The Pendleton County Wildcats clawed the Yellow Jackets to the turf with a 13-point lead in the final stanza and expected white flags of surrender, but Moorefield refused to succumb and hurdled the obstacle with tremendous heart and toughness to commandeer a 35-34 victory in Franklin.
The Class AA No. 5 Yellow Jackets displayed resiliency bouncing back from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter to tie the Class A No. 9 Wildcats at the start of the final stanza.
However, Pendleton County would make another push to build a 13-point advantage with five minutes and change remaining, but Moorefield found more than enough left in the tank to drive back home with a rallying win.
“Heart. This team played with a big heart,” Moorefield coach Eric Linville remarked.
“They just don’t give up. We kept fighting until the end. It wasn’t just an individual effort. We played together with toughness and heart. We had some big time contributions from Matthew Iman, Edison Metheny and Thomas Simmons tonight.”
The late third quarter rally had a mix of luck and skill involved as Moorefield quarterback Matthew Iman collected a fumbled snap in the backfield, then dashed up the middle eluding the grasp of defenders en route to a 60-yard touchdown and Jackson Helmick added the extra point kick to cut the gap to 21-14 with just under a minute to go in that third frame.
Pendleton County’s Britton Lough caught a pass from Colton Roberson and was slammed down along the sidelines by Blake Snyder, but it was determined to be an out of bounds tackle resulting in a personal foul moving the Wildcats into Moorefield domain.
Travis Owens hauled in a deflected pass to move the chains again.
Moorefield’s Gage Baker had the jersey of Roberson, who managed to release the ball to end the third quarter.
Pendleton County’s Cameron Wyatt spiked the ball after an incompletion resulting in unsportsmanlike conduct backing possession near midfield.
The Wildcats elected to punt on fourth and super long, but the snap went awry going above the leap of the punter who attempted to track the ball down and was tackled by Thomas Simmons with the ball still loose.
Moorefield’s Dakon Taylor alertly scooped up the ball and dashed to the end zone for a touchdown and Helmick’s kick tied the contest at 21-all at the 11:41 mark of the fourth quarter.
Lough made a diving catch to put the Wildcats in Moorefield territory at the 45.
A deep pass with face guarding defense by Helmick resulted in a missed pass, but a pass interference call was made to move the chains inside the red zone.
Roberson made an illegal forward pass, then Owens snatched a throw and hurdled a defender to reach the 10-yard line.
Roberson capped off the drive with a touchdown keeper and the kick created a 28-21 lead at 9:32.
A third down pass was dropped beyond midfield just as Moorefield quarterback Matthew Iman was rocked.
No flag was thrown and the Yellow Jackets were lining up to punt before a timeout.
Moorefield decided to roll the dice going for it with Simmons making a catch and dodging tackles to get inches away from the 40 as a measurement revealed not enough for a first down.
Roberson and Mason Miller created plays to put Pendleton County at the 26-yard line with a fresh set of downs.
Roberson found Owens for a touchdown strike, then Simmons blocked the extra point kick as the Wildcats now held a 34-21 lead with 5:12 to go.
Iman escaped pursuit in the backfield and fired to Edison Metheny, who raced 36 yards getting inside the red zone.
Simmons caught a pass to put Moorefield on the 10.
Facing fourth down, Iman plowed through the defense for a touchdown and the kick went awry for a 34-27 score with 3:43 remaining.
“I know we can give the ball to Matthew and he is going to do everything he can to get the first down for us,” Coach Linville added.
There was a fumble during the kickoff, but the Wildcats managed to smother it.
After an injury timeout, Roberson executed a 74-yard touchdown strike to Wyatt which was negated due to an ineligible receiver.
“We had a bunch of guys go down on us which is hard for us being low on numbers coming in. I was like, I had to take this interception back and it put us in a great spot. They had a big run and we had to fight over adversity and ended up doing it, 35-34. Moorefield is 3-1 now. When our senior Caleb Flinn went out, our whole game plan changed. Our coach gave us a good halftime talk and fired us up. We fought the adversity and pumped each other up. We are a great team, great friends and buds,” Moorefield’s Edison Metheny commented.
Moorefield’s Edison Metheny snatched a pick six interception touchdown return and Iman added the conversion to give the Yellow Jackets a 35-34 lead with 3:00 left.
“Edison has been stepping up in the last couple weeks. He has done great. We had our backs against the wall several times. They’ve got a great passing game. We just got the big push when we needed it,” Coach Linville noted.
Pendleton County needed to cover 70 yards in the final drive for an answer starting with a 38-yard catch by Lough from Miller.
Metheny’s diving interception was ruled to have touched the ground.
The next two passes went askew including a drop.
Facing fourth down, Miller found Wyatt for a 17-yard pass to get inside the red zone at the 15-yard line with 1:58 remaining.
A potential interception by Moorefield’s Levi Foo was jarred loose on a hit, but a defensive pass interference was called.
Wyatt caught a short pass and another pass interference was called moving the Wildcats to the four yard line with a minute and change to go.
Metheny deflected the next throw, then the Wildcats were assessed a false start.
Moorefield’s Thomas Simmons followed the eyes of the quarterback and made a diving interception to seal the Yellow Jackets win on the two yard line.
“The heart of the team is just everybody. We all have heart and support each other. The interception, I just looked over and the ball was coming and just caught it. I thought for a minute they weren’t going to count it, but I caught it. There was no better feeling. It was awesome. We just never give up. Coach Kinkead said we just have to play hard and never give up. We never gave up, battled back and won,” Moorefield’s Thomas Simmons said.
Moorefield knelt thrice for the final horn with one nearly a safety on the line to secure a 35-34 comeback victory on the road.
Both teams punted, then the Wildcats marched down to the one yard line prior to a goal line stand by the Yellow Jackets with a fourth down strip tackle fumble created by Blake Snyder.
Moorefield struck first in the game which was setup on a dynamic 79-yard evasive run by Iman to the 13-yard line.
After a fumbled snap, Moorefield’s Bill Lewis-Nieves made four carries to the three yard line.
The Yellow Jackets finished off the drive as Caleb Flinn punched through the line to pay dirt and Helmick added the kick for a 7-0 lead with 45 seconds left in the opening stanza.
Roberson notched a 60-yard run into the red zone for the Wildcats on the last play of the opening frame.
Owens made a leaping touchdown grab for the Wildcats to commence the second quarter tying the game on the kick.
Moorefield got near midfield before a turnover on downs, then Edison Metheny made an interception.
The Yellow Jackets punted, then Pendleton County scored and would take a 14-7 lead into halftime.
Moorefield withstood the adversity of being down double digits twice in the second half and came back with the heart of a champion.
