MORGANTOWN – It was a cold and rainy night on Friday at Pony Lewis Field as the Class AAAA state football playoffs began with No. 7 Morgantown hosting No. 10 Woodrow Wilson in the opening round.
Luckily for the Mohigans, the weather conditions didn’t matter one bit as they defeated the visiting Flying Eagles 35-10 behind a punishing ground attack.
MHS ran 61 offensive snaps in the contest, with 58 being a rushing attempt. The Mohigans gained 284 yards on the ground and had three players rush for over 50 yards. Junior tailback Isaiah Thompson carried the ball 21 times for 49 yards and three touchdowns, helping lift his team into the second round.
Morgantown (8-3) will visit No. 2 Spring Mills next week in the quarterfinals. The Cardinals defeated No. 15 Hedgesville 56-0 in the first round.
“Have to give credit to our kids tonight; they came in after a long time off and got the job done,” MHS head coach Sean Biser said. “I thought our defense really stepped up tonight against an offense who throws a lot at you. We threw some different personnel things at them, which worked well for us. Our defensive staff does a tremendous job getting our kids ready and in positions to be successful.”
The Morgantown defense was called upon early in the game, as senior quarterback Alex Himes was intercepted on the second play of the opening drive. But the defense responded, stopping Woodrow short on a 4th and one at midfield, forcing a punt.
MHS opened the scoring on the following drive as AJ Thomas scored from three yards away.
After a three-and-out gave MHS the ball back on offense, the Flying Eagles (6-5) came up with a defensive stop of their own on 4th and inches with 2:30 left in the first quarter.
Once again, the Morgantown defense forced a fourth down, but Woodrow ran a successful fake punt to the MHS 20 and scored a field goal to cut the lead to 7-3.
Thompson scored his first touchdown of the night on the next drive, as MHS went ahead 14-3. However, Beckley responded on the first play of the ensuing drive as quarterback Matthew Price found Andre Thomas for an 80-yard touchdown.
The Mohigans ended the half with an impressive drive that spanned nearly five minutes. Remington Hawkins found the endzone from 15 yards away this time as the hosts extended their lead 21-10 into the locker room.
“I thought we were physical but wasn’t particularly happy with how we played up front on offense,” Biser said. “But when we needed to run the ball, we were able to do that, and I was happy with the overall effort against the athletes that Woodrow has.”
The Mohigans held Beckley scoreless in the second half as Thompson added his second and third rushing scores of the night in the fourth quarter.
“I didn’t play football last season, so this is a great feeling,” Thompson said. “I wasn’t expecting to carry the ball as much as I did coming into the game, but this game and this team is all about staying ready for when your number is called and trying to make an impact when you have the opportunity.”
Kickoff between No. 2 Spring Mills and No. 7 Morgantown in the Class AAAA quarterfinals is to be determined. This story will be updated.
BOX SCORE
Woodrow Wilson 0 10 0 0 – 10
Morgantown 7 14 0 14 – 35
SCORING SUMMARY
MHS – Thomas 3 run (Stire kick)
MHS – Thompson 1 run (Stire kick)
WW – Thomas 80 pass from Price (Radford kick)
MHS – Hawkins 15 run (Stire kick)
WW – Radford 29 FG
MHS – Thompson 3 run (Stire kick)
MHS – Thompson 1 run (Stire kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Woodrow Wilson – Ray 14-51, Ford 7-16, Stewart 3-40, Reeves 1-2, Staples 1-2, Price 2-(-14); Morgantown – Thompson 21-49 3TD, Thomas 12-52 TD, Twigg 10-83, Hawkins 9-61 TD, Wells 3-1, Himes 2-8, Lockett 1-30.
PASSING: Woodrow Wilson – Price 4/14 96 TD; Morgantown – Twigg 3/4 51, Himes 0/1 0.
RECEIVING: Woodrow Wilson – Thomas 2-89 TD, Stewart 1-9, Burdette 1-(-2); Morgantown – Cooper 2-34, Savage 1-17.
