BRIDGEPORT — Whatever type of football season Morgantown High will have this season took an uphill turn Friday night.
The Mohigans defense saw Bridgeport churn out 292 rushing yards and dominate the clock, while also giving up two huge pass plays in a 31-20 victory by the Indians.
That was just the sidebar, though.
Late in the third quarter, with MHS (0-2) trailing just 17-14, Mohigans sophomore quarterback Maddox Bowers was knocked to the ground after a long pass play fell incomplete and needed help off the field.
“I can’t speak to his injury,” MHS head coach Sean Biser said. “At this point, we really have no idea what’s going to happen there.”
At first, Bowers seemed as if he was going to be able to shake it off, even going over to Biser on the sideline to tell the coach he was not interested in coming out of the game.
Moments later, reality had set in and Bowers could no longer put weight on his left leg. He hobbled over to the bench with the pain and frustration clearly in his eyes. He had his left knee wrapped in ice and did not return. Bowers had to be helped to the locker room following the game.
His replacement — junior Sabastian Dalton — went 0 for 2 passing, but did rush for 44 yards and scored on a 3-yard run with 23 seconds remaining. By that time, the Indians (1-0) had already claimed victory through its relentless power rushing attack that continually moved the chains and kept Morgantown’s offense off the field.
MHS will have a bye week next Friday, and the Mohigans will certainly need it to regroup and figure out its quarterback situation.
“I don’t want to say we’re just going to count (Bowers) out,” Biser said. “We’ll have to take a look (today) and see what we’re dealing with.
“I did see some good things from Sabastian. He obviously got thrown into a tough situation, but he did a good job of running the football. We found some plays he was comfortable with and we went with them.”
Bridgeport running back Landyn Reppert rushed for 138 yards and a score on 19 attempts and teammate Cameron Cole passed for 111 yards — on just two pass attempts — and added 49 yards rushing. In all, the Indians had 403 yards of offense, and Reppert and Tyler Martin sealed the game with touchdown runs in the fourth quarter that came on drives following Bowers’ injury.
At 0-2, the Mohigans have lost to two quality Class AAA playoff teams in Bridgeport and South Charleston, but Biser spent much of his postgame talk with his team on buying in and believing this team can still make a run.
“I’ve been coaching for 20 years, so yeah, I’ve been in this situation before,” he said. “I told our guys that it’s about us getting together and drinking the Kool-Aid. We’ve got to buy in and believe in what we’re doing. We’ve got to rally. We’ve got some injuries now, but we’ve got to have that next-man-up mentality. It’s only going to get better if we stay together and continue to work toward one common goal.”
The Mohigans led 7-0 in the early stages, after Bobby Powell returned the opening kickoff 88 yards for a TD, but the Mohigans offense was only on the field for 16 plays in the first half, as the Indians scored 17 unanswered points to take a 17-7 halftime lead.
MHS running back Davon Eldridge cut it to 17-14 early in the third quarter on a 37-yard scoring run, but then came the injury to Bowers and the Indians closed out the game in the fourth quarter with Reppert’s and Martin’s scoring runs.
Morgantown 7 0 7 6 – 20
Bridgeport 7 10 0 14 – 31
SCORING SUMMARY
MHS – Bobby Powell 88 kick return (Jack Grushecky kick)
BHS – Aiden Paulsen 2 run (Taylor Thomas kick)
BHS – Nathan Lhotsky 68 pass from Cameron Cole (Thomas kick)
BHS – Cole 22 field goal
MHS – Davon Eldridge 37 run (Grushecky kick)
BHS – Tyler Martin 15 run (Thomas kick)
BHS – Landyn Reppert 10 run (Thomas kick)
MHS – Sabastian Dalton 3 run (kick failed)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Morgantown – Eldridge 9-68 TD, Dalton 5-44 TD, Caleb Nutter 15-53, Jarrett Lawrence 5-9, Brodrick Washington 1-2, James Hoskins 3-6. Bridgeport – Reppert 19-138 TD, Cole 19-49, Martin 6-51 TD, Ryan Hall 7-41, Paulsen 2-8 TD, Charlie Brazier 4-6.
PASSING: Morgantown – Maddox Bowers 3-6 61, Dalton 0-2 0. Bridgeport – Cole 2-2 111 TD.
RECEIVING: Morgantown – Lawrence 1-34, Parker Vincent 1-16, Spatafore 1-11. Bridgeport – Lhotsky 2-11 TD.
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