Cailey Moore
Staff Writer
The Pocahontas County High School Warriors played their third home game in a row Friday night taking on the Pendleton County Wildcats.
The Warriors were the first to make an appearance on the board with a TD pass from QB Wyatt Workman to WR Dalton Irvine.
Workman passed across the middle to Irvine – who was met by the Wildcats’ defense and broke free of their tackle – before charging into the end zone, securing an early 7-0 lead for the Warriors.
Nearing the end of the first quarter, the Wildcats gained possession of the ball on a 24-yard run.
Taking advantage of a weakness on the Warriors’ right side, the Wildcats set up for a punt, but faked to, Pendleton junior Trey Cooper, who carried it for a first down.
With 1:50 left and the Wildcats on the 1-yard line, Pendleton QB Luke Cooper squeezed through a left-side hole in the Warriors’ defense for the Wildcats’ first TD of the night. A two-point conversion attempt was blocked by Warrior OLB Cade Walker, leaving the score 7-6 in the Warriors’ favor.
At 5:25 in the second quarter, Warrior WR J.D. Hensler punted the ball from the 39-yard line for a coffin corner. The ball landed on the three-yard line, bounced and rolled to the one-yard line where two Warriors downed it.
The Warriors reined in another TD when RB Logan Davis hauled in a pass from Workman before being tackled in the end zone. The point after kick veered too far left, but the Warriors increased their lead to 13-6.
With less than a minute left in the half, Cooper made a deep pass down the middle to teammate Logan Cooper for a TD. A flag was thrown on the Wildcats’ two-point conversion, and their next play was stopped by the Warrior defense – bringing the score to 13-12.
The third quarter saw the Warriors gain two TDs – the being Workman’s QB sneak up the middle and into the end zone. The kick was blocked by Wildcat Austin Simmons, bringing the score to 19-12.
With 1:44 left in the third, Workman faked to the right and launched the ball downfield where Irvine hauled it in for the final TD of the night. Following Irvine’s 69-yard TD, Workman and Davis successfully executed a two-point conversion and raised the score to 27-12.
Each team kept the other from scoring in the fourth and continued to trade plays until the clock expired.
The Warriors play their first away game of the season Friday night against East Hardy. The Cougars dominated Page County (Virginia) Panthers, 62-18, in week one and defeated the Frankfort Falcons, 42-14, in week two.
Last season, East Hardy finished 8-5 and advanced to the state semifinals, where they fell 42-22 to the Williamstown Yellowjackets.
Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.