MORGANTOWN — From Friday’s opening kick it was obvious that the night was going to belong to University High School’s football team.
UHS kicker John Coleman hit a line drive kick directly off the back of a Buckhannon-Upshur player and the Hawks (4-2) recovered. Eight plays later, Melique Lewis scored the first of his three touchdowns on the way to a 49-7 win over the Buccaneers (2-3).
“I would like to say we planned that,” UHS head coach John Kelley said of the opening kickoff. “Their kid just turned around too soon, and we hit him with the ball right off the bat and suddenly we have the ball.”
UHS forced four turnovers in the contest as the Hawks’ defense played its most complete contest of the year. University held the Buccaneers to 185 yards of total offense with 117 of those yards coming on two runs by B-U senior running back Savion Farmer.
“I thought our defense was really good,” Kelley said. “Believe it or not (B-U’s) offense scared me because it is very Bridgeportish and if they can get three or three and a half yards every time, I knew with some of those straight dives they were going to squirt one through there.”
B-U featured a T-Formation offense with some misdirection that can cause problems. Instead, it was the UHS defense that caused problems most of the night for the Buccaneers.
“It’s just a fact that we are so young,” B-U head coach Duane Stoeckle said. “At one point, we had four sophomores on the field and a freshman at quarterback. Our guys hung in there, and we did some good things for a play or there but trying to make any consistent plays against that defense was tough.”
With the Hawks playing their stingy defense, the offense was left with a short field most of the night. Lewis, a junior running back who is listed at 6-foot-0 and 260 pounds, finished with the three scores including a pair of 1-yard dives and a 10-yard bruising run.
“He’s kind of a combination of a bus, train and truck,” Kelley said. “He did some nice things for us in the ground game.”
Senior Noah Braham also had a good night for the Hawks on offense and defense. He finished with five catches for 54 yards and two touchdowns.
Braham, who has committed to play at WVU, also had the defensive play of the game when he drifted back in coverage and made an acrobatic interception.
“It’s always nice to score, but I feel like making a stop on defense is more impactful,” Braham said. “It really changes the flow of the games and gives us some momentum.”
Junior quarterback Luke Hudson was efficient for the UHS offense as he finished with 184 yards passing with three touchdowns. He connected with John Coleman on a 47-yard score and then added scoring throws of 4 and 12 yards to Braham. Landon Cool added a 29-yard fumble return for a score.
“I thought our defense was a little shaky at the beginning but then we solved it, and they really didn’t have a passing game,” Kelley said. “I thought we ran the ball well on off UHS and Luke threw some great passes and I though the offense line protected really well.”
Box score
B-U 0 0 0 7—7
UHS 14 21 14 0—49
SCORING SUMMARY
UHS–Melique Lewis 1 run (John Coleman kick)
UHS–Coleman 47 pass from Luke Hudson (Coleman kick)
UHS–Noah Braham 4 pass from Hudson (Coleman kick)
UHS–Braham 12 pass from Hudson (Coleman kick)
UHS–Landon Cool 29 fumble return (Coleman kick)
UHS–Lewis 10 run (Coleman kick)
UHS–Lewis 1 run (Coleman kick)
BU–Savion Farmer 61 run (Wyatt Mason kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: B-U–Farmer 17-166, Elijah Bryant 7-9, Bryson Johnston 6-16, James Tenney 2-(-17), Liam Garcia 1-2, Wyatt Morris1-8, Taiwo Thropp 1-4. UHS–Sebastian Dalton 7-57, Braham 1-0, Jaeden Hammack 1-1, Lewis 10-73, Braiden Snyder 2-4, Kylen Blunt 6-21.
PASSING: B-U–Tenney 3-10-1 (-3). UHS – Hudson 15-22-0 184.
RECEIVING: B-U–Farmer 3-(-3). UHS–Benny Carter 2-6, Hammack 3-39, Coleman 1-47, Braham 6-54, Cool 1-6, Dalton 1-4, Ethan Jorge 1-28.
— Story by Eric Herter
