BETHANY, W.Va. -Parkersburg South scored 33 first-half points here Friday night and hung on to top a game but outmanned Linsly Academy team, 33-19.
The Patriots, now 2-0 on the season, had a pair of 100-yard rushers as Jordan Quiocho accounted for 121 yards and Cody Hively had 107. Both also scored a pair of touchdowns, both of Hively's coming on the ground while Quiocho had one rushing TD and hauled in a 32-yard TD pass from quarterback Tyler Bolen on the final play of the first half. Bolen had his second straight 200-yard passing game, completing half of his 18 attempts for 239 yards.
Expressing confidence in its offense, when South won the toss it took the ball and that proved to be a wise decision as the Patriots needed just four plays to move 80 yards. A 33-yard run by Quiocho put South in Linsly territory and the Patriots covered the final 43 yards on a TD pass from Bolen to Braxton Johnson just 1:12 into the game. Isaac Boles kick gave the Patriots a 7-0 lead.
South's defense then held Linsly to one first down before the Cadets had to punt. After Cody Hively gained 9 yards on first down, Quiocho broke loose over the middle for a 60-yard TD. It was 13-0 South and the game wasn't four minutes old.
Once again, South's defense stopped Linsly, this time without a first down, and the Patriots took over at the Cadet 44. South again needed just two plays to score as Wes Mitchem hauled in a Bolen pass for 14 yards, setting up a 30-yard TD run by Hively for a 19-0 lead at the 6:26 mark of the first quarter.
Linsly used most of the remainder of the quarter to go on an 82-yard TD march, lighting up the scoreboard on a 4-yard run with 56 ticks left.
But any thoughts of a comeback were short-lived as South needed just four plays to score its fourth TD, an 8-yard run by Hively. Bolen had set up the score by completing passes of 33 yards to Mitchem and 20 to Jordan Braniff. The Patriots led 26-6 with 11:17 left in the first half.
South lost defensive standout Mack White to a leg injury in the second quarter, but the Patriots continued to dominate the contest. It looked as if 26-6 would be the halftime score but Bolen threaded the needle on the final play before intermission and hit Quiocho in the end zone on a 32-yard TD pass for a commanding 33-6 lead.
But Linsly refused to fold. The Cadets kept giving the ball to standout running back Chinelo Oparanozie and he responded by gaining 214 yards on 26 carries, including the only two touchdowns of the second half.
The first came on an 80-yard run on the first play from scrimmage following the second half kickoff and the latter on a 1-yard plunge with 9:23 to play that cut the deficit to 14.
Linsly had a chance to cut the lead to a lone touchdown but Quiocho intercepted a pass at the South 10 with less than three minutes to go and the Patriots finally could relax.
Things get no easier for South next week as the Patriots travel to Morgantown for a 7:30 p.m. game against the Mohigans at Pony Lewis Field.
