MOUNDSVILLE — University High’s defense was the star of the night, but the Hawks walked out of Monarchs Stadium without their biggest star.
The Hawks came away with six quarterback sacks in their 16-14 victory Friday night against John Marshall, including the game clincher on fourth down on the Monarchs final possession.
But, UHS (1-0) played most of the game without standout Noah Braham, who appeared to have severely hurt his ankle with 7:17 remaining in the second quarter.
Braham, who is committed to play at WVU next season, had scored on a 5-yard run earlier in the second quarter to tie the game 7-7.’
On UHS’s next trip in the red zone, Braham lined up at fullback and got caught up in the pile at the line of scrimmage and did not get back up.
His left leg was in a medical boot after halftime and the senior returned to Morgantown for X-rays.
“We won’t know anything until after the X-rays, but it’s devastating,” UHS head coach John Kelley said. “We really lost our way some without him, because he does so many things for us. We really had to recover in a hurry after he went down.”
The UHS defense did recover quite nicely.
The Hawks also came up with a blocked punt that went out of the back of the end zone for a safety late in the second quarter, which ended up being the difference in the game.
For good measure, University’s secondary also came up with an interception to end the first half and then held John Marshall to a three-and-out after the Monarchs (0-1) seemed to grab the momentum after recovering an onside kick in the third quarter.
“Our defense was the story of the game,” Kelley said. “Getting the stop at the end of the game was huge. The blocked punt ended up being the difference in the game.
“In our two scrimmages, our defense kind of carried us, too, so this was another great effort.”
With the 16-14 lead, UHS was forced to punt and John Marshall had one last try to take the lead with 3:17 remaining.
John Marshall drove as far as its own 42, but then JM running back Klypsan Wallace was held to just a one-yard run and quarterback Jacob Coffield was sacked on fourth down.
UHS ran a dive play and took two knees to run out the clock.
“This was a real war in between the 20s and our guys were exhausted at the end,” Kelley said. “We were playing with a lot of young guys at the end. We’ve got to get more of a running game established, but we came out with a win, so we’ll go from there.”
UHS quarterback Luke Hudson completed 18 of 32 attempts for 225 yards and he connected with Jaeden Hammack for a 39-yard TD pass with just nine seconds remaining in the first half that gave UHS a 16-7 halftime lead.
Hammack finished with seven catches for 136 yards and the score.
This was the Hawks’ 12th-straight regular season win, dating back to 2020.
Wallace added a 14-yard scoring run with 2:55 left in the third quarter for the final score. JM then went for the onside kick and recovered it, but the Monarchs were forced to punt after three miscues.
Wallace finished with 97 yards rushing on 13 carries. Coffield threw for 89 yards, but was held to just two yards rushing on 21 carries, which included the six sacks.
University 0 16 0 0—16
John Marshall 7 0 7 0—14
SCORING SUMMARY
JM—Wesley Hughes 15 pass from Jacob Coffield (Conner Fitzpatricj kick)
UHS—Noah Braham 5 run (John Coleman kick)
UHS—safety, UHS blocks punt out of end zone
UHS—Jaeden Hammack 39 pass from Luke Hudson (Coleman kick)
JM—Klypsan Wallace 14 run (Fitzpatrick kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: UNIVERSITY—Avery Dalton 7-75, Sebastian Dalton 4-9, Braham 1-5 TD, Melique Lewis 1-0, Hammack 1-0, Team 2-(-2), Hudson 1-(-7). JOHN MARSHALL—Wallace 13-97 TD, Coffield 21-2.
PASSING:UNIVERSITY—Hudson 18-32 225 TD. JOHN MARSHALL—Coffield 9-15-1 89 TD, Braedon Sobutka 0-1.
RECEIVING: UNIVERSITY—Hammack 7-136 TD, Coleman 5-59, Ethan Jackson 2-23, A. Dalton 3-7, Braham 1-0. JOHN MARSHALL—Hughes 2-55 TD, Dimario White 3-1, Brennan Sobutka 2-16, Bryce Cook 1-11, Wallace 1-6.
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