PETERSBURG, W.Va. — Payton Metheny had four total touchdowns to help No. 8 Petersburg to a 49-8 rout of No. 9 River View in the Class A first round on Saturday, the Vikings’ first playoff victory in school history.
Petersburg (6-5), coached by first-year head man Shane Shockey, was 0-3 previously in the postseason, falling in the 1993, 2018 and 2022 first round.
The Vikings advance to the quarterfinals where they will head to No. 1 Tug Valley (11-0) on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Metheny completed 11 of 19 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns, and he had eight rushes for 56 yards and two more scores of 28 and three yards.
The freshman completed passes of 51 and four yards to Lukas Wolford for touchdowns. Wolford made four receptions for 87 yards, and he had two rushes for 39 yards.
Caden Arbaugh had eight carries for 25 yards, including a two-yard touchdown, and returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown.
The Vikings capped the scoring when Colson Bobo ran 85 yards to the goal line. After a fumble, Trevan Keen recovered the ball in the end zone for the touchdown.
Alex Mendez made all seven extra points.
Princeton 63, Hampshire 9
PRINCETON, W.Va. — Penn State commit Daniel Jennings ran for more than 250 yards and five scores, and top-seeded Princeton routed No. 16 Hampshire in the Class AAA playoffs on Saturday.
Jennings racked up 266 yards on 12 carries, and he added a 73-yard touchdown reception on a screen pass for 339 yards from scrimmage.
Hampshire was within 7-6 early after a 34-yard touchdown pass to Vinny Greear from Landon Eversole.
Eversole threw for 103 yards and a touchdown, and Greear had four catches for 101 yards. Roscoe Dean rushed for 106 yards on 22 carries.
Bryson Richardson then pulled the deficit for the Trojans (5-6) to 14-9 when the kicker drilled a 20-yard field goal, but Princeton (11-0) scored 49 unanswered points.
The Trojans were just 3 for 15 on third downs.
Hampshire was making its first playoff appearance since 2003. The Trojans are 0-4 all-time in the postseason.
Princeton hosts No. 8 North Marion (8-3) in the state quarterfinals on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Williamstown 47, Moorefield 21
WILLIAMSTOWN, W.Va. — Lynken Joy threw for three touchdowns, and fourth-seeded Williamstown jumped out to a 40-0 lead before pulling its starters in a rout of No. 13 Moorefield in a Class AA first-round playoff game Saturday.
Moorefield (4-7) scored three times late on runs of 78 and 70 yards from Diego Taylor and two yards from Dalton Ault
Taylor finished with a game-high 145 yards on three carries, but it wasn’t enough to spring the upset, as Williamstown (9-2) jumped out to a 33-0 halftime lead and never looked back.
Joy completed 7 of 9 passes for 86 yards and three scores, and he had six rushes for 79 yards. Cooper Billingsley had a 40-yard touchdown run.
The playoff appearance was Moorefield’s first in three years. Williamstown advances to the quarterfinals, where it hosts fifth-seeded Wheeling Central (9-2).
Williamstown defeated Central, 36-25, during the regular season.
Tucker County 30, East Hardy 0
PARSONS, W.Va. — Samuel Marks ran for one touchdown and passed for another in the second half to help the undefeated Tucker County Mountain Lions blank East Hardy on a rare Sunday afternoon game.
The Mountain Lions (11-0) led 14-0 at halftime and with 3:08 left in the third quarter, Marks scored on a four-yard touchdown run and with 8:55 to play in the fourth, he put the game out of reach with a 70-yard strike to Reid Kisamore.
It was Kisamore’s second touchdown of the game as he gave Tucker its 14-0 lead with a 55-yard punt return with 9:24 to play before halftime.
On the last play of the first quarter, Jared Reall put the Mountain Lions in front 6-0 on a two-yard run.
The Cougars season ends at 4-7.
Tucker County moves on to the quarterfinals where it will host Pendleton County (8-3) on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.