FRANKLIN, W.Va. — No. 5 Petersburg jumped out to a 20-0 lead and held off a late Pendleton County surge to win the battle of unbeatens 26-21 on Friday night.
Kaleb Kuhn returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown for the Vikings.
Evan Tawney scored from eight yards out on a run, and Kuhn found the end zone on an 18-yard burst to put Petersburg ahead 20-0 at the intermission.
Matthew McDonald pushed Petersburg’s lead to 26-7 midway through the third quarter with a 30-yard run, and the Vikings held on despite two late Pendleton County (2-1) touchdowns.
The Vikings improved to 3-0, their fourth consecutive such start.
Star sophomore quarterback Payton Metheny finished 8 for 11 passing for 97 yards and 41 yards rushing. He was taken out of the game early in the second quarter with a possible head injury.
Kuhn completed 5 of 13 throws for 47 yards in relief, carrying the ball 12 times for 57 yards. Lukas Wolford added 14 runs for 49 yards, and McDonald rushed for 36 yards on six totes.
Tawney caught five passes for 62 yards, Kuhn had four receptions for 43 yards, and Wolford snagged three balls for 34 yards.
Petersburg is at Tyler Consolidated (1-2) on Friday at 7 p.m.
No. 4 Keyser 42 Robert C. Byrd 20
KEYSER, W.Va. — No. 4 Keyser ended the game with 20 unanswered points to defeat Robert C. Byrd on Friday night at Alumni and Friends Field at Tornado Alley.
Robert C. Byrd (1-2) trimmed its deficit to 21-20 on an Isaac Barksdale one-yard touchdown run and an Elijah Holmes conversion with 6:39 to play.
Keyser (2-1) picked off three RCB passes over the final six-plus minutes.
One resulted in a 22-yard Grayson Lambka interception return for a touchdown, and Addison Brafford and Owen Rotruck scored on touchdown runs of 25 and 20 yards, respectively.
Keyser led 14-0 after a five-yard jaunt by Lambka and a fumble recovery and return for a score by Wes Hahn.
RCB pulled to within 14-12 at the half following a touchdown connection from Isaiah Heflin to Caiden Dodd and a one-yard Heflin carry in the final seconds.
Brafford then linked up with Dominik Crawford for a 28-yard aerial touchdown in the fourth quarter for a 21-12 edge, which stood until the frantic end to the contest.
Keyser kicker Tommy Nash went 6 for 6 on extra points.
Keyser has a bye week and heads to Hampshire (2-1) on Friday, Sept. 26, at 7 p.m.
Hampshire 33 Moorefield 14
MOOREFIELD, W.Va. — Landon Eversole and Andrew Loy linked up for three touchdown passes in a Hampshire victory over Moorefield Friday.
Hampshire (2-1) led 6-0 after the first quarter, 19-8 at the half and 33-8 after three periods.
Eversole ran in a one-yard touchdown in the second period — the Trojans’ second score after Brent Evans returned an interception 69 yards for a touchdown.
The gunslinger then connected with Loy for scores of 15 yards (second quarter), 85 yards (third) and 15 yards (third).
Eversole finished 12 for 21 passing with 291 yards and no interceptions. Loy caught eight passes for 203 yards.
Oliver Crites led Moorefield (0-3) with 20 carries for 103 yards, scoring touchdowns of seven and 20 yards in the second and fourth quarter, respectively.
Jacob Ault also intercepted a pass for the Trojans, and Blane Billmeyer and Ayden Blomquist recovered fumbles.
Billmeyer added a sack, and Moorefield’s Davin Abreu, Dalton Ault and Zeke Eye also recorded sacks.
Hampshire kicker Della Knight was 3 for 4 on extra points.
Hampshire hosts Grafton (0-3) on Friday at 7 p.m.
Moorefield welcomes Strasburg (2-1) on Friday at 7 p.m.
Southern 49 Hancock 0
OAKLAND — Southern jumped out to a 36-point lead at the break and rolled through Hancock on Friday to its first victory of the season.
“Hats off to the kids from Hancock, they played hard all night,” Southern head coach Dave McLaughlin said. “We came down and did what we needed to do, and that was to get a win under our belts.”
Reece Tasker found the end zone three times for the Rams (1-1), twice on runs of 10 and 15 yards in the first quarter and again on a 23-yard punt return for a score in the second.
Southern, which led 14-0 after the first, 36-0 at the half and 43-0 after three, attempted one pass all night, and it went for a touchdown: a 10-yard delivery from Jacob Brown to Hayden Williams to open the second-period scoring.
Brown then returned an interception 32 yards for a score later in the quarter, adn Sean Eiswert — who was 4 for 5 on extra points — drilled a 20-yard field goal.
Williams found the end zone on a 22-yard tote in the third quarter, and Will Dixon capped the onslaught with an 11-yard jaunt for six points in the fourth.
Williams finished with six carries for 86 yards, Brown and Tasker both ran it five times for 29 yards, and Dixon had four carries for 27 yards.
Southern’s defensive standouts were Eli Friend with five solo tackles and Ramele Haefner with four solos, along with three assists.
Southern hosts No. 1 Fort Hill (1-1) on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
“We have Fort Hill coming to town, and that’s about all you can say,” McLaughlin said. “State champs, very well-coached and disciplined. We definitely have our work cut out for us this coming Friday night.”
Boonsboro 40 No. 3 Mtn. Ridge 10
BOONSBORO — Boonsboro rushed for 288 yards and had five different players score touchdowns in a romp of No. 3 Mountain Ridge on Friday night.
Boonsboro (1-1), which fell in the Class 1A state quarterfinals last year to Northern, held leads of 7-0, 28-0 and 40-7 following the first three quarters.
Jadon King led the Warriors on the ground with 13 carries for 73 yards, scoring on a one-yard rush in the first quarter and a 45-yard pass from Blake Main with 1:12 left before halftime.
Main completed 3 of 8 passes for 105 yards, adding a 46-yard scoring connection to Landen Sallerson in the third quarter. Main also found the end zone on a three-yard rush in the second.
Parker Debaugh had eight carries for 61 yards. He had a 15-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter.
Levi Clise got Mountain Ridge (1-1) on the board with a six-yard burst with 10:06 left in the third quarter.
Mountain Ridge’s Grayson Cummings made a 37-yard field goal in the fourth.
The Miners’ run game was stifled by Boonsboro to the tune of 48 yards on 24 carries.
Mountain Ridge had two turnovers. One, a 21-yard interception return by Nathan Bosnick, resulted in points.
Mountain Ridge quarterback Carter Clites completed 12 of 22 passes for 121 yards and also led the Miners on the ground with 23 yards on 10 carries.
His leading targets were Daniel Swindle with 39 yards on two receptions, Nathan Miller with three grabs for 36 yards, and Clise with three grabs for 28 yards.
Mountain Ridge hosts Allegany (0-2) on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Albert Gallatin 40 No. 5 Northern 24
UNIONTOWN, Pa. — No. 5 Northern out-gained Albert Gallatin but struggled to finish drives, falling to the Colonials on Friday night.
Albert Gallatin (4-0) started fast as Adam Pegg returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown.
Pegg found paydirt three more times, adding touchdown receptions spanning 57 and 10 yards from Bronx Jamison and a nine-yard scamper.
Northern (0-2) kept the Colonials off the scoreboard in the second quarter, but the Huskies were also unable to score, trailing 16-8 at the intermission.
Landon Yoder accounted for Northern’s lone points before halftime with a four-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter. Yoder also ran in the conversion.
Pegg’s rushing touchdown gave Albert Gallatin a 34-8 edge going into the fourth, where they scored two more times to pull away.
Jamison capped by Colonials’ scoring with a nine-yard carry.
Evan Graham had a 34-yard touchdown for Northern in the fourth, and Emmitt Lipscomb scored on a nine-yard run. Graham and Caleb Hinebaugh had conversion runs in the period.
Northern rushed for 297 yards on 54 carries, and its defense limited Albert Gallatin to just 246 yards of total offense.
Lipscomb had 11 carries for 101 yards, Hinebaugh had 15 rushes for 77 yards, Yoder ran it 11 times for 62 yards, and Graham had 14 totes for 46 yards.
Pegg finished with 214 all-purpose yards.
Northern will look to secure its first victory of the season when it hosts Hancock on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Tucker Co. 38 East Hardy 27
BAKER, W.Va. — East Hardy led by two scores after the first quarter, but Tucker County poured in 30 points in the second in a win on Saturday night.
Tucker County quarterback Sam Marks completed 15 of 22 passes for 296 yards in the victory. The Mountain Lions improved to 3-0.
East Hardy (0-3) has a bye before hosting Southern (1-1) on Sept. 26 at 7 p.m.