Grier, Cunningham Shine as SC Spoils PHS Homecoming Night, 45-20

Game Pictures | Game Statistics

Kentre Grier threw for three touchdowns and A.D. Cunningham ran for two as South Charleston's two superstars led the Black Eagles to a 45-20 victory over Parkersburg's Big Reds Friday night at Stadium Field in the PHS homecoming contest.

The Black Eagles came into the game ranked number five in the state despite losing their last game to Capital and did not play well to start the game but finished strong to wind up with 578 yards in total offense compared to just 266 for PHS.

Grier wound up with 268 yards passing as he hit 15 of 23 with one interception. He also led the way with 163 yards rushing on 20 carries. Cunningham had 125 yards rushing on 21 carries.

South Charleston ran 69 plays to just 46 for the Big Reds.

Parkersburg got big plays from Rylan Hamilton (a 93 yard kickoff return for a touchdown), Chase Shank (63 yard touchdown run) and the combination of Josh Trembly and Austin Life who hooked up on a 14 yard scoring play.

Trembly finished with 92 yards rushing and 83 yards passing.

PHS put the Black Eagles in the hole early in the game when the Big Reds drove to the South Charleston 37 and Josh Roney then punted the ball to the one yard line.

Faced with a 99 yard scoring drive ahead of them, the Eagles got out of trouble quickly on a 32 yard pass completion to big tight end Jacob Miller but the PHS defense held, forced a punt and took over on downs at the Eagles' 25 when there was a fumble on the snap and Shank and Austin Griffith tackled the punter.

But three running attempts netted only eight yards and Roney came on to try a 35 yard field goal but the kick was short at the 5:05 mark of the first quarter.

South Charleston then drove 80 yards on 10 plays in 3:36 to reach the end zone first on a one yard run by Cunningham. Big plays on the drive were a 13 yard reception and then an 11 yard run by Fred Crozier. The extra point snap was bobbled and Grier tried to run it in but was tackled by Jordan Colebank short of the goal. However, there were offsetting penalties on the play and on the second conversion attempt, Cunningham ran for the two points and an 8-0 lead.

The ensuing PHS possession was full of miscues as a penalty put the Big Reds back on their 14 and two plays lost five more yards. On third down Trembly went back to pass but was blind sided in the end zone and fumbled the ball behind the goal post for a safety with one second left on the clock in the first period.

The visitors got great field position thanks to a 32 yard return of the free kick to the PHS 28 yard line. After a one yard run by Cunningham, Grier found Rayquwan Raimo for the touchdown with 11:12 on the clock. The PAT made it 17-0 and the Eagles had put all those points on the board in less than two and a half minutes.

An 18 yard punt return by Nick Johnson put the Big Reds just 29 yards away from the end zone with 4:06 left in the half and they were able to capitalize when Trembly found Life with a 14 yard TD toss with 2:34 on the clock. Roney's kick hit the upright and was no good.

South Charleston's third touchdown came with five minutes left in the third quarter thanks to a short field. The Eagles started their scoring drive from the PHS 44 and still needed a catch by Jacob Miller from 21 yards away to get the six points.

Early in the fourth quarter the Eagles capped an eight-play 84-yard drive with Cunningham's 29 yard run that made it 31-6 but Hamilton turned in a great second-effort, spinning kickoff return of 93 yards for a PHS touchdown just 21 seconds later to cut the lead to 31-13.

South Charleston then iced the victory with a 78 yard scoring drive that ate up nearly six minutes and took 12 plays with Grier passing to Miller again.

Shank added a 63 yard touchdown sprint with 4:30 left in the game but Cunningham got his third score of the night with just 1:47 left in the contest for the final margin.

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Total
Black Eagles            10 7 7 21 - 45
Big Reds                   0 6 0 14 - 20
Qtr Time Scoring play
1st 01:36 SCHAR - A.D. Cunningham 1 yd run (A.D. Cunningham rush), 10-80 3:29
00:01 SCHAR - Rayquwan Raimo safety
2nd 11:12 SCHAR - Rayquwan Raimo 27 yd pass from Kentre Grier (Jacob Gordon kick), 2-28 0:48
02:34 PHS - Austin Life 14 yd pass from Josh Trembly (Josh Roney kick failed), 3-29 1:32
3rd 05:00 SCHAR - Jacob Miller 14 yd pass from Kentre Grier (Jacob Gordon kick), 2-79 4:54
4th 11:42 SCHAR - A.D. Cunningham 29 yd run (Jacob Gordon kick), 8-84 2:56
11:21 PHS - Rylan Hamilton 93 yd kickoff return (Josh Roney kick)
05:33 SCHAR - Jacob Miller 5 yd pass from Kentre Grier (Jacob Gordon kick), 12-78 5:39
04:30 PHS - Chase Shank 63 yd run (Josh Roney kick), 3-70 0:54
01:47 SCHAR - A.D. Cunningham 1 yd run (Jacob Gordon kick), 7-56 2:41