Foutty, Gilkeson Lead Way As South Runs Past PHS, 33-20

Game Statistics / Game Pictures

Gage Foutty and Garrett Gilkeson ran for nearly 300 yards as Parkersburg South posted a 33-20 win over visiting Parkersburg High in the 49th meeting of the two city rivals.

Each team scored three touchdowns but South converted all three two-point conversions and Walker Riddle kicked field goals of 35, 27 and 21 yards to provide the difference in a game that saw a combined 833 yards in total offense by the two teams.

Foutty scored twice and gained 153 yards on 23 carries while Gilkeson had the other touchdown and rushed for 144 yards on 15 plays. South had 17 plays of double digit yardage with the biggest being a 55 yard run by Gilkeson. The had a total of 402 yards rushing and added 90 passing with Gilkeson completing eight of 15 with seven of those completions being to Cole Day.

PHS also had a lot of big plays as the Big Reds amassed 242 yards passing and 99 rushing. They had 10 plays covering 10 or more yards with the biggest being a 64 yard pass play to Karson Snyder and a 59 yard touchdown pass from Bradley Craig to Brenton Strange. Strange, only a freshman, scored twice for PHS while Snyder had the other on a 17 yard reception.

But the Big Reds had four turnovers and converted just two of 11 third down plays.

PHS started off well, going 51 yards in just six plays with Craig finding Snyder wide open over the middle for the final 17 yards just 2:12 into the contest. But the extra point kick was blocked.

South answered with a 53 yard kickoff return by Zane Hinzman and ran the ball the rest of the way on eight plays with Foutty going over right tackle with 6:05 on the first period clock. Gilkeson passed to Day for the conversion.

Foutty started the second quarter off with a 34 yard run to the PHS 13 yard line but three penalties forced Riddle to come on and kick a 35 yard field goal with 9:24 showing in the second quarter.

The Big Reds got a kickoff return of 26 yards to near midfield by Nick Johnson and a 28 yard pass to Brannon Turner gave the visitors the ball on the South 14. Four plays later Strange went over the left side to score from a yard away. Craig then passed to Turner for the two-point conversion to give PHS a 14-11 lead.

But once again South moved the ball with ease, going 89 yards in nine plays with Gilkeson and Day doing most of the damage with their legs and hands. Day had an 18 yard run and receptions of 16 and 17 yards from Gilkeson, who had a 12 yard run on the drive. The touchdown came on a one yard run by Foutty with 3:56 left in the half. Day caught a pass for the conversion to put the home team up 19-14.

PHS had to punt on its following possession and a 15 yard facemask penalty after an 18 yard run by Gilkeson set the Patriots up on the Big Red 36. Four plays later Gilkeson faked a pass one way, ran the other and bulled over the final PHS defender for an 18 yard scoring play with 1:36 on the clock. Gilkeson's conversion run made it 27-14.

A fumble early in the third quarter gave South the ball on the PHS 41 and Riddle wound up kicking a 27 yard field goal with 7:47 on the clock to make it 30-14.

The Big Reds ran off 14 plays late in the third quarter but ran out of downs on the South 36 just a minute into the fourth quarter. A 30 yard run by Gilkeson set up Riddle's third field goal to make it 33-14 with 7:17 left in the game.

PHS took just two plays to score on a 59 yard completion to Strange. The two-point conversion failed with 6:43 remaining to leave the score at 33-20.

A successful onside kick by the Big Reds was wiped out by a penalty called because a PHS player ran behind the kicker past the 35 yard line at the time of contact, thus erasing Craig's recovery of the kick on the South 42.

The Big Reds had two more possessions but an interception at the South 30 ended the first with 3:25 remaining in the contest. Nick Johnson stripped the ball and gave PHS another life with 2:11 remaining but that final threat ended on the Patriots' 10 yard line with 32 seconds left despite a 64 yard completion to Snyder.

Score by Quarters                       1        2      3       4      –       Total
Parkersburg Big Reds (4-6)         6       8       0       6       -        20
Parkersburg South (5-5)              8       19     3       3       -        33
Qtr Time Scoring play
1st 09:48 PHS - Karson Snyder 17 yd pass from Bradley Craig (Chase Minnite kick blocked), 6-51 2:12
06:05 SP - Gage Foutty 8 yd run (Cole Day pass from G. Gilkeson), 8-36 3:28
2nd 09:24 SP - Walker Riddle 35 yd field goal, 7-29 2:36
06:33 PHS - Brenton Strange 1 yd run (Brannon Turner pass from Bradley Craig), 6-51 2:43
03:56 SP - Gage Foutty 1 yd run (Cole Day pass from G. Gilkeson), 9-89 2:32
01:36 SP - Garrett Gilkeson 18 yd run (Garrett Gilkeson rush), 5-69 1:08
3rd 07:47 SP - Walker Riddle 27 yd field goal, 7-32 3:23
4th 07:17 SP - Walker Riddle 21 yd field goal, 9-59 3:47
06:43 PHS - Brenton Strange 59 yd pass from Bradley Craig (Bradley Craig rush failed), 2-65 0:28