WHEELING — Parkersburg High has become almost synonymous with the term championship when it comes to Class AAA football. The Big Reds have won nine state title’s since 1938.
Make that 10.
Thanks to a crushing running game and a dominating defense, the No. 1 ranked Big Reds (14-0) added to their list with a 34-6 victory over No. 2 Martinsburg Saturday afternoon.
“I just can’t explain how proud I am of these guys today,” said coach Bernie Buttrey, who captured his first-ever state title. “It was all about them. I just came along for the ride.”
“It’s tradition,” junior lineman Josh Jenkins said following Parkersburg’s win over the Bulldogs. “People have come to expect that kind of play out of the Big Reds and we’ve expected it out of ourselves all season.”
Expecting is one thing, doing it is something entirely different.
On Saturday, the red and white clad warriors from Wood County left no doubt they were going to be the team to beat on the artificial surface at Wheeling Island Stadium.
Junior Matt Lindamood, who was named the Samuel A. Munley Award winner for the Big Reds, pounded out a game-high 170 yards, while senior Charlie Taylor chipped in 123 as Parkersburg ran the ball 43 times for a state championship game record 352 yards.
The total eclipsed the 351-yard mark set by crosstown rival Parkersburg South in the 2003 title game against, ironically, Martinsburg.
“We run the football,” Buttrey said. “Our game plan was to give them (Martinsburg) a good dose of Matt (Lindamood) and Charlie (Taylor) and see how they handled it.”
From the start, it was apparent the Bulldog defense, which had allowed only nine points in three playoff games, wasn’t going to be able to deal with the Big Red running game.
Parkersburg, as it has throughout the postseason, won the opening coin flip and elected to defer. Martinsburg’s Marcus Scott hauled in Tyler Warner’s kick at the Bulldog 1, but found out almost immediately what he and the rest of the Martinsburg offense was going to discover the remainder of the afternoon.
Three plays in, the Bulldogs were forced to punt the ball away with Parkersburg beginning its first possession at its own 25 with 9:31 left in the opening quarter.
Four plays later, Big Red fans were on their feet as Lindamood, who tallied three touchdowns on his 17 carries, broke free at the PHS 44 and raced untouched for a 56-yard touchdown.
Junior Tyler Warner added the extra point kick and the Wood Countians had all the points it would need to capture its 10th state title.
“Our defense has been playing tough all year,” said Taylor. “The guys up front have been impossible to run on and our secondary is a lot better than people give it credit.”
The Big Red defense harassed Martinsburg quarterback Dustin Peters, who completed 11-of-23 attempts for 113 yards. The Big Reds thefted three of Peters’ passes.
The first of those occurred on the Bulldogs’ ensuing possession as Martinsburg marched down to their own 44. Facing third-and-7, Peters lofted the ball toward speedy receiver Xavier Peters, but senior P.J. Polsley stepped in front of the offering at the PHS 28 and returned it to the Bulldog 32.
Parkersburg needed only seven plays to tack on its next three points as Warner culminated the 17-yard drive with a 32-yard field goal at the 1:01 mark of the first to give the Big Reds a 10-0 lead.
Again, Martinsburg would see a potential drive stall with Parkersburg taking over at the Bulldog 46 following a failed fourth-and-5 pass was batted down at the line of scrimmage.
Buttrey then turned the football over to his two premier running backs, Taylor and Lindamood. Lindamood pounded the ball into the end zone for the second time on a 13-yard scamper by Lindamood.
On the Bulldogs’ next possession, the Eastern Panhandle squad reached the Big Red 31 before disaster struck again. This time senior Nathan Conley ended the potential scoring drive when he picked off a Peters aerial at the PHS 8. He returned it to the 33 before being stopped.
And there would be no stopping the Big Red offense on Saturday.
Seven straight running plays culminated with Taylor’s 43-yard scoring dash and Parkersburg headed to the locker rooms at the intermission leading by a comfortable, 24-0, score.
“We knew if we could jump on them early that it would force them to have to do some things they don’t like to do,” said Jenkins.
Martinsburg turned to some trickery as the second half got under way, recovering an onside kick at the Parkersburg 37. The ploy paid off as Peters found Xavier Peters open across the middle for a 33-yard scoring toss giving the Bulldog faithful something to cheer about.
The cheers wouldn’t last long.
On the ensuing kickoff, Parkersburg, which finished 14-0 for only the second time in school history, put together a five-play, 73-yard drive — all runs — to answer the score.
The rest was (record-setting) gravy.
With a late PHS drive stalled at the Martinsburg 33 Buttrey allowed Warner to attempt a 50-yard field goal. The junior didn’t let his coach down, powering the football through the middle of the uprights to add his name to the record book. The old mark of 44-yards was set by Morgantown’s Patrick Shadle in 2002.
“I had just thrown my kicking block down when he (Buttrey) said for me to go out and try it,” said Warner. “I knew I would have the wind at my back so that gave me some confidence.”
It was the perfect ending to a perfect day for the red and white clad Big Reds.
In addition to Lindamood and Taylor, Parkersburg received 56 yards on 11 carries from junior quarterback Andy Thomas. Senior Mason Roberts picked off the third interception by the defense.
Parkersburg’s 10 championships places it one away from Ceredo-Kenova’s mark of 11 set from 1963 until 1995.
Untitled Document
Super Six
c/o Bernie Dolan - Director
1976 Park View Road
Wheeling, WV 26003
