MORGANTOWN - Parkersburg South suffered its first loss of the season here Friday night, dropping a 41-7 Two Rivers Athletic Conference contest to Morgantown, (2-0).
The Mohigans put on a dominating running attack, carrying the ball 51 times for 327 yards with Chaz Thomas gaining 190 yards on 27 carries. Morgantown threw just three passes, completing two.
South, meanwhile, both rushed and passed for just 68 yards.
South (2-1) took the opening kickoff and managed a first down on a 13-yard scramble by quarterback Tyler Bolen before having to punt the ball.
Morgantown wasted little time establishing its domination, needing just six plays to march 73 yards with Alex Weidman scoring from 21 yards out with 6:43 left in the first quarter. Megan DeBastini, a female who came out for the team and drilled 12 straight extra points in her first practice, kicked the point after for a 7-0 lead with just 6:43 left in the first quarter.
That set up a pattern that continued throughout the first half. After South went three-and-out, Morgantown began a 76-yard march with Weidman scoring from a yard out on the first play of the second quarter for a 14-0 lead. Key plays on the drive were a personal foul against South on a third down fumble and an 11-yard pass from Mark Johnson to Blaine Stewart, son of former West Virginia University coach Blaine Stewart.
Both teams had two more possessions before halftime. Both of South's resulted in frustration while Morgantown produced another pair of scores, one on a 5-yard run by fullback Jalen Thomas and the other on a 53-yard run by Weidman with just six seconds left in the half. It was 28-0 Morgantown and South had generated just 27 offensive yards in the first half.
Any hopes that the Patriots might mount a second half comeback quickly were dashed when Morgantown received the second half kickoff and went on yet another TD drive, this time with Chazz Thomas scoring from 27 yards out with 7:25 left in the third quarter. The Mohigans missed the extra point, but still held a 34-0 lead.
Lightning finally struck for South just 15 seconds later. After returning the kickoff to the Morgantown 45, the Patriots scored on the first play from scrimmage when Bolen hit Braxton Johnson for a 45-yard score. Johnson looked like he would be stopped at the 10 but made a move and eluded a would-be tackler, scoring with 7:10 left in the third quarter. Isaac Boles' extra point made it 34-7.
The rest of the contest saw a mix of starters and reserves on the field for both teams. Morgantown scored with 4:44 to play as Laquan Goode tacked on a 4-yard TD run to make it 41-7.
The Patriots travel to Musselman next Friday.
