one Zander Adams played huge, bursting through the line and getting the first hit on the shifty Roof with Roberson coming in hot from his safety position to finish off the play. On fourth and two, however, Graham found Micah Ludwig with a short pass that picked up the first down.
Ludwig found the ball in his hands twice more on passes as East Hardy closed in on the endzone. A Graham keeper on first and goal at the five plus a made kick put the home team up seven to six with 11:10 left in the first half.
Throughout the game, both offenses ran efficient and patient drives punctuated by big plays. A judicious mixture of runs and passes characterized both offenses.
Pendleton County worked in the offseason to take more of the offensive burden off of their quarterback and 2025 Class A all-state captain Roberson. Braydon Willis in particular has run with strength and speed, but also discipline while the passing game has worked on even distribution of passes between the team’s three big play threats from last season, Lough, Owens, and Wyatt.
East Hardy has the same scoring punch and wealth of offensive skill players that took it to the state playoffs last season. Where the Cougars have demonstrated improvement is on defense. In this game, they worked to keep the potent Wildcat offense in front of the defensive backfield as much as possible.
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The Wildcats started deep in their end of the field at the 23. Three plays later with 10 minutes in the first half, Willis broke through arm tackles to pick up three yards and a first down at his own 35. Not long after, at the 8:43 mark in the second stanza, Roberson on play action threw to Owens at the 15, who dove to the 10. A flag moved the ball half the distance to the five.
Roberson faked a hand off and ran it in himself. The Wildcats couldn’t convert and the score remained 12 to seven.
East Hardy tried a deep ball from the 45 on first down, but Wyatt defended the play downfield. He had made a touchdown saving tackle just prior on the kickoff. East Hardy got the ball to the Wildcat 47, but Spencer Hartman took down Roof in the backfield to kill the drive and get his squad the ball back.
Pendleton County looked to take control, pushing the ball to first and goal at the one yard line of East Hardy. A fumble on that play landed in the hands of a Cougar who ran it back out to their 10.
A five minute, 13 play, 90 yard drive to take the lead followed that game changing defensive play. Notably, almost every offensive play took the ball out of bounds, stopping the clock. Offensive discipline allowed East Hardy to keep clock-stopping time outs in their pocket and also maintain their full slate of running options.
On third and three at the nine, Graham ran the read option and kept the ball, moving to a first down at the two. From there, with almost no time left, the Cougars scored, kicked successfully, and walked into halftime with a 14 to 12 advantage.
Wyatt took the second half kickoff to his own 24. Connor Henderson on first down chased down Roberson and was assisted by Graham with a four-yard sack. Back on their heels momentarily, the Wildcats responded effectively with the offensive line plowing a hole through the middle of the Cougar defense. Willis ran straight ahead to midfield, showing his speed on the play.
Both teams generally took their time before running each play, but this time Roberson attempted a Rich Rodriguez “spot the ball” style move. He raced his team to the line to get a play off, but East Hardy was not thrown off and tackled Willis for a one-yard gain.
A few plays later Roberson had second and eight at the East Hardy 36. Jonah See pulled in the reception at the 22 for a fresh set of downs. Pendleton County did advance the ball to the 16, but the Cougars broke up a pass that would have given at least a first down to the visitors with a little less than eight minutes to go in the third.
East Hardy took over after another big defensive stop deep in their end of the field. They moved the ball to the 20 and had to punt it away at that point. Pendleton County moved the ball to the Cougar 30, but one of the defensive linemen drifting backwards into the passing lanes pulled in the interception.
Graham took the offense inside the Wildcat 30. There Wyatt once again came up with a vital play to break up a pass. On fourth down, Graham looked for room to escape the rush of Hartman, but was flushed into the arms of Noble and others to end the drive at the Wildcat 31.
The Wildcats had the ball and a two-point disadvantage with 8:17 in the game. On first down, the Wildcats lined up in a set with four wide receivers bunched on the right, suggesting a bubble screen. Pendleton County ran the ball forward, but the Cougars were not fooled and stopped the play after a gain of two.
East Hardy took the ball at their own 36 after a punt from the Wildcat 36. On first and 10, Roof found space to run, but Lough found Roof’s leg and held on tight, shutting down the play after a gain of five. Trying to advance the ball and seal a narrow win, the Cougars tried to catch the Wildcats with a deep pass. Wyatt, however, gave his team new life by snagging an interception and taking the ball to midfield.
Roberson and the Wildcat offense would not be denied on this drive. Roberson fired the ball deep on first and 10 at his own 49. Owens, running a post pattern reminiscent of the 49ers’ Brent Jones, split two deep defenders and pulled in the pass at the Cougar 15. Willis ran the ball to the five and Roberson the rest of the way.
Pendleton County scored the two-point conversion and took a 20 to 14 lead with four minutes remaining.
East Hardy took the kick to the 40 and then came the biggest play of the game. Roof ran straight ahead, found a gap, and never looked back. After the touchdown, the kick lifted the home team up by one with 3:50 left. The Wildcats lost a fumble late that ended their final drive. East Hardy held onto the ball to conclude the contest 21 to 20.
The game was efficiently and effectively played by both sides. Mistakes made by the Wildcats gave East Hardy opportunities and they capitalized enough to pull away with the win. Both teams, however, showed their strengths and played well overall, an excellent showcase of Potomac Highlands high school football.
After the game, the teams that brought the best out in each other gathered at midfield. Coaches from both sides locked arms and players joined hands in a postgame prayer.
A fitting end to a classic game played the right way by both teams.
