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Weir Downs Nicholas Co.

Photo by Andrew Grimm Weir’s Sebastian Spencer carries the ball during a West Virginia Class AA state quarterfinal game.

SUMMERSVILLE — When a team has as many weapons as Weir, it becomes hard for opponents to stop them all.

After watching teammates Sebastian Spencer and Tyler Komorowski go off in the playoff opener, Donavan Kirby decided it was his turn as he racked up 230 rushing yards and four touchdowns to help lead the Red Riders to a 63-43 victory over Nicholas County in the Class AA quarterfinals on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

“He is a beast,” Weir coach Tony Filberto said of Kirby. “(Saturday) he was (the difference maker). It’s kind of funny because last week, he was semi quiet because they defended him, but it helped our passing game.

“We have the capability that, if you take away the run, we are going to throw it. If you take away the throw, we are going to run it down inside.

“We felt that was a very good football team, but we felt we had some mismatches in places. We are very pleased with the performance of Kirby and everybody around him. Our offensive line did a great job.”

Three of his scores, on runs of 45, 3 and 22 yards, came in the second half to help Weir (10-2) build a big lead and leave the Grizzlies’ home turf with a ticket to the state semifinals.

It was no surprise to Nicholas County coach Gene Morris, who’s team suffered its first loss to finish at 11-1.

“They’ve got Kirby and Spencer,” Morris said. “You try to stack the box to stop Kirby, and Spencer can pull the ball down and take off around the edge. They spread it out pretty good, and we had a little trouble.

“I give them a lot of credit. Kirby is a heck of a running back. Komorowski does a great job as well. We just couldn’t cover everything.”

Spencer and Komorowski still did their part. Spencer showed once again he is a triple threat, rushing for two scores and catching a touchdown, while also completing 5 of 10 passes for 44 yards.

He ran for 120 yards, while his lone catch was a 21-yard score from Komorowski, who went 2 of 2 in limited time at quarterback for 27 yards.

“I thought our kids gave a total team effort against a very good football team,” Filberto said. “This performance here was just terrific.”

Special teams also made a difference for the Red Riders, providing a big turning point early in the fourth quarter. Just as it appeared Nicholas County was gaining some momentum after making it a one-score game, the Grizzlies muffed a punt at the 13-yard line and Weir recovered. Two plays later, Kirby powered in from the 3.

Special teams also provided the Red Riders a big step in putting the game on ice, as the unit blocked a Grizzlies punt in the end zone and Garet Hostuttler — who also ran for a score in the first half — pounced on the loose ball with 6:43 to go in the game. That made it 49-27 Weir.

“The blocked punt for a touchdown just buried them at that point,” Filberto said. “It was very big. Absolutely (the recovery on the fumbled punt) was a big moment. I think they deflated a little at that time.”

After that, things got chippy. Both teams totaled nearly 150 yards in penalties, including eight personal fouls (four on each team) in the second half. Multiple 15-yarders came on a kick return with less than two minutes to play when some pushing and shoving broke out. An ejection was announced, but no player was named and neither coach was clear on who it was afterwards.

The scuffle came after Weir took a 63-35 lead on a 47-yard Spencer run.

“It is a shame,” Filberto said. “We will watch the film and see what it was that got it out of hand. It is high school kids playing a game. You hope you keep it in that prospective. I wish it could have played out as a very fair game out on the field with the kids having fun.”

In addition to the penalties, the game also featured a ton of offense as Weir finished with 430 yards while the Grizzlies totaled 471, led by a 200-yard rusher of its own in Jacob O’Dell. He hit 200 on the dot with four scores on 24 carries. Quarterback Jared Sagraves threw for 249 yards on 13 of 20 passing.

The Red Riders will face top-seeded Fairmont Senior, who defeated Point Pleasant 66-13 on Saturday. That day and time of that game will be officially announced today.

The undefeated Polar Bears handed Weir a 43-13 defeat at East-West Field on Oct. 5.

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