MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — When Bridgeport quarterback Cameron Cole turns on his TV to watch college football today, he is going to see a world unlike his own.
He’ll see no-huddle spread offenses playing at break-neck speed and with receivers lined up all over the place.
“Everyone thinks you have to throw it all over the place today to score points,” he said. “That isn’t, obviously, what we believe.”
The power-running Indians made their case to be one of the top seeds in next week’s Class AAA playoffs on Friday by blowing by 12th-ranked Morgantown High, 42-7, at Pony Lewis Field.
Bridgeport (6-1) didn’t attempt a pass in the game and rushed for 399 yards.
The seventh-ranked Indians also only punted once, which came in the fourth quarter, and the only other time the starters failed to score a touchdown was getting shut down on a fourth-and-goal run from the 1-yard line.
Other than that, Bridgeport was mistake-free and consistently moved the chains on offense.
“For us, it’s a fun mentality to be able to go out and run it right at you,” said Cole, who rushed for 115 yards on 14 attempts and scored three touchdowns. “Morgantown has the same philosophy, so it was a fun week of preparation. We were really looking forward to this game.”
J.T. Muller added 135 yards on 10 carries and Hayden Moore rushed for 119 yards and two TDs on 16 attempts.
“There are different ways to skin a cat and even though we both like to run the football, they executed their offense much better than we did tonight,” Morgantown High head coach Sean Biser said. “They made use of every opportunity and we had guys jumping offside at the worst times, which really hurt us.”
Morgantown’s lone score came on Cam Rice’s 11-yard touchdown run in the second quarter that cut the Indians’ lead, 14-7.
But, after a shanked punt set up Bridgeport at the MHS 23-yard line, the Indians basically sealed the game with Muller’s 1-yard run with 17 seconds remaining in the half.
“If we can control the line of scrimmage, we feel like we can win any game,” Cole said. “Getting that two-touchdown lead before the half was huge for us, because we know there are only going to be so many possessions in the second half.”
The Mohigans (3-3) had averaged more than 600 yards rushing in wins against Linsly and University High.
On this night, MHS finished with 294 and the Indians shut down Mohigans fullback Deondre Crudup on the Mohigans’ inside trap plays.
Rice rushed for 99 yards and teammate Caden Biser added 94, but MHS came up short on two fourth-down attempts and was forced to punt three times.
“There were things I saw that were very good for us,” Biser said. “We definitely have some things to clean up. I’m not going to get hung up on this one too much. I’m a problem solver. I’m ready to see what we need to fix and go work at it.”
Biser said he believes the Mohigans can still get into the state playoffs, but wouldn’t know for sure until today.
The state’s playoff meeting is set for Sunday, in Parkersburg, where the brackets will be released.
“The word I got was if we finished 3-3, we would probably be a 15th or 16th seed,” Biser said. “I don’t really know. We don’t know which teams will get left out, because of the (state’s COVID-19 restrictions). A lot of things still have to be sorted out, I think.”
Bridgeport 7 14 21 0—42
Morgantown 0 7 0 0—7
SCORING SUMMARY
BHS—Hayden Moore 1 run (Austin Springer kick)
BHS—Cameron Cole 3 run (Springer kick)
MHS—Cam Rice 11 run (Jack Brueshecky kick)
BHS—J.T. Muller 1 run (Springer kick)
BHS—Cole 2 run (Springer kick)
BHS—Moore 39 run (Springer kick)
BHS—Cole 31 run (Springer kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Bridgeport—Muller 10-135 TD, Moore 16-119 2 TD, Cole 14-115 3 TD, John Love 4-25, Landyn Reppert 2-5, Tyler Martin 1-0. Morgantown—Rice 13-99 TD, Caden Biser 13-94, Davon Eldridge 9-48, Deondre Crudup 6-11, Broderick Washington 2-17, Braedon Brooks 4-25.
PASSING: Bridgeport—None. Morgantown—Rice 0-3 0.
RECEIVING: Bridgeport—None. Morgantown—None.
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