BRIDGEPORT — The juggernaut that is the Bridgeport High School football team continued its blitzkrieg across the West Virginia landscape Friday night, its latest conquest being a 57-7 homecoming victory over Preston.
No. 2 Bridgeport, 8-0, will have two weeks now to prepare for the highly anticipated showdown with top-ranked Class AAA Fairmont Senior on Nov. 1 at East-West Stadium.
The unbeaten Polar Bears will also have two weeks to prepare for the clash on its home turf.
“This will be a time to rest and recover and at the same time get better,” Bridgeport coach Tyler Phares said following Friday’s victory. “It should be a great high school football game. The team that is disciplined and does the little things will be successful, and we want that team to be us.”
But at least for a weekend, Bridgeport players have the opportunity to savor a homecoming victory that was never in any doubt. The Indians scored quickly and often in the opening half to put the game on ice early.
Quarterback Jack Spatafore gave the Indians essentially all the points they would need less than two minutes into the game. The senior signal-caller bumped into a teammate in the backfield, but that would be about the only contact he would encounter on his way to paydirt, cruising 34 yards to the end zone. He completed a pass to Gavin Williams for the two-point conversion to give Bridgeport an early lead that it never relinquished.
Josh Love scored two touchdowns in the opening 12 minutes, the first coming on an 11-yard scamper and the latter coming three minutes later when he plowed straight ahead and met only token opposition at the goal line, which he quickly dispersed.
Spatafore added two more touchdowns to his credit in the second quarter, scoring on runs of four and nine yards. Alex Moses would also score twice in the second frame, the first coming on a sprint of 51 yards that was aided by a nice block from accompanying lineman Noah West, and the second on a run of 28 yards.
With the score being 50-0 at the intermission, the second half featured a number of reserve players from the Bridgeport roster gaining varsity experience during a time of a constantly running game clock. Preston would chalk up its only touchdown of the night in the third quarter when Drake Kelly scored from 12 yards out.
Bridgeport quickly answered back in the final quarter on an eight-yard run by Landon Gillum.
“I’m proud of the kids,” Phares said. “Homecoming is always a challenge, and I’m happy they were able to concentrate enough to be successful.”
Preston, 2-5, was paced by Slaton Manko, who rushed for 22 yards and threw for 86 yards. The Knights will travel to Morgantown Oct. 25 to take on Class AAAA University.
Spatafore completed all three of his passes for 59 yards, and he added another 66 yards on the ground. Love led all runners with 105 yards on just nine carries, all of which came in the first half. Graham Vincent ran for 88 yards in the second half for Bridgeport. Moses had two carries that garnered 79 yards. Cameron Martin pulled down two receptions for 32 yards, and Carter Zuliani had one catch that gained 27 yards.
Bridgeport finished the game with 470 yards of total offense, 411 of those yards coming via the ground game.
— Story by John Wickline (WV News)
