Photo by Kristin Mazgaj John Marshall running back Klypsan Wallace (28) tries to run through the tackle of University defender Ethan Jackson (9) Friday night.

MOUNDSVILLE — Mark Cisar’s first game as head coach of the John Marshall football team resulted in a narrow 16-14 setback to a talented University squad under the Friday night lights of Monarch Stadium.

However, the battle also gave the Monarchs a reason to believe in what lies ahead for the 2022 season.

John Marshall fell behind by nine at halftime but rallied and had the ball in the final minutes with an opportunity to string together a potential game-winning drive, but a turnover on downs sealed the season-opening victory for the Hawks.

“Hopefully now we know we are capable of playing with anybody,” Cisar said of his team. “I know they know that already. A lot of people counted us out (Friday) but our kids came out and showed that we have a pretty decent squad here. We’re going to hold our heads up, come back next week and get right back at it again to try to go 1-0. Everybody always talks about just having a chance at the end there and we did.”

Even University coach John Kelley saw the potential the Monarchs displayed on the gridiron.

“That was a war between the 20’s,” Kelley said. “Credit John Marshall. They were as physical as they could be and (JM quarterback Jacob) Coffield is as tough as I’ve ever seen. They got the running game established there in the second half and we were exhausted. Our kids were cramping and they were pounding us and doing a good job. We just did what we needed to do to win. It was a great football game and a good way to start the season.”

Two points made the difference in this nail-biting battle and a blocked punt for a safety proved to be the culprit.

After Brennan Sobutka and Jace Riding teamed up on defense to deliver a goal-line stand for JM, the Monarchs’ offense couldn’t get out of the shadow of the end zone. The Hawks stormed through the line and blocked the punt out of the back of the end zone for a safety to break a tie and take a 9-7 lead with 2:52 remaining in the first half.

“We had great special teams there to hurry that punt,” Kelley said. “Our kids were terrific and that was the difference in the game probably.”

It was John Marshall that started fast in the first quarter as it took its second drive of the game 86 yards to paydirt.

The TD march was sparked by 33 yards rushing by Coffield on four carries and 60 yards receiving by Wesley Hughes, which included a 20-yard touchdown pass from Coffield for a 7-0 upper hand.

The Hawks reeled off all 16 of their points in the second quarter.

University running back Avery Dalton broke a 55-yard run, leading to a 5-yard TD scamper from Noah Braham to even the score.

The safety came later in the stanza and with 7 seconds to go in the first half, University QB Luke Hudson found play-maker Jaeden Hammack for a 39-yard touchdown to give the Hawks momentum and a 16-7 cushion at the break.

Cisar and the Monarchs got the ground game rolling in a big way in the third quarter, led by sophomore running back Klypsan Wallace.

After garnering just four yards on three carries to that point, Wallace galloped for 55 yards on four carries to spark a 75-yard scoring drive to pull JM within 16-14 with 2:55 to play in the third quarter.

Wallace finished the game with 97 yards rushing on 14 touches, while Coffield finished the game with 94 yards through the air.

“We gutted it out,” Cisar said. “Our line in the second half played phenomenal, Klypsan ran the ball great in the second half and Jacob was hard-nosed the whole game. Our defense was also outstanding in the second half.”

It certainly was.

The Monarchs’ defense forced a fumble — a strip by Coffield — three punts and pitched a second-half shutout to give the offense a chance to win the game during its final drive.

Coffield and the offense showed signs of making a march to possibly set up a game-winning field goal by Conor Fitzpatrick but the drive stalled to put the finishing touches on Week 1 of high school football in West Virginia.

“I didn’t do a very good job in the first half of running the offense,” Cisar said. “I’m disappointed in that but I thought our kids played extremely hard and never gave up. They battled their butts off. We had a couple of bad drives where we went three-and-out and our defense was on the field way too long and that is my fault.

“I just love the effort though. From last year to right here, we just missed a couple of plays here and there. We had chances to do some things and we didn’t do them. We’ll just look at the film and go from there.”

University 16, John Marshall 14

Univ. 0 16 0 0 — 16

JM 7 0 7 0 — 14

J — Hughes 20 pass from Coffield (Fitzpatrick kick), 2:47

U — Braham 5 run (Coleman kick), 11:56

U — Blocked punt for safety, 2:52

U — Hammack 39 pass from Hudson (Coleman kick), :7

J — Wallace 14 run (Fitzpatrick kick), 2:55

Rushing: University 14-86-td (Hammack 1-0, A. Dalton 6-77, S. Dalton 4-9, Braham 1-5-td, Lewis 1-0, Team 1-(-4)); John Marshall 34-102-td (Coffield 20-5, Wallace 14-97-td).

Passing: University 18-32-224-td (all by Hudson); John Marshall 9-16-94-td-x (Coffield 9-15-td-x, Bren. Sobutka 0-1).

Receiving: University 18-224-td (Hammack 7-135-td, Jackson 2-23, Braham 1-0, Coleman 5-60, A. Dalton 3-6); John Marshall 9-94-td (Hughes 2-60-td, Brad. Sobutka 2-15, White 3-2, Collett 1-10, Wallace 1-7).

First Downs: University 11; John Marshall 13.

Penalties-Yards: University 3-25; John Marshall 8-50.

Fumbles-Lost: University 2-1; John Marshall 0-0.