Parkersburg’s Jakel Shelton (12) carries the ball behind the block of Chris Cox (65) during last week’s game against Parkersburg South. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

PARKERSBURG — The last time Parkersburg started a gridiron campaign with a 1-3 record was during Mike Byus’ second season in 2018 after falling 35-22 to Capital at Stadium Field.

If third-year red and white boss Matt Kimes’ program wants to avoid the first 1-4 start since 2016 the Big Reds will have to find their run defense.

Tailback Eli Bartley ran for 256 yards and two touchdowns, while signal-caller Collin Hayes added 71 more and also found paydirt twice during Parkersburg South’s 26-17 victory last week where the Patriots averaged nearly 8 yards per carry.

Looking ahead to 7:30 Friday in a Mountain State Athletic Conference tilt set for University of Charleston Stadium at Laidley Field, the No. 14 AAAA Big Reds will clash with head coach Jon Carpenter’s No. 8 triple-A Capital Cougars (2-1).

“I think the more worrisome thing right now is our defense right now stopping the run,” admitted Kimes. “It’s been kind of a thing that’s kind of plagued us from the beginning. We kind of thought we had some answers, but we got some guys in there that aren’t playing as well as we need them to play, so we’re looking at some changes in certain spots, but also just got to continue to grind and hopefully get some guys back here sooner than later and add to that depth, and try to shore up our run defense.”

Kimes admitted the Big Reds had their opportunities, but four turnovers were too much to overcome.

“Turnovers are obviously going to kill you anytime that happens, but a couple of them were as we were driving and getting ready to maybe challenge the red zone or just outside the red zone and looking to score, and sustain momentum,” said the coach. “Turnovers are such a momentum killer that it’s sometimes hard to recover from.

“It was just one of those nights where we kind of couldn’t get out of our own way offensively at times. We still had almost 350 yards of offense and it was kind of split passing and rushing, so we moved the ball again against a good team. We’re just not finishing right now and we’re banging our head against the wall so to speak as a coaching staff to figure out what we can do to make those changes and finish off offensively.”

Capital sophomore running back David Robinson rushed for three touchdowns last week against St. Albans, which allowed two passing touchdowns to freshman quarterback Peyton Grigsby.

The Big Reds also will need to keep tabs on junior QB Fernando Valdivia and freshman wideout Turay Rush.

“They are playing two different quarterback,” Kimes said of the CHS scheme. “The freshman, more of a passer, and then 7 (Valdivia), he’s been the quarterback the last couple years. They’ll put him back in there, too, but they are moving him around offensively to get him more touches. That’s kind of what they are playing there, but number one (Robinson) is the guy we got to stop.

“He’s the dude. He could start for most people in the state, if not play for anybody in the state. He’s the guy that makes them go. They are much improved over the last two years. Coach Carpenter has those guys buying in to whatever he’s preaching and they are doing things the right way. They are way more organized. They are doing some good things offensively, defensively. It’s a game that we’re going to have to play well to win.”

The two programs are playing for the 17th time with eight wins apiece.

“That’s an area where we need to have an advantage Friday,” Kimes said of the trenches. “Looking at the film I think we are a little bit better upfront in certain areas, but at the same time they got a couple kids that are going to be a handful as well. It’s always games are kind of decided on the offensive and defensive line. I thought Parkersburg South, that’s where they had the advantage over us on Friday.

“We’ve got to keep working at those positions and keep improving, and trying to have a little bit more success there on the offensive and defensive line. I think the kids, for the most part, are trying to do the right things. Now we just got to make sure they are consistently doing it at a high level.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com