West Virginia tops Ohio in BACF game

Jun 3, 2023

Philip Barbour's Dashwn Webster (44) carries the ball for the West Virginia All-Stars during Friday night's Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis Football Classic. West Virginia won, 34-25.(Photo by Randall Jett)

ST. MARYS — Ohio struck first in the 28th Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis Football Classic here Friday night inside Bill Hanlin Stadium, but West Virginia scored 24 unanswered points en route to a 34-25 victory, which snapped the Buckeyes’ four-game winning streak.

Philip Barbour's Richard Webster amassed 130 of his game-high 179 rushing yards in the second half and tallied a trio of touchdowns. The Mountain State upped its series lead to 16-12 and it was the second career win in the all-star event for Doddridge County head coach Bobby Burnside.

"Before the game started, we won because our team brought in a record number of money for cystic fibrosis," said coach Burnside, who watched Bulldog signal-caller Trenton Huffman hit 6 of 12 attempts for 93 yards with two of those going to teammate Seth Richards for 42 stripes.

"This (the win) was icing on the cake. I’m glad they were rewarded with a victory because they had been very committed to practice. Some of them traveled a long way. It took great effort. They hit some big long pass plays to keep them in the game, but we battled hard."

The W.Va. defense, which allowed 309 yards while gaining 370, forced a three-and-out as Ohio took the opening kick. However, head coach Mike Flannery of River went straight to his bag of tricks on fourth-and 4 from their own 25.

Conner Imboden of Meigs faked the punt and took off running. He gained 10 yards and the Buckeyes marched down the field and found paydirt.

With the ball near midfield, Waterford quarterback Jake Pantelidis found River's River Thompson for a 13-yard gain. The QB then had a 26-yard keeper to get his team into the red zone. Although Parkersburg South's Brayden Whipkey had a tackle for loss against Bellaire's Brayden Roth to force a third-and-11, Pantelidis tossed a floater to the back of the end zone that Thompson was able to haul in. Fort Frye's Zaiden Huck booted the extra point for the 7-0 lead at the 6:26 mark.

Things were looking good for the Buckeyes when Fort Frye's Caleb Riggs sacked Huffman to force another three-and-out. However, Ohio wasn't able to move the ball and had to punt. That quickly turned into disaster as Mount View's Jaylen Hall fielded it and darted 59 yards for a touchdown. It was 7-7 with 3:33 showing on the clock after Bridgeport's Taylor Thomas kicked the extra point.

"That bounce, I caught it and looked to the right. I had an alley and I took it," Hall said. "This was a really good experience.

"We raised the most amount of money and it's for a really good cause. It was good to break their four-game streak."

Roane County's Christian Jarvis registered a sack on third down to force an Ohio punt on its ensuing series.

W.Va. made its initial first down of the game when Huffman found ‘Dog teammate Gabe Stewart for a gain of 10 yards. Huffman's 33-yard completion to St. Marys’ Joey Ramsey, who had a game-high 56 yards receiving on a quartet of catches, gave the hosts a first-and-10 at the Ohio 26. Roane County's Skyler Delk gained 2 yards on first down and on the next play Webster took a direct snap and went 24 yards for the six-pointer to give the Mountaineers the lead for good, 14-7, with 10:38 remaining in the half.

Williamstown's Harbor Haught combined on consecutive plays with Whipkey and Mount View's Chris Goins on sacks of Eastern's Brady Yonker, which forced another punt.

Lincoln quarterback Nick Kellar, who rushed nine times for 61 stripes, had a pair of 9-yard runs. Parkersburg's Logan Hartshorn had a 3-yard gain for a first down to get W.Va. into the red zone, but the Buckeye defense held. Thomas split the uprights from 36 yards away to make it 17-7 with 3:56 to go.

The Mountaineers’ defense continued its pressure on the next series. Ritchie County's Austin Bartlett had a sack on third down and Flannery's squad was forced to punt again.

A 33-yard Huffman to Richards crossing pattern put the ball at the Ohio 21. On the next play, Webster got the snap in the Wildcat, made it to the sideline and then lowered his shoulders inside the 5 as he plowed through Buckeye defenders and reached the end zone. Thomas’ kick was true and Ohio, which allowed another sack to Goins on its next series, trailed 24-7 at intermission.

The hosts picked up a trio of first downs to open the third quarter, but Huffman was picked off by River's Brody Lollathin, who had five grabs for 54 yards.

Facing a fourth-and-8 at the W.Va. 32, Pantelidis was able to find Thompson for a 27-yard completion. After a pair of 2-yard runs by Roth, Pantelidis bulled into the end zone, but the extra point failed as Ohio trailed 24-13 with 5:43 left in the third.

Hall had a key 49-yard kickoff return, but the Ohio defense forced another field goal from Thomas, who was true from 37 yards out as W.Va. extended its advantage to 14.

Doddridge County's Adam Burnside and Parkersburg South's Demetrius Gearheart combined for a sack on Pantelidis to force a fourth-and-7 at the Buckeye 45. Coach Flannery didn't blink and went for it. The result was a 55-yard catch-and-run touchdown pass from Pantelidis to Imboden. The two-point conversion pass fell incomplete, but the Buckeyes only trailed 27-19 with just a dozen ticks gone in the fourth.

Following a missed field goal by Thomas and a Buckeye punt, the Mountaineers took over at their own 37 with 9:03 to go. Webster, who was lined up as a tailback, then had a wild 41-yard gallop where he zigged and zagged before running out of bounds at the 18. Three plays later, Webster took a toss sweep left and found the end zone from 10 yards out. Thomas made the PAT and Ohio found itself down 34-19 with just 6:28 to play.

Down but not out, the Buckeyes again found themselves facing a fourth-and-4 at their own 46. That didn't prove to be a problem as Pantelidis, who had 16 rushes for 71 yards, found Lollathin for a 44-yard gain. Pantelidis then had a 9-yard run and bulled in from the 1 with 2:56 to go. However, Huck's extra point drilled the left upright to set the final score with 2:56 remaining. Ohio tried an onsides kick, but touched the ball after it went 9 yards.

"When we hit that last field goal and made it a two-score game we thought ‘OK, get a couple stops and clock will be out’ but they hit a couple long plays," coach Burnside added. "We had to answer and we did.

"It was a critical moment for us. When they hit that last long pass to set up that touchdown, the kid (Adam) Angel (of Cameron) brought a lot of pressure and almost blocked the kick, and kept it a two-score game."

When asked about his crazy 41-yard run Webster replied "my tank was empty. The guys on the sideline said they were pressing the turbo button, but it wasn't kicking in. I was definitely tired."

As far as the experience of playing in the game?

"Amazing," added the now ex-Colt. "It gives me chills just thinking about it already. It's been amazing, honestly, to be with a great group of kids. Phenomenal honestly. It was a great experience."

Pantelidis finished 9 of 16 passing for 188 yards. Imboden (2-54) and Thompson (3-54) joined Lollathin as his top targets.

"It was great preparation," Pantelidis said. "The coaches were really great. I loved what they ran on offense and defense. It was an honor to play with them. Cystic fibrosis is a really bad thing. We talked to one little girl and I felt really bad when they were talking about the symptoms and what happens with life expectancy and all that, but I’m glad we had a lot of people here, and raised a lot of money. It's a great cause and hopefully they find a cure. It's an honor to play in this game and I’m really glad I played in it."

Contact Jay Bennett at [email protected]

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