WHEELING — Senior Ross Elder has had some very big catches during his tenure at Williamstown High School.
But none were bigger than the 20-yarder the 6-foot-6 tight end hauled in just before the half to send the Yellowjackets into the locker room tied at seven in their Class A championship showdown Saturday night with No. 1 ranked Wheeling Central.
“He (Central’s Justin Lang) was underneath me and I had to reach over him,”said Elder, who pulled down three catches for 66 yards in the first 24 minutes of action. “e both got our hands on it, but I out-fought him and the official signaled the touchdown.”
That culminated a six-play, 72-yard drive that began on the Williamstown 28 and took 90 seconds off the clock.
Williamstown, which entered its second straight title game with an unblemished mark (13-0) and No. 2 ranking, appeared to be happy to head into the locker room down by only seven when they stopped the Maroon Knights (14-0) on a third-and-10 from the Central 41 and forced a punt.
Taking over at its 28 following Alex Peluchette’s 33-yard boot, Williamstown head coach Terry Smith called three straight running plays. The final one, however, resulted in a first-and-10 at the 43 with 25.1 ticks left on the clock.
Smith called timeout and when the maroon and gold resumed play senior quarterback Brandon Roberts lofted a perfectly thrown, 37-yard strike to Elder to place the football at the Central 20 with little more than 10 seconds showing on the clock.
A pass to Ryan Flowers on first-and-10 stopped the clock. But on his next toss Roberts sent the football toward the front, right corner of the end zone where at his biggest target — Elder.
“We look for him (Elder) a lot,” said Smith. “It was a huge catch because I thought we came out and played tentative up till then.
“It allowed us to go into the locker room knowing we could win the game.”
A thought that remained with the Wood Countians up until the very end as the two small school powers traded knockout blows over the final 24 minutes before an 11-play, 62-yard drive gave the defending state champions the victory, 14-7.
“We came here to win,” said Elder, who was held to without a catch in the second half. “We were the only ones who really believed that we could.”
For his efforts, Elder received the Samuel A. Mumley Award as the top player from the ’Jackets.
“It doesn’t really mean anything because we lost the game,” said the receiver. “I guess I will change my thinking once I have a few days to think about it.”
A feeling echoed by his coach.
“We thought we could win this game,” said Smith.
Field position played a big part in the game, especially in the first half. Williamstown’s average starting position was its own 13 while the Maroon Knights’ average starting spot was the Yellowjacket 47.
“You just can’t allow teams to play the game at your end of the field,” added the coach. “We failed to move the chains when we had to and they made the plays when they had to.”
Untitled Document
Super Six
c/o Bernie Dolan - Director
1976 Park View Road
Wheeling, WV 26003
