Parkersburg’s Jakel Shelton (12) carries the ball during Friday’s game against St. Albans. (Photo by Brian Cox Photography)

PARKERSBURG — St. Albans dented the scoreboard first and last here Friday night at Stadium Field, but Parkersburg received game-highs of 21 carries and 168 yards rushing from Jakel Shelton as the Big Reds posted a 27-12 Mountain State Athletic Conference victory in a showdown of 2-5 programs.

The Red Dragons of head coach Derek Stotts couldn’t convert on a 30-yard field goal attempt by Gavin Duncan on their opening series, but after forcing a PHS three-and-out the visitors took the lead.

Sean Mccord, who carried 18 times for 132 stripes, broke off a 63-yard run. The Big Reds thought he was tackled, but he landed on top of a red and white defender, popped up and darted toward paydirt before being caught at the 1 by Javel Chandler. Two plays later it was 6-0 thanks to a 4-yard touchdown run by Deshaun Stotts.

Parkersburg, which welcomes in Huntington next Friday, proceeded to score the next 24 points to take control by halftime, but was outscored 6-3 in the second half.

“We needed a win bad,” admitted PHS head coach Matt Kimes, who was inducted into the Big Reds’ Hall of Fame pregame. “We played a really good second quarter I thought. We controlled the ball. Doing what we wanted offensively. We just didn’t come out in the second half and execute the same way. Probably hats off to them. They made some good changes and their kids kept competing the whole time.

Parkersburg’s Quinton Wright (44) sets up to kick an extra point during Friday’s game against St. Albans. (Photo by Brian Cox Photography)

“Kudos to them and coach Stotts for getting his kids to play for 48 minutes. We’re still waiting to play for 48 minutes. We haven’t put a whole game together yet and that’s what I said after the game. I don’t know what to say other than it’s going to take that and more to have success against some of these teams we are getting ready to play.”

Coach Kimes’ squad answered the touchdown with a 64-yard scoring drive that resulted in a Quinton Wright 22-yard field goal. Cooper Cancade, who completed 10 of 15 aerials for 64 yards, got the drive going with a 5-yard pass to Tytan Parsons. Shelton broke off a 15-yarder and a 30-yarder while Ethan Jones, who chipped in 59 ground yards on seven carries, had a 6-yard carry. PHS took the field goal after tight end Braxton Kupfner gained 7 yards on third-and-goal snap from the 12.

St. Albans quarterback Reece Lilly, who finished 12 of 22 for 170 yards, was picked off on the second play of the ensuing series by Zane Lewis, who returned it 8 yards for a 10-6 advantage with 30 seconds left in the first.

Jackson Roe’s sack of Lilly helped force a Red Dragon punt, but the visitors got the ball right back when Ashton Hamiton fell on it after Chandler tried to grab it late on a low hop.

However, SAHS turned the ball over back to the Big Reds at the Red Dragon 48 after fumbling a fourth-and-5 snap.

An 18-yard completion to Parsons was followed by a Jones 7-yard run and then two totes from Shelton, who took it the final 6 yards for a 17-6 lead with 7:31 remaining in the half.

St. Albans receiver Deuce Mcclain, who went for game-highs of five catches and 145 yards, had a 39-yard grab to help get the visitors near the red zone, but a fourth-and-8 snap from the Big Reds’ 23 resulted in a loss of 2 yards on a Lilly to Kadir Maxwell completion.

The Big Reds proceeded to march 75 yards in nine plays as Shelton raced into the end zone untouched from the 5 with 52.7 ticks left for the 18-point intermission bulge.

“That’s one thing that we pride ourselves on. We don’t quit. We’re a gritty club,” stressed coach Stotts, whose team welcomes Riverside to town next Friday. “We had our opportunities. We left a lot of food on our plate. We got to get our kicking game together. It’s the second week in a row our kicking game let us down, so we got to clean that up. The turnover killed us.

“We got in the red zone a couple times and didn’t get any points out. It was definitely out there for the taking, but you know it comes with the maturation of a ballclub, teaching them how to win. My guys just compete and that’s all I ask. Put it out there and just compete, compete and fight and fight and wherever the ball falls it falls, but if we’re competing I’m happy.”

After PHS opened the second half with a three-and-out, SAHS went for it on fourth-and-13 near midfield, but Jones sacked Lilly.

The Big Reds proceeded to have it first-and-10 at the SAHS 16, but Cancade was sacked on third down by Isaiah Muhammed and the hosts had to settle for a 38-yard field goal by Wright, which made it 27-6 with 59.1 to go in the third.

A 60-yard completion to Mcclain led to a 5-yard touchdown run by Mccord just eight seconds into the fourth, which set the final score of 27-12.

“We still got young kids,” coach Kimes said of trying to play mistake-free football. “We’re playing freshmen and sophomores in key spots, but they’ve got to be smarter in certain situations. It was good to see us run the football. That’s kind of what we thought we were going to be able to do from the beginning of the season.

“I would’ve liked to have seen us finish it a little bit better in the second half, but our defense stepped up and made plays when they had to. We kind of bend but didn’t break there in the fourth quarter a little bit, so it’s good. We needed a win. We’re 3-5 and we got a state championship caliber team coming to our place next Friday.”

Midway through the fourth, St. Albans had it first-and-goal at the 10, but the Big Red defense stood tall. Jones and Chris Cox stopped Mccord for no gain on first down, while Cyrus Backus and Lewis followed with a pass breakup apiece to force fourth down, which resulted in a 1-yard loss on a pass to Mccord.

“It was pretty cool,” coach Kimes said of the pregame HOF ceremony. “Obviously the guys I went in with are all-time Big Reds and went on to live great lives. I’m fortunate in the place I am. I’m very blessed to be the head coach of my alma mater.

“It was a cool honor that the hall of fame committee decided to put me in there. My dad was able to be here, obviously my wife and kids, so being able to share in that moment with them was pretty cool.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com