Print |
E-mail to a friend
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Wayne handles visiting Keyser
WAYNE -- When a team travels almost six hours for its opening football game, one would think the polite thing to do would be to let them have the ball.
Friday night, Wayne was not a hospitable host on the field, defeating Keyser 22-0 at rainy Pioneer Field.
To give the game perspective, a simple look at total plays tells the story. Keyser ran just 34 plays from scrimmage, while Wayne snapped the ball 63 times.
In fact, the Pioneer rushing tandem of Corey Damron and Clyde Ferrell combined to have more carries than the Golden Tornado ran total plays.
"That's the way we like to play," Wayne coach Tom Harmon said. "It's not the easiest way to play because it doesn't allow a lot of room for error, but to win games late in the year, you have to execute.
"I thought we were missing at times in the first half, but we got things squared away at halftime."
After taking its opening possession to the Keyser 3-yard line, a fumble and a penalty backed the Pioneers up to force a 4th and goal at the 18, which Wayne did not convert.
But late in the first half, the Pioneers rode the back of its offensive line, with Damron finding the end zone from three yards out with 11:42 remaining in the first half, and a Jake Barr two-point conversion run gave Wayne an 8-0 lead.
In a matchup of a Keyser program that went undefeated in the 2008 regular season before falling in the Class AA quarterfinals and returned its entire offensive line, it was Wayne that won the battle in the trenches on both sides of the ball.
The Golden Tornado managed just four first downs and 94 yards of total offense in the game, and were shut out for the first time since the 2006 playoffs.
"I was tickled to death with our defense. Our coaches put together a great gameplan, and more importantly the kids listened and executed," Harmon said.
"Sometimes when you play defense, you're not sure what to expect from week to week. You've got to adjust and the kids just have to execute."
The Pioneers extended the lead to two scores, taking the opening possession of the second half 82 yards in a little more than five minutes, capped by an Adam Frazier 22-yard touchdown run on third and 21. A Ferrell two-point run made it 16-0.
Wayne sealed it when Barr burst through the middle for a 14-yard touchdown run midway through the final quarter.
Damron led all rushers with 150 yards on 21 totes, while Ferrell had his first career 100-yard game, going for 104 on 14 carries.
"I thought Wayne just played a little hungrier than we did. We didn't play with the fire we should have," Keyser coach Sean Biser said.
"I take my hat off to (Wayne), they're a great program. They did a great job tonight. They didn't do anything tonight we didn't think they were going to do. We just didn't stop what they were doing."
KEYSER 0 0 0 0 -- 0
WAYNE 0 8 8 6 -- 22
W-Damron 3 run (Barr run)
W- Frazier 22 run (Ferrell run)
W- Barr 14 run (pass failed)
K W
First Downs 4 24
Rushes-yards 26-65 56-384
Passing 4-8-0 2-7-0
Passing yards 29 39
Total offense 94 423
Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-0
Penalties 4-40 6-56
Punts 5-29.2 2-30.5
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Keyser: Kittrell 4-23, Pratt 4-18, Biser 5-11, Haggerty 3-7, Ross 9-4, Evans 1-2. Wayne: Damron 21-150, Ferrell 14-104, Frazier 10-65, Barr 4-32, Elliot 1-14, Adkins 1-11, Mills 3-9, Carroll 2-1.
PASSING -- Keyser: Pratt 3-5-0, 24 yards; Biser 1-3-0, 7 yards. Wayne: Frazier 2-6-0, 39 yards; White 0-1-0.
RECEIVING -- Keyser: Moats 1-11, Garland 1-7, Ross 1-6, Washington 1-5. Wayne: Mills 1-34, Merritt 1-5.
