MORGANTOWN — It was a bad night to be a defender at Mylan Pharmaceutical Stadium on Friday as Parkersburg South and University combined for 106 points and 1,187 yards as the Patriots won 72-34 on Baker’s Ridge.
Parkersburg South’s Gage Wright staked an early claim to be named the state’s top player as he carried the ball 16 times for 376 yards and four touchdowns and also made a 28-yard touchdown reception.
“The Kennedy Award winner in my opinion,” UHS coach John Kelley said of Wright. “He’s a fabulous athlete and we had no answer for him. Everytime he touched the ball he scored. We didn’t tackle and every time he had the opportunity to tackle, he ran right through it.”
The Patriots (2-0) scored on every possession in the first half, building a 20-0 lead that ballooned to 44-20 at halftime.
The Hawks (1-1) showed some life to start the third quarter, parlaying a turnover on downs into a 23-yard touchdown pass from Luke Hudson to Ethan Jackson that cut the lead to 44-27. The Hawks then forced a punt and were primed to score again until the Patriots’ Eli Bartley intercepted a Hudson pass at the six-yard line.
“I thought we came out in the third quarter and competed really well and made it a little bit of a football game,” Kelley said. “But you can’t give up that kind of yardage to a team and expect to win.”
That was as close as UHS would get it as Parkersburg South went on to score 14 points in each of the final two quarters to pull away for the 72-34 final.
In addition to Wright, PS quarterback Turner Garretson carried the ball 14 times for 154 yards and a touchdown and completed 11 of 18 passes for 258 yards and four more scores. Triston Walker caught six passes for 176 yards and two scores.
For UHS, Hudson finished 21 of 41 for 390 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions and was sacked three times. Jackson made seven receptions for 107 yards and three scores while John Coleman had seven catches for 119 yards and a touchdown and Kaleil Lewis finished with three catches for 97 yards.
But, the Hawks had negative four rushing yards and were thoroughly beaten at the line of scrimmage all game.
“Luke had big numbers, he stood in there and took a beating and did a great job throwing it,” Kelley said. “And our receivers are fabulous but we’ve got to get some balance in our offense and our defense has to tackle better and be a little tougher.”
University will look to bounce back next week with a road game at Brooke, who has opened the season 2-0.
Parkersburg South 72, University 34
PS 20 24 14 14 — 72
UHS 6 14 7 7 — 34
Scoring Summary
1Q
PS — Wright run 20 (run fail)
PS — Walker pass 78 from Garretson (Thompson kick)
PS — Forshey pass 14 from Garretson (Thompson kick)
UHS — Jackson pass 27 from Hudson (kick miss)
2Q
PS — Wright run 47 (kick miss)
UHS — Lewis run 1 (Coleman kick)
PS — Walker pass 64 from Garretson (run fail)
UHS — Coleman pass 6 from Hudson (Coleman kick)
PS — Wright run 70 (run fail)
PS — Wright pass 28 from Garretson (pass fail)
3Q
UHS — Jackson pass 23 from Hudson (Coleman kick)
PS — Wright run 5 (Thompson kick)
PS — Forshey run 2 (Thompson kick)
4Q
UHS — Jackson pass 10 from Hudson (Coleman kick)
PS — Garretson run 66 (Thompson kick)
UHS — Riggs int ret 101 (Thompson kick)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING — PS: 37-543-6TD (Wright 16-376-4TD; Garretson 14-154-TD; Forshey 1-2-TD; Lauderman 3-12; Joyce 1-6; Hayes 1-(-18)). UHS: 20-(-4)-TD (Hudson 3-(-18); Blunt 1-(-4); M. Lewis 9-12-TD; Kehler 2-4; Snyder 1-(-3); Byrer 1-(-1); Weaver 3-15).
PASSING — PS: 11-18 258-4TD (all Garretson). UHS: 21-44 390-4TD-3INT (Hudson 21-41 390-4TD-2INT; Byrer 0-3 INT).
RECEIVING — PS: 11-258-4TD (Wright Fleak 1-19; Walker 6-176-2TD; Forshey 1-14-TD; Wright 1-28-TD; Bartley 1-(-11); Joyce 1-26). UHS: 21-390-4TD (Jackson 7-107-3TD; M. Lewis 2-13; Brown 1-24; Coleman 7-119-TD; Kehler 1-30; K. 3-97).
