MORGANTOWN — University football coach John Kelley has led the Hawks since the Reagan Administration, taking over the job in 1987.
In 35 years at the helm, Kelley has seen a lot of teams and players come and go, which makes his postgame remarks following Friday’s 35-6 win over Fairmont Senior even more profound.
“I’ve been doing this a long time, and this is the proudest I’ve ever been of a team,” Kelley said. “There are people — and I shouldn’t listen to people because they’ve never done this for a living — who said when we were 3-0 that we weren’t for real. We played Wheeling Park on a Saturday and beat a good Wheeling Park team. Then they said we’re still not for real.
“Now we come out and hammer these guys. I don’t know if we’re for real tonight, but I know our kids think we’re for real.”
At 5-0, the Hawks have been one of the biggest surprised to Class AAA, at least to those outside of the program. They were unranked in the MetroNews preseason poll, and even after a 4-0 start, still haven’t made it into the top 5.
After knocking off the Class AA No. 2 Polar Bears in the fashion they did, the Hawks likely won’t be flying under the radar much longer.
In another fast start, UHS scored on its opening possession, with quarterback Chase Edwards rolling out of the pocket and finding a wide open Sage Clawges down the sideline for a 46-yard touchdown.
In the second quarter, Colin McBee powered his way into the end zone on a 4th down run up the gut to put the Hawks up two scores.
From there, it was the UHS defense that took care of business, especially in the trenches. The Hawks won the battles up front all night, but outstanding cornerback play by Elija Jackson and Jaeden Hammack kept Fairmont Senior’s passing attack under wraps.
Jackson had a 3rd quarter pick-6 on a throw from FSHS freshman quarterback Brody Whitehair, which essentially sealed the deal for UHS. It is the third defensive touchdown for the Hawks this season.
They could have had a fourth, and it would have been hard to top as the defensive play at the year, as linebacker Donald Brandel grabbed an interception in his own end zone and took it 102 yards for a touchdown, but it was called back on an illegal block in the back, far behind the play.
“When I got the ball, I was assuming there was no one on the right side,” Brandel said about taking the ball out of the end zone instead of taking the touchdown. “I just went that way and saw their tackle standing there and knew I could get the edge. I got the edge and I just kept running.”
While that score didn’t count, the final two Hawks’ touchdowns were a 4-yard pass from Edwards to Corban Cross and another Edwards’ scoring toss to Hammack from 6 yards out.
The Polar Bears’ lone score was on a 4th and 17 completion from Whitehair to Evan Dennison, who made an excellent catch in the corner of the end zone.
UHS enters its bye week unbeaten, but will use the time off to get healthy and remember the fundamentals, something the Hawks have excelled at halfway through the year.
“We can still improve on technique — that’s something coach tells us, ‘Technique wins state championships,’ ” Brandel said. “We’ll go over fundamental stuff, stay focused and close out the rest of the season strong.”
The Hawks will travel up to Pennsylvania to face Albert Gallatin at 7 p.m. Oct. 8.
FSHS 0 0 0 6 – 6
UHS 7 7 7 14 – 35
SCORING SUMMARY
UHS — Edwards 46 pass to Clawges (Coleman kick)
UHS — McBee 1 run (Coleman kick)
UHS — Jackson 20 interception return (Coleman kick)
UHS — Edwards 4 pass to Cross (Coleman kick)
FSHS — Whitehair 17 pass to Dennison (conversion no good)
UHS — Edwards 6 pass to Hammack (Coleman kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
FSHS — Whitehair 16-36; Lewis 8-61; Toothman 4-8; Stingo 3-12; Dennison 2-(-2); Johnson 2-7; Moore 1-(-3). Totals: 36-119. UHS — McBee 16-66 TD; Jackson 1-2; Cunningham 1-7; Edwards 7-(-36). Totals: 25-39 TD.
PASSING
FSHS — Whitehair 5-15-2 111 TD; Stingo 0-2. UHS — Edwards 16-25 215 3TD.
RECEIVING
FSHS — Lewis 3-54; Dennison 3-53 TD; Dalton 1-8. UHS — Jackson 4-22; Clawges 7-96 TD; Hammack 4-83 TD; Cross 1-4 TD; Braham 1-20.
