Warriors roll over Chargers, 41-6,

The Pocahontas County High School Warriors gave their neighbors from Bath County an inhospitable welcome Friday night with a 41-6 drubbing at Warrior Field.

Both defenses played well in the first quarter and the Chargers even got a takeaway on a fumble midway through the quarter. Fans could be forgiven for thinking it was going to be a typical, low-scoring defensive battle between the two rivals. But the Warriors’ outstanding play on the offensive and defensive lines wore down their interstate opponents, allowing Pocahontas to blow the game open with four unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter:

• Wyatt Workman scored on a one yard QB keeper
• Morgan Mason scored on a five-yard TD rush
• J.D. Hensler caught a 33-yard TD pass from Workman
• Dalton Irvine scored on a one-yard rush after a pass to Stephen Simmons put the ball on the two.
• Simmons was 4-4 in extra point kicks
• The Pocahontas defense allowed one yard of total offense in the first half
• Pocahontas compiled 252 yards in total offense in the first half

In the second half, Pocahontas continued their domination. Hensler scored his second TD of the game in the third quarter with a 44-yard TD catch from Workman. A Simmons extra-point gave the Warriors a 35-0 lead.

Despite the enormous deficit, the Chargers would not surrender and sustained a drive early in the fourth quarter, hitting paydirt on a one-yard TD rush at 9:45 in the final frame.

With four minutes remaining,  the Warriors inserted younger players and allowed others to play different roles. Freshman Morgan Baldwin got some playing time at the QB position. Freshman Michael Morrison seized the opportunity and showed off great speed on offense and defense. The freshman rushed for 26-yards to carry the Warriors inside Charger territory. On a first down at the Bath 30, Morrison broke through the middle and ran left for a 30-yard TD. A two-point attempt failed. Final score, 41-6.

Justin Hedrick, Nash Rose, Chad Burns, Brady Jones and Danny Kimble completely dominated their counterparts on the offensive and defensive lines throughout the game. Workman extended his streak to six games with a TD pass.

With the victory, the Warriors even their record at 3-3. Bath County falls to 0-6. The Warriors host the Cavaliers of Greenbrier West on Friday night. West is 4-1 overall and ranked #5 in the state. The victory over the Chargers moved Pocahontas up in the rankings to #22 in the state. Complete standings can be found at: http://wvtailgatecentral.com/hs/fb2014/showstandings_A.php

Correction: In last week’s football article, it was reported that Steve Shaver is head coach of the Chargers. In fact, Will Fields is the Charger head coach.