Big Reds bully Bulldogs
Saturday, December 2, 2006
By RICK KOZLOWSKI - The Journal

WHEELING — Parkersburg broke tackles and simply broke down Martinsburg Saturday afternoon in the Class AAA state championship game.

The Big Reds proved big and bad at Wheeling Island Stadium and powered their way to a decisive 34-6 victory to finish the season undefeated and again deny the Bulldogs a state championship.

The Bulldogs played in their fourth title game in six seasons, but each time, they returned to the Eastern Panhandle with the runner-up trophy.

“What do you do?” Martinsburg coach David Walker said. “They got a better football team than we do.

“They were better than us up front. When you lose games in the trenches, you’re not going to fare pretty well.”

Parkersburg started early and had the game well in hand by halftime, leading 24-0.

The Big Reds, who finished with the same 14-0 record as when they defeated Martinsburg during its first championship game appearance in 2001, stuffed a still-gimpy Josh Twyman for a 3-yard loss on the game’s first play from scrimmage to signal their presence.

They seldom let up.

“Today was our day,” Parkersburg coach Bernie Buttrey said. “We’ve been preparing all year for this.

“This is how we play. I’m so proud of our kids.”

There was nothing flashy about the Big Reds’ style, save for kicker Tyler Warner’s Super Six record 50-yard field goal, with plenty of room to spare, to cap a sunny, but chilly, afternoon.

Parkersburg powered its way to 352 yards of rushing offense, with runners often breaking away from several tacklers in their path.

Matt Lindamood ran for 170 yards on 17 carries, Charlie Taylor had 123 yards on 13 tries and, for good measure, quarterback Andy Thomas gave the Big Reds another 56 yards.

“They were running over us,” Walker said. “They were bigger and stronger.”

Meanwhile, Martinsburg’s offense managed only a 30-yard touchdown pass from Dustin Peters to Xavier Peters to start the second half after the Bulldogs recovered an onsides kick.

“We didn’t do a very good job tackling, and the offense didn’t do what it needed to do,” said Xavier Peters, who was named Martinsburg’s game most valuable player.

The Bulldogs were outgained 354-190 yards, suffered three interceptions and failed four times to convert fourth downs.

“We had a lot of opportunities to score,” Dustin Peters said. “We got the ball across the 50, but we killed ourselves. I blame myself; I threw some interceptions.”

The first came on the Bulldogs’ second series of downs, right after Lindamood broke free for a 58-yard touchdown run that gave the Big Reds a 7-0 lead.

Peters had Isaiah Alford open on the sideline, but his pass sailed high and P.J. Polsey picked it off and returned it 40 yards to the Martinsburg 32-yard line.

Warner hit a 32-yard field goal, his first of two and Parkersburg held a 10-0 lead with 1:01 left in the first quarter.

Parkersburg’s lead grew to 17-0 five minutes later after Peters’ pass attempt was batted down on fourth down at midfield and the Big Reds moved 46 yards in a hurry, capping the drive on Lindamood’s 13-yard run. Taylor gave him a seal block on the outside.

A second Peters interception led to Parkersburg’s next scoring march, a 67-yard drive that Taylor finished with a 43-yard burst off right tackle with 2:17 left.

Marcus Scott’s 70-yard kickoff return put Martinsburg in scoring position, but a fourth-down pass by Peters to Patrick O’Shea got knocked away at the goal line.

“We still should’ve put the ball in the end zone,” Peters said. “If we score there, it’s 24-14 after the onsides kick.

“So many things happen that change games.”

The Bulldogs tried to alter the events on the onsides kick that Zach Newhouse recovered at the Parkersburg 33. Three plays later, Dustin Peters found Xavier Peters wide open over the middle and he trotted into the end zone for the score.

Any momentum Martinsburg gained evaporated rather quickly, however.

Taylor and Lindamood paired runs of 20 and 38 yards, respectively, and Lindamood finished the series with a 4-yard scoring run, his third, and that was pretty much it for the Bulldogs as they ended the season at 12-2.

“I’m proud of our guys’ effort,” Walker said. “They were just outmanned.”

Martinsburg failed to total 100 yards rushing as a team, getting just 77 all told. Martinsburg’s two 1,000-yard backs, Twyman and Scott, finished with 33 and 25 yards on the ground, respectively.

Dustin Peters completed 11 of 23 passes for 113 yards.

“We didn’t play good football, didn’t play Martinsburg football,” Peters said. “Obviously, you can tell who the better team was today – that was Parkersburg.”