BLACKSVILLE — Clay-Battelle might be the best winless football team in all of West Virginia.
The Cee-Bees fell to 0-3 on the season with a 34-31 loss to Beallsville (Oh.) at home Friday night, their third one-score loss of the season already. Clay-Battelle has lost three games by a combined nine points.
“They’re giving 100% effort,” C-B coach Ryan Wilson said. “There’s no one that can question their effort. Every ballgame they have battled and battled. They’re giving us 100%, we’ve just not been able to get over the hump yet.”
In Friday’s loss, Clay-Battelle (0-3) came back from a 26-8 halftime deficit and outscored Beallsville (3-1) 23-8 in the second half but fell just short as the Blue Devils were able to run the final four minutes off the clock to seal the game.
“They have no quit,” Beallsville coach Rusty Bondy said of C-B. “We got up on them and by golly, they kept coming. My hat’s off to them and Coach Wilson, they have a real nice ballclub.”
C-B’s Zac Hall scored on a 79-yard catch-and-run with 4:08 to play to pull the Cee-Bees within three, 34-31, but the Blue Devils were able to pick up a couple of first downs to end the game.
A four-yard, fourth-down run by quarterback Garrett Perkins picked up the final first down to win the game for Beallsville. The Blue Devils ran an effective offense through Perkins, a four-year veteran, and fullback Conner Hagan.
Perkins threw for three touchdowns in the first half, two going to receiver James Palmer and the other a 63-yard strike to tight end Marky Louden. Perkins finished 11 of 17 passing for 223 yards and three touchdowns while also running 16 times for 61 yards.
“He’s an animal,” Bondy said of his signal-caller.
C-B’s first-half score was a five-yard run by Hall.
Wilson said the team did not make any big changes at halftime, but the players were able to wake up a little bit for the second half.
“We gave up so many big plays at the beginning there,” Wilson said. “At halftime, we didn’t make big adjustments, it was just ‘let’s settle in and play.’”
A two-yard run by Hall was the only score in the third quarter and cut Beallsville’s lead to 26-16.
Hagan scored his second rushing touchdown of the game to start the fourth and push the Blue Devils’ lead back to 34-16. From there, Hall scored again on a two-yard run.
The C-B defense forced a turnover on downs, leading to Hall’s 79-yard catch that made it a one-score game. That was as close as C-B would get, however.
“In these close games, you’re looking back asking if it’s one player here, one play there, but we also made some big plays,” Wilson said. “They kept battling.”
Hall finished with 22 touches on offense — 11 catches and 11 carries. He ran for 30 yards and three touchdowns and had 168 receiving yards with another score. Quarterback JC Spears completed 20 of 29 passes for 313 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Braden Pnceroff (2 for 78) and Josiah Morgan (6 for 51) were the leading receivers behind Hall.
Clay-Battelle is back on the road next week with a game at Tygarts Valley.
The Blue Devils, who have not done much winning over the last decade. Have started the season 3-1 and will face undefeated Valley next week.
“It feels really good,” Bondy said. “We have not won over the last 12, 13 years and now year three of my tenure, these kids are finally starting to get it. They’re swarming the ball, they’re playing hard and they’re aggressive. I’m really proud of them.”
Hagan had 19 carries for 68 yards and two touchdowns. Louden finished with three receptions for 110 yards while Palmer had three for 62.
Clay-Battelle introduced the inaugural class of its newly-formed Athletic Hall of Fame at halftime. Inductees were Adam Henkins, Chad Henkins, Aaron LaPoe, Nicole Mattingly, Russ Moore, Sydney Rush, Frank Skubis and Gary Steele.
Beallsville 34, Clay-Battelle 31
BEA 20 6 0 8 — 34
CB 8 0 8 15 — 31
Scoring Summary
B – Hagan run 2 (kick blocked)
CB – Hall run 5 (Gum pass from Statler
B – Louden pass 63 from Perkins (Perkins run)
B – Palmer pass 45 from Perkins (kick blocked)
B – Palmer pass 11 from Perkins (run fail)
CB – Hall run 2 (Ponceroff pass from Spears)
B – Hagan run 2 (Hagan run)
CB – Hall run 2 (Morgan pass from Spears)
CB – Hall pass 79 from Spears (Statler kick)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING — Beallsville: 50-184-2td (Smith 13-50; Perkins 16-61; Hagan 19-68-2td; Palmer 2-5). Clay-Battelle: 16-11-3td (Hall 11-30-3td; Spears 3-(-24); Shriver 2-5). PASSING — Beallsville 11-17 223-3td (all Perkins). Clay-Battelle: 20-29 313-1td-2int (all Spears). RECEIVING — Beallsville: 11-223-3td (Smith 2-30; Hagan 3-21; Louden 3-110-td; Palmer 3-62-2td). Clay-Battelle: 10-313-td (Ponceroff 2-78; Morgan 6-51; Hall 11-168-td; Walls 1-16).
