Warriors crush Tygarts Valley, 44-6

The Pocahontas County Warriors hosted the Tygarts Valley Bulldogs for their Homecoming football game on Friday night. The 44-6 victory for the Warriors was entirely predictable.

Pocahontas came into the game with a 3-4 record, but clearly a much better team than those numbers indicate. The Warriors played very competitively but came away with losses against some of the state’s highest-ranked teams, including #7 Greenbrier West (7-21), #8 Pendleton County (14-28), #12 Moorefield (14-20) and #13 East Hardy (12-13). The Bulldogs have won just four games in the past five seasons – all of those wins having come against Hundred.

As usual, the Bulldogs played hard, but were outmanned and outgunned by the talented Warriors. PCHS junior RB/LB Dalton Irvine accounted for four TD’s, including rushing TDs of 40, 36 and two yards, and a 44-yard touchdown pass on a halfback option to Cary Robertson late in the first half. PCHS sophomore QB Wyatt Workman opened the scoring for PCHS with a 40-yard TD pass to J.D. Hensler four minutes into the game. Sophomore RB Morgan Mason scored a 10-yard rushing TD midway through the second quarter.

PCHS senior Stephen Simmons kicked a field goal in the second half and three good extra points. The scrappy Bulldogs blocked two extra point attempts and got on the scoreboard with a TD in the third quarter.

The Warriors improve to 4-4 with the win and jump up two spots to #21 in the state. The Bulldogs fall to 0-8.

The Warriors have another opportunity to upset a highly-ranked team this Friday night, when they host the #9 Man Hillbillies at Warrior Field. Game time forecast calls for partly cloudy skies, temps in the 50s and a 10-percent chance of rain. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

See Thursday’s print edition for a full game report, including game and season statistics from Mike Simmons.