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HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
Parkersburg pastes HHS
Huntington High wide receiver Chase Baker (80) drags a Parkersburg defender after a reception during their game on Friday, September 18, 2009, at Bob Sang Field.
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HUNTINGTON -- Parkersburg played a half without standout running back Allan Wasonga, but still left the field up 21-17 on Huntington High at the break.
Wasonga, 5-foot-10, 200-pound junior, got cleared to play in the second half and wasted little time making his typical impact. He carried four straight times to take the Big Reds on a 42-yard scoring drive, getting the last 10 for the score. His numbers for the third period added up to nearly 150 yards and two more scores. Add a TD on the first possession in the fourth and his night was over and the Big Reds rolled to a 63-24 victory over the Highlanders on Friday night at Bob Sang Field.
"We wanted to keep an eye on him," Big Reds coach Bernie Buttrey said of Wasonga, the transfer from Point Pleassant. "It was a tendon in his hand. The trainer said he was good to go. We needed him. It was good we could hold him out. He was fresh."
Wasonga piled up 235 yard on 16 carries to go along with four touchdowns. He wasn't the only big gun for the Big Reds, who got big games from quarterback Derek Wenzel and wide receiver Stephen Roush. Wenzel tossed two touchdown passes in the first half, one a 71-yarder to Roush on Parkersburg' first play, and Chad Collins, who started in place of Wasonga, ran 36 yards for a TD.
While the Big Reds saw their offense roll in the second half, the Highlanders failed to keep pace. Brandon Eubank's 80-yard kickoff return in the third period was the only Huntington score in the second half.
"We couldn't get into a track meet," first-year Highlanders coach Billy Seals said. "They're better than we are. We've got to be realists. We got out butt kicked. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. They did whatever they wanted in the second half."
Wenzel completed 11-of-17 passes for 265 yards and three scores and Roush hauled in nine passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns. The Big Red had 605 total yards.
"I've got a lot of faith in Chad," Buttrey said. "We've been trying to get that Wenzel-to-Roush connection going for two years. I happy for them and proud of them."
As for Wasonga, Buttrey said, "He's really good. He's big time, but I don't want to make like too much of that. He's got strength, vision and speed. He's a great weapon."
Despite the final margin, Buttrey said Huntington's spread offense gave his Big Reds fits. He hopes to iron some things out before Beckley visits next Friday.
"Everybody's running the spread now," he said. "It's hard to defense. They were still moving the ball. The fact we were scoring made it harder on them to recover mentally. Our defense is getting better."
Huntington quarterback Tyler Hutchinson completed 20-of-33 for 240 yards, including a 71-yard strike to Eubank on the first possession of the game.
"We'll keep working to get better," Seals said. "We've played three pretty tough teams." The Highlanders (0-3) lost to South Charleston and Spring Valley prior to Friday. They are home next week against Riverside.
PARKERSBURG 14 7 28 14 -- 63
HUNTINGTON 7 10 7 0 -- 24
H -- Eubank 72 pass from Hutchison (St. Clair kick)
P -- Roush 71 pass from Wenzel (Lantz kick)
P -- Collins 36 run (Lantz kick)
H -- Hutchison 1 run (St. Clair kick)
P -- Gibson 36 pas from Wenzel (Lantz kick)
H -- St. Clair 37 FG
P -- Wasonga 10 run (Lantz kick)
P -- Wasonga 69 run (Lantz kick)
H -- Eubank 80 kickoff return (St. Clair kick)
P -- Roush 23 pass from Wenzel (Lantz kick)
P -- Wasonga 10 run (Lantz kick)
P -- Wasonga 58 run (Lantz kick)
P -- Shank 11 run (Lantz kick)
P HHS
First downs 26 18
Total Net Yards 605 342
Rushes-yards 36-340 29-102
Passing 265 240
Punt Returns 2-38 2-2
Kickoff Returns 5-49 9-212
Interceptions Ret. 0-0 0-0
Comp-Att-Int 11-17-0 20-33-0
Sacked-Yards Lost 0-0 0-0
Punts 3-34.3 6-43.2
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 5-2
Penalties-Yards 7-64 8-66
Time of Possession 23:52 24:08
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Parkersburg, Wasonga 16-235, Collins 7-64, D. Shank 3-18, Gherke 1-12, Ash 1-5, Roush 1-4, Wenzel 5-4, H. Shank 2-minus 2. Huntington, Hutchison 11-47, Felder 9-40, Easthom 5-17, Hayes 1-4, Marable 1-2, Eubank 1-minus 3, Shackelford 1-minus 5.
PASSING--Parkersburg, Wenzel 11-17-0, 265. Huntington, Hutchison, 20-33-0, 240.
RECEIVING--Parkersburg, Roush 9-225, Gibson 1-36, Zickefoose 1-4. Huntington, Eschleman 6-73, Eubank 5-94, Baker 4-44, K. Hayes 3-25, T. Hayes 2-4.
