Ohio escapes West Virginia 21-17

Tagged under: All-Stars, Beyond The Keystone, Game Photos

David Burnworth | July 28, 2019

Last night I made the 100 plus mile drive from my little village Buckeye Lake, Ohio to big Wheeling, West Virginia, to watch the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Annual Rudy Mumley All Star Football Game. The game itself pits Ohio versus West Virginia and is played like a playoff game. The rivalry carries over from the previous seasons and gives the crowd a lot to watch for. The stadium is large and has plenty of seating with all seats pretty good as far as seeing the game.
Ohio, opened the scoring on their opening drive and much to the surprise of the large West Virginia side, did so rather easily. The drive lasted for just six plays and totaled fifty four yards. The score was set up by a fine thirty five yard catch from Trent Valentine (Cambridge) on a nicely thrown ball from Brennon Norris (Indian Creek). The touchdown, came out of the wishbone formation and was on a three yard run to the left side of the defense by Connor Banco (Shadyside). The point after kick came off of the foot of Ian Phillips (Stuebenville) to give Ohio a 7-0 lead, with 9:38 remaining in the first.
The Ohio defense just missed an interception, when Erik Lulla (Steubenville) had a ball go off both of his hands, his chest before falling to the ground. Logan Wilson (Indian Creek) would get in the West Virginia backfield and sack Wyatt Hirt (Linsly), for an five yard loss to bring up a fourth and fifteen situation. Just thirty five seconds later Hirt would be pressured by Kwadre Williams (Steubenville) and Cole Laroche (Bellaire) forcing the Indiana University of Pennsylvania recruit to throw the ball away and give Ohio the ball right back.

Thanks to a stout effort from the West Virginia defense Ohio was able to do nothing with the ball. The big play for the Mountaineer defense was a sack from Bastian Gehrer (Linsly) on Norris. That play would force the Ohio team to punt, a punt that would carry to the West Virginia twenty four yard line. From there, Devaughn Mcwharter (Wheeling Park) would outrun the Ohio defense with ease and go seventy six yards for the score, then the point after kick from Jonah Phares (University) tied things up at seven, with 55.1 seconds left in the quarter.

In the 2nd quarter the action was electric at times from both teams and by both teams offensive and defensive units, with most of the action coming in the last 8:24. To get things started Hirt, who played the entire game at Quarterback even though West Virginia had four others list as a quarterback on the roster, connected with Anthony Robbins, on third and one for a eleven yard gain. Mcwharter would do his best Barry Sanders impression and bounce around like a pinball before out running the Ohio defense for a twenty five yard touchdown. The point after from Phares gave team West Virginia the 14-7 lead, with 7:51 left in the half.

The Ohio offense would cough up the ball on what looked like a quick snap or a misread fro the center, that caused Brady Kolb to be credited with a big loss, when he was tackled by Nick Defelice (Morgantown). The West Virginia offense would give the ball right back to the Buckeyes, when Hirt was picked off by Chase Chicwak (Shenandoah). Brady Kolb (St. Clairsville) would pick up thirteen yards to set up his thirty three yard touchdown run. The point after kick would tie this one up at fourteen, with 1:42 left. The half ended with a sack from Defelice on Davis Black (Meadowbrook) Black was one of the better quarterbacks I seen play in person last year and that covered 106 games.

The third quarter went by rather quickly and featured two plays that stuck out to me. The first came with 4:23 left and was a forty four yard catch from Jack Stakem (Wheeling Park), that set up a field goal from Phares, that gave West Virginia a 17-14 lead.
Now the last quarter was another action packed quarter, that gave the fans a lot of ups and downs, depending on which state you were rooting for. First, there was another pick by Ohio, at he 11:12 mark and that came from Lulla. Ohio would then pick up a first down, when Kolb picked up seven yards, on a fourth and one conversion. Kolb would pick up another nine yard down to the West Virginia fifteen. A quick snap or as a said earlier a misread by the center a short time later caused a direct snap to Kolb to be bobbled and recovered by Defelice, at the West Virginia eleven. The play had started on the West Virginia one. The Ohio defense once again picked off Hirt, doing the honors for Ohio was Cal Kildow (Union Local) at the 6:12 mark. Ohio would waste little time in scoring the winning points, with Black hitting Craig Bober (St. Clairsville) from twenty eight yards out. The point after kick would end the scoring and give the Buckeyes a 21-17 win. Logan Wilson (Indian Creek)would make the last big play for the Ohio defense, when he sacked Hirt.

UNOFFICIAL STATS
Ohio
68-Plays
286 Yards
Passing 12-20 1 TD

WV
62 Plays
384 Yards
Passing 12-24 3 Int’s