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Huntingdon Wins First State Football Title

Tagged under: Beyond The Keystone, Gameday Hub, News, Non-PIAA

| December 3, 2022

Wheeling – Huntingdon wins first state football championship.

“I’m happy for our kids. They deserve all the credit,” said Huntingdon head coach Billy Seals. “These kids stayed the course after we got beat here last year. We deserved to be back, and these guys deserved to win a championship.”

The Huntingdon Highlanders got defensive and shut down high-flying Parkersburg South 28-3 Saturday afternoon at Wheeling Island Stadium.

The Patriots came into the contest averaging over 53 points per game, but we were limited to only three points against the Highlanders.

“Today wasn’t our day. We caught a lot of tough brakes,” said Parkersburg South head coach Nathan Tanner. “I told the kids that if today is the worst day of their life, they’ll live a helluva life. These kids are not going to hang their heads. They’re among the best teams ever walking through our school.”

Huntingdon avenged a 62-21 loss to Martinsburg in last year’s 3A title game.

Following an interception by Duane Harris on Parkersburg South’s initial drive, the Highlanders drove downfield and faced a 4th-and-goal at the 3-yard line, where Gavin Lochow’s pass was batted down.

The Patriots then put the first points on the board on Miciah Jones’ 20-yard field goal with 1:11 to play in the first quarter, following a 93-yard drive that saw a 63-yard run by Cyrus Traugh.

Traugh rushed for 85 yards on five carries, while Gage Wright led the Patriots with 119 yards on 17 attempts. Robert Shockey completed 13-of-21 passes for 87 yards with an interception while rushing for 35 yards.

Huntingdon answered late in the first when they recovered a fumble at the Patriots 33-yard line with 1:54 to play in the first half.

Dayton commit Gavin Lochow then tossed a 7-yard touchdown pass to D’Edrick Graves with 16 seconds to play in the first half.

Lochow completed 10-of-19 passes for 77 yards with a touchdown and an interception while also rushing for 107 yards.

“We told the guys that we didn’t play well in the first half, but we’re up 7-3,” Seals said. “We had heard all week about their offense, and I challenged our defense, and those guys rose to the occasion today.”

Late in the third quarter, Zah’Trelious Jackson broke free for a 77-yard touchdown run. Jackson led the Highlanders with 161 yards on 16 carries.

 

Huntingdon increased their lead on their next drive as D’Edrick Graves scored his second touchdown on a 6-yard in the fourth quarter.

Parkersburg South had a chance to get themselves back in the game when Cyrus Traugh returned the ensuing kickoff to the Highlanders’ 25-yard line.

Two plays later, Jordan Price’s strip-sack of Shockey and recovery all but dashed the Patriots’ title hopes.

“It just felt like we couldn’t get out of our way today,” Tanner said. “We got behind the eight ball too often today, and when you play a great team like Huntingdon, you can’t do that. When they went up 14-3, I felt like we were still in the game, but ultimately we couldn’t capitalize on our opportunities.”

Huntingdon then put the exclamation point on their first state championship when Graves scored from 12 yards out with 3:55 to play. Graves rushed for 57 yards on seven carries.

 

Parkersburg South finished their season at 12-2.

Game Highlights:

 

Huntingdon 28 Parkersburg South 3

Score by Quarters

Huntingdon – 0 7 7 14 – 28
Parkersburg South – 3 0 0 0 – 3

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

PS – Miciah Jones 20 yd field goal, 1:11

Second Quarter

H – D’Edrick Graves 7 yd pass from Gavin Lochow, (Jonathan Aya-Ay pat), 0:16

Third Quarter

H – Zah’Trelious Jackson 77 yd run, (Aya-Ay pat), 1:35

Fourth Quarter

H – Graves 6 yd run, (Aya-Ay pat), 7:06

H – Graves 12 yd run, (Aya-Ay pat), 3:55

Individual Stats

Rushing: PS – Gage Wright 17-119, Robert Shockey 15-35, Cyrus Traugh 5-85. Totals: 37-239. H – Zah’Trelious Jackson 16-161, Lochow 17-107, Graves 7-57, Team 2-0. Totals: 42-325

Receiving: PS – Traugh 6-20, Triston Walker 2-16, Turner Garretson 2-10, Gage Wright 1-14, Tyler Hall 1-6, Mason Reams 1-21. H – Jackson 4-19, Duane Harris 3-25, Avonte’ Crawford 1-8, Graves 2-25.

Passing: PS – Shockey 13-for-21, 87 yards, 1 INT. H – Lochow 10-for-19, 77 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT.

Interceptions: PS – Walker. H – Harris.

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