SHORT GAP, W.Va. — Frankfort might’ve been a week late getting its playoff run started, but it wasn’t a yard short all day on Saturday at Frankfort Stadium.
The Falcons’ senior-laden offensive line was opening up holes big enough to drive a Buick through.
Jullian Pattison grabbed the keys and drove Frankfort home, accounting for over half of the team’s rushing yards with four touchdowns as the top-seeded Falcons trounced No. 16 Westside, 45-0, in the first round of the Class AA playoffs.
“It was just an awesome win for us,” said Frankfort head coach Kevin Whiteman. “The kids played hard. I felt like they were focused and locked in and I feel like they made minimal mistakes. We came out here against Keyser and started off kind of sloppy. But today, we took care of business from start to finish and that’s what we need to do. I’m really proud of the effort, of the kids being locked in, focusing and playing hard the entire game.”
It had been over two weeks since Frankfort (11-0) played — a 55-0 win over Keyser in the Mineral Bowl — after the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals got involved in the state’s high school football playoff ratings, forcing all games to be pushed back a week while the bureaucrats decided who would and wouldn’t get to play in the postseason.
Westside (7-4) hadn’t played since a Nov. 8 win over Mount View. Had the courts not ruled to revert to the original playoff ratings formula, the Renegades would have been on the outside looking in.
Anyone looking for the difference in the game didn’t have to look any further than the Frankfort O-line, all seniors averaging about 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds.
“Just the level of execution, the physicality that they bring,” said Westside head coach Justin Cogar. “Those guys, you can tell they live in the weight room, and they execute to perfection. I thought a lot of times we were in positions to make plays, and they kind of overpowered us, and that was the difference.”
Bookending the Frankfort offensive line were Bryer Michaels and Lane Lease, with Brayden Shipway snapping the ball between guards Daniel Marley and Caden Whitacre. Throw in tight end Jett McCullough and it’s enough to give any defense nightmares.
“The line is where it starts. We all know that,” Whiteman said. “If your line’s not doing the job, your backs aren’t gonna get that glory. And the backs get the glory, but our running backs do a good job. They run hard. Uriah did a great job running the offense, threw some nice passes. But again, just a big, big shoutout to our offensive and defensive lines.”
The offensive numbers — 258 rushing yards and 77 through the air — might not be eye-popping or record-breaking, but the Falcons didn’t have far to go with the first-string in. With the starters in, five of their seven drives began in Westside territory.
The first came after the opening kickoff, when Westside’s kicker slipped and the ball traveled a few yards to the 43.
Three plays later, Pattison burst through a gaping hole up the left side and ran 31 yards for his first of three first-half touchdowns.
The Renegades — a pass-heavy team — struggled on third down, going 0 for 9. On their first pass and first third down of the day, Frankfort’s Keiton Nester intercepted the ball at the Frankfort 27.
Pattison soon pushed Frankfort’s lead out to 21-0 with scoring runs of 30 and 32 yards, the latter coming on the second play of the second quarter.
The Falcons added two more scores prior to the break, with quarterback Uriah Cutter dropping a pair of dimes to Jacob Nething from 25 and 19 yards out.
“We already have multiple weapons running the ball, and then you throw Uriah in there throwing the ball, it’s huge,” Whiteman said. “Our receivers do a good job catching the ball. Teams can’t just key on one guy. That’s the beauty of our offense and the way we run it is that we have multiple weapons and we utilize them.”
After leading 35-0 at the break, Pattison scored his final touchdown from 19 yards out one play after Westside went for it on fourth-and-7 from its own 17 and couldn’t convert.
Rhett Sensabaugh, who was a perfect 6 for 6 on point-after tries, put the score at its final with a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter.
“They’re undefeated for a reason,” Cogar said. “We knew it was a tall task. We had to play our best game of the season and we didn’t do that. But I think that’s going to be a state championship football team right there; and I hope that for coach Whiteman because he’s done it the right way. He’s built his program the way that it’s supposed to be done. Those guys are disciplined. They play extremely hard and they deserve it.”
Frankfort outgained the Renegades, 335-131, with Pattison finishing with a game-high 134 yards on nine carries.
Cutter completed five of seven passes for 77 yards, with Nething hauling in four for 71 yards.
The Falcon defense game-planned to near-perfection, holding Westside to 17 rushing yards on 21 tries and 114 yards through the air. Quarterback Kadien Vance entered the day with nearly 2,200 passing yards, but Frankfort limited the senior to 32 yards through the air in the first half.
Frankfort’s pursuit of a state title will continue at home next week against No. 8 Bluefield (5-5), which defeated No. 9 South Harrison, 20-18, on Friday night.
“Me and Fred Simon, their coach, we go way back,” Whiteman said of Bluefield. “I’ve known him for a while. Just going to playoff meetings, talking during the offseason. We’ve always talked about how Frankfort has never played Bluefield. And it’s odd, through all these years, that we’ve never played them in the playoffs. We were just talking about it when practice started in August. He said we deserve to be able to hook up and play each other. Well, it’s finally gonna happen, so I’m excited about that.
“They have a great tradition, a rich tradition. He’s been the coach for over 40 years. He has five state championships. So we’re gonna be excited about working hard and trying to knock them off.”