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HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
Highlanders split games at Grid-O-Rama
CHARLESTON -- Huntington High tuned up for the football regular season Friday in the Mountain State Athletic Conference Grid-O-Rama at Laidley Field.
Huntington High won a scrimmage with Ripley, 21-10, and lost to Capital, 34-7, when the Highlanders rested standout quarterback C.J. Crawford and several other starting players.
The Highlanders open the season Aug. 29 at Woodrow Wilson.
"This was our first time out so we expected to make mistakes early," Huntington High coach Zach Wilson said. "We play Capital in three weeks so we didn't want to give our play calling away."
Huntington High started slow against Ripley before taking care of business.
The Highlander defense looked out of sync early in the first two-quarter scrimmage, allowing Ripley to march down and score on its first possession. A field goal gave the Vikings a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.
Huntington High's secondary appeared suspect on several occasions, allowing receivers to get wide open. The Highlanders didn't give up any big pass plays to the Vikings, but they did allow several first downs.
Crawford took every snap against Ripley. The senior lived up to his billing as the state's top college prospect, but not before struggling just like his entire team did early.
His first five passes fell incomplete. With the passing game non-existent, Crawford took things into his own hands and broke loose on the option for a 77-yard touchdown run.
Just like that, Huntington High cut the deficit to 10-7. The big play appeared to wake the Highlanders up and set the tone for the rest of the scrimmage.
Later in the second quarter Crawford and the passing game finally broke through, as he fired a 75-yard touchdown pass to Joey Christian.
Christian made up for dropping a throw by Crawford in the first quarter that had touchdown written all over it.
Late in the second quarter, the Highlanders finished Ripley off when Crawford bolted out to the right side and sprinted 27 yards for his second rushing touchdown.
Grid-O-Rama scrimmages are today for Lincoln County, Spring Valley and Cabell Midland. Admission is $7 for adults and $6 for students.
TODAY'S SCHEDULE
9 a.m., Lincoln Co. vs. South Charleston
10 a.m., St. Albans vs. Lincoln Co.
11 a.m., South Charleston vs. St. Albans
Noon, Princeton vs. Spring Valley
1 p.m., Spring Valley vs. Parkersburg
2 p.m., Princeton vs. Parkersburg
3 p.m., Greenbrier East vs. Riverside
4 p.m., Nitro vs. Greenbrier East
5 p.m., Riverside vs. Nitro
6 p.m., Cabell Midland vs. Hurricane
7 p.m., George Washington vs. Cabell Midland
8 p.m., Hurricane vs. George Washington
