MORGANTOWN — After all but locking up a playoff spot by winning last week’s Mohawk bowl, the Morgantown Mohigans welcomed a playoff-caliber team into Pony Lewis Field Friday night when the Linsly Cadets came to town.
Luckily for MHS it wasn’t the actual playoffs, just the team’s regular-season finale as the Mohigans fell 31-20 to their visitors.
“They controlled the game,” MHS coach Sean Biser said of Linsly. “They controlled the line of scrimmage on us and made it tough sledding for us.”
Linsly (9-1) is not a member of the WVSSAC and thus not eligible for postseason play, but still had a happy ending to their imposing 10-game schedule with an impressive road win. The Cadets played just one true home game this season and took on several perennial powerhouses from West Virginia and Ohio.
“I think the majority of the people that believed such a thing was possible are all these kids out here wearing the white jerseys that they’ve worn eight times this year,” Linsly coach BJ Depew said. “That’s all we needed. We took a lot of pride in proving people wrong this year.”
Morgantown squandered opportunities to seize momentum early in the game as the Mohigans’ first two drives of the night began in Cadet territory yet the home team came away with no points both times.
“You’ve got to come away with points,” Biser said. “I think we had the ball deep in their territory three times and came away with no points…We didn’t do a good job just moving the ball. Our offense sputtered all night long.”
The Cadets found the scoreboard first as a 37-yard fake punt pass set up playmaker Luca DiLorenzo to score on a 1-yard QB sneak. Santiago Graneros’ extra point made it a 7-0 Linsly lead.
“The momentum could’ve gone the other way so fast,” Depew added. “Continuing to slam the door like that and give our offense another chance set the tone for the game.”
Morgantown responded on its next drive with a 38-yard pass from quarterback Maddox Bowers to Andrew Phares that set up Brodrick Washington’s 10-yard scoring run. Aiden Stire’s point after tied the game 7-7.
Linsly took the lead back on a 17-yard run by Kevin Stanisi.
The teams traded interceptions and then Washington broke off a 68-yard run down to the one-yard line and then two plays later powered in for a 14-14 deadlock.
A Linsly screen pass on the following drive fell incomplete, but the referees did not blow the play dead as they determined Atley Cowan’s pass had gone backward. Washington scooped up the loose ball and ran it 20 yards for his third touchdown of the night. A muffed PAT made it a 20-14 MHS lead. Linsly added a 40-yard field goal from Graneros for a 20-17 halftime score.
Following a scoreless third quarter, Linsly retook the lead on another quarterback sneak from DiLorenzo. Morgantown’s following drive stalled out as Linsly’s Landon Taylor sacked Bowers on first and third downs.
DiLorenzo then all but put the game away with a 38-yard touchdown run on his one and only snap at tailback that gave the Cadets a 31-20 advantage.
“We didn’t have a spectacular game offensively, but the key was getting playmakers the ball,” Depew said. “His last run from tailback was obviously the nail in the coffin. We’re going to miss him, I’m so happy for him and this senior class to go out that.”
“I thought our defense didn’t play bad, we just were on the field too much,” Biser said. “We gave up the fake punt and we had a dumb penalty that kept a drive alive. We helped them as much as we possibly could and you can’t do that, that’s a good football team.”
Morgantown ran the ball 43 times for just 158 yards, omitting Bowers’ sack yardage. Take out Washington’s 68-yard run, the team’s only big running play, and MHS was held under 100 yards on over 40 attempts.
“I think our defense played a great game the whole game,” Depew said. “There was never a doubt that our defense was going to keep it up. They kept us in the game the whole time and that made all the difference.”
Bowers completed 7-of-21 passes for 96 yards with two interceptions. Washington finished with 101 rushing yards and three total touchdowns. Phares led the team with 60 yards on three receptions.
Alex Taylor led Linsly with 140 rushing yards on 19 carries. DiLorenzo scored three rushing touchdowns with 46 infantry yards, caught three passes for 28 yards and even punted a ball down to the 3-yard line. MHS picked off Cowan three times with Jacob Keir grabbing two and Phares the other.
The silver lining for Morgantown is their season is not over. After coming in at No. 12 in this week’s playoff rankings, the Mohigans should remain in the top 16 and play at least one more game this season.
“This means nothing now, the season means nothing — now it’s playoffs,” Biser said. “Everybody’s on an even slate, we’ve got to see where we’re going to go and just get ready. Normally we grade all the film, I won’t even grade this film, we’ll just move on and get ready to go for the next game.”
Linsly 31, Morgantown 20
Linsly 7 10 0 14 — 31
MHS 7 13 0 0 — 20
L — DiLorenzo run 1 (Greneros kick)
M —Washington run 10 (Stire kick)
L — Stanisi run 17 (Greneros kick)
M — Washington run 1 (Stire kick)
M — Washington fum rec 20 (attempt failed)
L — Greneros field goal 40
L — DiLorenzo run 1 (Greneros kick)
L — DiLrenzo run 38 (Graneros kick)
RUSHING: Linsly 35-215-4td (Taylor 19-140; Cowan 6-12; DiLorenzo 5-46-3td; Weiner 2-(-1); Stanisi 3-18-td). Morgantown 43-120-2td (Ullom 4-7;Washington 9-101-2td; Thomas 6-7; Nutter 12-30; Powell 5-13; Bowers 7-(-38)).
PASSING: Linsly 3-16 86-3int (Cowan 5-15 49-3int; Stanisi 1-1 37). Morgantown 7-21 96-2int (all Bowers).
RECEIVING: Linsly 6-86 (DiLorenzo 3-28; Feil 2-43; Taylor 1-15). Morgantown 7-96 (Phares 3-60; DeProspero 1-12; Keir 1-10; King 1-12; Powell 1-2).
FIRST DOWNS. Linsly 15. Morgantown 11.
FUMBLES: Linsly 1-1. Morgantown 1-0.
PENALTIES: Linsly 14-105. Morgantown 8-61.
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