Class A No. 3 East Hardy Football edged Bath County 24-14 on Tuesday in Baker and turned around on Friday heading to Mill Creek for a 41-0 shutout over Tygarts Valley.
“Anytime you have a short time to prepare for a game, you are going to see some confusion and missed assignments. We saw that on both sides of the ball. They were executing well on offense early on and our defense wasn’t executing well and filling the gaps. We need to learn from this for big games in the future. We knew Bath County played smash mouth football and they just ran the ball right at us. It was a sloppy game, but anytime you come away with a win, I can be happy with it. Our turnaround was creating turnovers and just settling in. We need to focus on each game ahead, take it one game at a time,” East Hardy coach Devon Orndorff stated.
The Cougars needed a replacement game after Van cancelled its season due to low numbers which created a two-week hiatus.
East Hardy coach Devon Orndorff worked diligently in attempting to fill that void and create a full 10-game regular season.
Bath County (VA) graciously accepted the invitation to play and the agreement came with just a day’s notice to prepare for the mid-week battle against the Chargers (3-2).
The Chargers entered the contest having beaten two Mountain State teams in a row, Pocahontas County and Tygarts Valley.
Third time wasn’t the charm against the Cougars, despite a swift edge in the beginning.
Bath County took an early 6-0 lead, but the Cougars pounced back to grab a 12-6 halftime advantage.
The Cougars defense stepped up with Nick Roomsburg, Connor Henderson, Mason Wilkins, Micah Ludwig, Nehemiah Graham and Luke Holliday making big plays.
East Hardy started to drain the Chargers with an 18-6 lead to begin the final stanza.
East Hardy’s Dayton Dove and Trevor Roof made key plays getting deep into the red zone to start the fourth quarter.
East Hardy quarterback Trevor Roof called his own number for a five yard touchdown score to commence the final stanza and nearly added the two-point conversion being pushed out of bounds and crashing over the pile-on marker.
East Hardy took a 24-6 lead over the Chargers as a result.
Bath County struck from just inside midfield with two minutes and change remaining and added the conversion to slice the deficit to 24-14.
The Cougars covered the onside kick, then Nehemiah Graham rushed a couple times prior to Roof sealing the 24-14 win with a kneel down.
East Hardy (6-0) traveled to Mill Creek and caged the Bulldogs 41-0.
The Cougars had the 41-0 advantage at halftime and the teams agreed to two one-minute quarters in the second half due to player safety.
East Hardy visits Class AA No. 7 Moorefield for the Hardy Bowl this Friday.
The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 47-16 win against Pocahontas County in Dunmore.
