SHORT GAP, W.Va. — Keyser was hoping to play spoiler, but the Frankfort defense was having none of it.
In front of a raucous crowd, the Falcons limited Keyser to two first downs — both by penalty — and 32 yards of offense.
The offense overcame a slow start to score 55 points, as Frankfort capped off its fifth undefeated regular season in school history with a 55-0 win over its cross-county rivals in the 48th Mineral Bowl.
“It’s awesome, it’s a great feeling,” said Frankfort head coach Kevin Whiteman. “Undefeated for the fifth time in school history. I’m really proud of the kids. They’ve put in a great effort all season. We started off slow tonight, had a slow first half. We made a lot of mistakes. But Keyser played hard. That caused some of that. Ultimately, we got the win and now we get ready to move on to our second season.”
The Falcons (10-0) entered the week as the top overall seed in the Class AA playoff ratings and will be at worst the No. 2 seed in the 16-team field, guaranteeing home games up until a potential state title game.
“Our community really rallies behind us,” Whiteman said. “I know we’re going to have great crowds, and it’s going to be an awesome environment every week.”
While the Golden Tornado has won just over three-quarters of all Mineral Bowls (30-18), the Falcons have reeled off four straight in the series.
“It’s always one of our goals to win the Mineral Bowl,” said Whiteman. “So it’s nice to get to check that off, have a winning season and win the Mineral Bowl, and then get to the playoffs and advance when we get there. It’s great.”
Frankfort’s last undefeated regular season came in 2014 when the Falcons stormed through the playoffs until they fell to Bridgeport in the state title game.
“It feels awesome,” Whiteman added. “Since I’ve been the head coach, we got to do it in ‘14, and it’s awesome to be able to play at home in all your playoff games leading up to the state final. To not have to travel, not worry about booking hotel rooms. It’s really special.”
The Falcons’ other undefeated seasons — 1990, 1995 and 1996 — ended with a loss in the playoffs’ opening round.
Frankfort’s play on Friday night — and throughout the season — points to a deep run in the Falcons’ seventh consecutive playoff appearance.
The Frankfort offense flowed to the tune of 309 yards — 271 on the ground and 38 through the air.
Jullian Pattison led the way with 91 total yards with 67 yards rushing on nine carries and two touchdowns along with a 24-yard catch.
Carder Shanholtz followed up with five rushes for 42 yards and a pair of scores. Blake Jacobs had three totes for 53 yards along with a 91-yard blocked field goal return for a touchdown on the final play of the first quarter.
Uriah Cutter had a two-yard touchdown run to go with his 3 of 6 for 38 yards passing. Cutter’s other two completions went to Jacob Nething for 14 yards. Nething also picked off a pair of Keyser passes.
Corbin Stone capped off the third-quarter scoring with an 11-yard run and Braydn Tyler was Frankfort’s leading yard-getter with a 76-yard carry that went for a touchdown and put the score at its final.
Rhett Sensabaugh was 5 of 6 on point-after tries. Jesus Perdew made both of his PATs.
The blemishes on offense were three first-half fumbles, two of which were recovered by Keyser, and four penalties for 36 yards, including three for 31 in the first quarter.
“Well, it’s just a matter of focus, that’s all it is,” Whiteman said. “We weren’t locked in. Our focus wasn’t there. And to win big playoff games, we have to be locked in and have better focus or we’re not going to win them.”
Keyser quarterback Benjamin Mele was the team’s leading rusher with 10 yards on 10 carries and his lone completion went to Dominik Crawford for three yards.
The Golden Tornado’s second-leading rusher was punter Tommy Nash, who gained eight yards on a broken punt in the fourth quarter.
“I thought we came out the first half and we shot our shot and we kept it close,” said Keyser head coach Derek Stephen, whose team trailed 21-0 at halftime. “They had a couple of miscues that we couldn’t capitalize on. And against a good team, you’ve got to be able to capitalize on those miscues. In the second half, they busted a big play and got the momentum going. And then it was just a long night for us after that.”
The Golden Tornado came into Friday’s contest at No. 20 in the Class AAA point ratings, with a win giving them an outside shot at backing into the playoffs.
Instead, Keyser’s season ends at 4-6 and it goes back to the drawing board, losing just over half a dozen seniors to graduation and returning an experienced young core in 2025.
“That’s always a positive thing on a not-so-great season was we got a lot of young guys playing time,” Stephen said. “We’re hoping they can learn from this because we had a lot of young guys play last year, a lot of sophomores that played that were juniors this year. I told the guys we grew exponentially this season, but we still have a lot more growing to do. Hopefully, they all can flourish next year and in the future years and make that come to fruition.”
The Golden Tornado, who have finished .500 or below in the past three seasons, return a core group of players next year looking to make the school’s first playoff appearance since 2019.
“There’s nothing really to say other than it just stinks,” Stephen said of his postgame talk with his team. “It is what it is. When you lose to your cross-county rival, your season ends, there’s nothing much you can say other than it stinks. I just thanked the seniors for their four years. They were playing their butts off tonight, giving everything they had. The juniors have got some shoes to fill, but it’s their turn to take over the team. We’re hoping that they’ll lead us back in the right direction next year.”
Frankfort returns home next weekend for the opening round of the Class AA playoffs. Its opponent wasn’t known at the time of publication Friday, but Whiteman has no doubt his team will be ready.
“I want them to enjoy this win,” he said. “But when they come out Monday for practice, they’ll be excited and ready to roll and ready to work hard to win next week.”