Strange Ties 90-Year-Old Record as Big Reds Play Take Away From Beckley, 52-15
Game Statistics
BECKLEY - Sophomore Brenton Strange tied a 90-year-old Parkersburg High School football record here Friday night in the rain as the Big Reds bounced Beckley Woodrow Wilson 52-15 to end their four-game losing streak.
Strange ran two interceptions back for touchdowns to tie a record set in 1926 by Howard Rutter. His spectacular plays were just part of a defensive effort which made it easy for PHS to end a two-game losing streak at Van Meter Stadium.
The Big Reds forced six Beckley turnovers, four of them interceptions, and sacked the Flying Eagle quarterbacks five times on the night. They built a 31-0 lead and were ahead 52-7 heading into a fourth quarter that was played with a running clock due to the new mercy rule in West Virginia high school football.
Karson Snyder touched the ball just five times but score three touchdowns as he caught 59 and 27 yard scoring passes from Ethan Airhart and also ran a backward pass in after scooping the "fumble" up and going into the end zone. Airhart hit six of 11 passes on the night for 135 yards with Strange catching four for 49 yards.
Easton Martin went over the century mark in rushing for the Big Reds with 110 yards on 20 carries and scored himself on a 24 yard run.
The Big Reds gave a preview of what was to come on the night as they scored on their first offensive play when Snyder took a short pass from Airhart and went 59 yards down the left sideline.
Christian Axman, who booted seven extra points on the night, made it 10-0 with a 30 yard field goal with 1:39 left in the first quarter and just two plays later PHS had the ball back on the Beckley 15 after a Tyler Lawrentz fumble recovery. A seven yard run by Martin was followed by Snyder fumble recovery lateral run from the eight for a touchdown.
The Big Reds tacked on a couple more quick scores with 17 seconds of themselves in the middle of the second period. A three-play, 30 yard drive (all runs by Martin) produced the first TD while 17 seconds later Strange had his first Pick Six of the night. Strange stepped between the quarterback and intended receiver, grabbed the short pass and had little trouble taking it in the end zone.
Martin then stole the ball from a Beckley receiver two plays later and PHS drove to the Beckley two yard line but failed on a fourth down run. On the very next play Beckley scored on a 98 yard run up the middle by Jordan Hancock.
The third quarter saw three more quick scores by PHS as Airhart found Snyder down the middle at the goal line from 27 yards away to cap a five play, 48 yard drive and thenStrange came up with his second interception score. The PHS defense came through again just one play later when Jake Johnson intercepted a pass to set up a four play drive to cover the needed 11 yards and run the score to 52-7. Airhart got the final TD on a six yard run around the left side.
Beckley scored with 3:25 left in the game against the PHS reserves.
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Total
Parkersburg Big Reds 17 14 21 0 52
Beckley WW 0 7 0 8 15
Qtr Time Scoring play
1st 09:47 PHS - Karson Snyder 59 yd pass from Ethan Airhart (Christian Axman kick), 1-59 0:14
01:39 PHS - Christian Axman 30 yd field goal, 13-41 6:10
00:37 PHS - Karson Snyder 8 yd run (Christian Axman kick), 2-15 0:40
2nd 08:28 PHS - Easton Martin 24 yd run (Christian Axman kick), 3-30 1:16
08:11 PHS - Brenton Strange 15 yd interception return (Christian Axman kick)
03:04 BECKLEY - Jordan Hancock 98 yd run (Jacob Young kick), 3-96 1:25
3rd 09:31 PHS - Karson Snyder 27 yd pass from Ethan Airhart (Christian Axman kick), 5-48 2:20
06:01 PHS - Brenton Strange 67 yd interception return (Christian Axman kick)
03:33 PHS - Ethan Airhart 6 yd run (Christian Axman kick), 4-11 2:05
4th 06:42 BECKLEY - Logan Cook 11 yd run (Micah Hancock rush), 6-59 3:25
..................................................PHS BECKLEY
FIRST DOWNS 12 14
RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 34-120 36-158
PASSING YDS (NET) 135 96
Passes Att-Comp-Int 11-6-1 21-8-4
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 45-255 57-254
Fumble Returns-Yards 1-14 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards 3-43 0-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards 2-25 8-101
Interception Returns-Yards 4-137 1-9
Punts (Number-Avg) 1-38.0 3-41.3
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 4-2
Penalties-Yards 5-40 4-27
Possession Time 24:34 22:38
Third-Down Conversions 3 of 9 3 of 9
Fourth-Down Conversions 2 of 3 1 of 3
Red-Zone Scores-Chances 3-4 1-2
Sacks By: Number-Yards 5-39 0-0
RUSHING: Parkersburg Big Reds-Easton Martin 20-110; Rylan Hamilton 6-9; Ethan Airhart 2-4; Shane Miller 1-2; Karson Snyder 3-0; Tyler Moler 1-minus 1; Jake Johnson 1-minus 4. Beckley WW-Jordan Hancock 11-151; Antonio Leopardi 4-24; Logan Cook 2-11; Peyton Thomas 2-6; Micah Hancock 10-3; Deontray Smith 1-minus 1; Sutton Radford 6-minus 36.
PASSING: Parkersburg Big Reds-Ethan Airhart 6-11-1-135. Beckley WW-Sutton Radford 7-16-3-84; Antonio Leopardi 1-5-1-12.
RECEIVING: Parkersburg Big Reds-Brenton Strange 4-49; Karson Snyder 2-86. Beckley WW-Logan Cook 4-64; Kelshawn Grant 1-12; Peyton Thomas 1-11; Colten Wright 1-9; Micah Hancock 1-0.
INTERCEPTIONS: Parkersburg Big Reds-Brenton Strange 2-82; Jake Johnson 1-34; Chance Rawson 1-21. Beckley WW-Peyton Thomas 1-9.
FUMBLES: Parkersburg Big Reds-Jake Johnson 1-0; Easton Martin 1-1. Beckley WW-Micah Hancock 1-1; Sutton Radford 1-0; Colten Wright 1-1; Jordan Hancock 1-0.
Parkersburg Big Reds (2-4) vs. Beckley WW (1-5)
Date: Oct. 7, 2016 • Site: Beckley • Stadium: VanMeter
Attendance: 750
Kickoff time: 7:00 • End of Game: 9:24 • Total elapsed time: 2:24
Weather: rainy
SACKS (UA-A): Parkersburg Big Reds-Max Turner 2-0; Brenton Strange 1-0; Tyler Moler 1-0; Cole Hanshaw 1-0. Beckley WW-None. |
