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West Virginia All-Stars Defeat Ohio, 26-6

Score 19 Straight In Second Quarter

Photo by Joe Lovell West Virginia’s Cole Day (1) of Parkersburg South tries to make a get around Ohio’s Demitree Turner (7) of Union Local.

By KIM NORTH

For the News-Register

WHEELING — West Virginia continued its recent dominance in the OVAC Rudy Mumley All-Star Football Game Saturday night with a convincing, 26-6, shellacking of Ohio in the 71st edition at steamy Wheeling Island Stadium.

The Mountaineers overcame a 3-0 deficit after 12 minutes by scoring 19 consecutive second-quarter points and never looked back. They intercepted three passes in the first half —  four in the game — and capitalized on two of the picks.

“Our defense played outstanding,” West Virginia head coach Chris Daugherty said. “We were able to capitalize on a couple of their mistakes.

“It was a classic all star game,” he added. “There were big plays and bad plays, but overall I was pleased.”

With the second straight blowout victory, West Virginia cuts the all-time record to 43-27 in favor of the Buckeyes.

“Whenever we started to get a drive going it was one little hiccup after another,” Ohio head coach Kevin Gunn said. “They were able to capitalize upon our mistakes and we couldn’t do the same on theirs.”

Ohio took a 3-0 lead on a 37-yard field goal by Cambridge’s Adam Fox at the 5:30 mark of the opening quarter.

It capped a drive that saw the Buckeyes have first-and-goal at the 13, but they had to settle for the three-pointer when Brooke’s Matthew Lazear sacked Meadowbrook quarterback Dalton Wiggins for an 8-yard loss on third-and-9.

West Virginia came right back as Weir’s Kameron Davis returned the ensuing kickoff 38 yards to the 40. After losing a dozen yards on first down, Morgantown quarterback Zayne Hern found Magnolia tight end Kyle Ritz for a 30-yard gain as the Blue Eagles standout made a nifty diving catch.

The Mountaineers found themselves with a fourth-and-2 from the Ohio 13, but the Buckeyes jumped offsides to give West Virginia a first-and-goal at the 8. Brooke’s Justin Loughrie swept around his right end and used a superb block by Linsly’s Cole Griffin to reach the end zone. The two-point run was stuffed, but the Mountaineers had a 6-3 lead with 11:52 on the second-quarter clock.

On Ohio’s second play following the touchdown, John Marshall’s Austin Skrzyneki came out of a jump-ball with an interception, returning it to midfield.

Daugherty didn’t waste any time in going for it all as Valley quarterback Trey Streets lofted a strike down the left sidelines to Parkersburg South’s wide-open Cole Day for a 47-yard pickup. On third-and-goal, Streets followed his blocking up the middle from five yards out. Wheeling Park’s Chase Adams split the uprights for a 13-3 advantage with 9:08 remaining in the first half.

On the touchdown run, however, Davis suffered a serious ankle injury and was taken from the field on a stretcher. There was no word on his condition.

Disaster struck Ohio four plays later as Steubenville Central quarterback Tony Barber has a pass attempt deflected by Magnolia’s Zach Haught, which conveniently fell into the arms of Wheeling Park defensive end Richard Blackwell at the Buckeyes’ 30.

John Marshall’s Chase Gump rumbled for a dozen yards on first down, but the Ohio defense stiffened and forced a fourth-and-8 from the 16. Streets, who was named the West Virginia’s MVP for his performance, found Day in the back righthand corner of the end zone. Day went high in the air and came down with a magnificent one-handed grab while keeping his feet inbounds. The PAT was blocked, but West Virginia had mounted a 19-3 margin.

Ohio, which was held to a meager five yards passing on nine completions, managed a little more offense in the second half. However, it would only account for three more points — those on a booming 40-yard field goal by the strong-legged Fox.

The Buckeyes would collect a pair of fumble recoveries in the third quarter, but couldn’t punch the ball in the end zone against the tough-as-nails West Virginia defense.

Loughrie found himself wide open over the middle early in the fourth quarter and Streets delivered a strike to complete a 66-yard scoring play. Adams’ placement made it 26-6.

Lazear had another interception for West Virginia, while Skrzyneki finished with two.

Streets completed all but one of his eight passes for 152 yards and the two scores. He also ran half-a-dozen times for team-high 25 stripes and the aforementioned six-pointer.

“Tremendous athlete,” Daugherty said of Streets. “He’s one heckuva athlete and I’m glad he was on our team.”

Hern completed 7-of-9 passes for 76 yards as West Virginia threw for 228 while running for 78.

Caldwell’s Tanner Clark gave Ohio a shot in the arm when he was inserted at quarterback. He ran for a game-best 68 stripes on 13 carries, with 63 of those coming after the halftime festivities in which Cameron’s Maddie Ross was crowned Queen of Queens. Harrison Central’s Travis Stenson and Martins Ferry’s Andrew Hython evenly divided 54 yards rushing.

“The kids played hard,” Gunn added. “Yes, we lost the game which we would’ve liked to win, but the bottom line is these kids bonded with each other. Everyone wants to win, but I’m still proud of them.”

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