By Gaylen Duskey
realfang@citlink.net
Jonathan Taylor scored five touchdowns and accounted for 246 yards total offense Thursday night to lead Calhoun Middle School to a 38-20 victory over visiting Doddridge Middle School in the season opener for both teams.
The Red Devils, winless in 2010, dominated throughout from the spirited Christopher Kirkland leading them onto the field to start the game to the defense stifling the Bobcats to the end of the game Calhoun was in control.
Doddridge's only bursts of power came on three long runs by running back Clayton Lagasse, one on a broken play and two against the Red Devils' reserves. Other than that Calhoun shut the Bobcats down.
Offensively it was just the opposite as the Red Devils moved the ball pretty much at will, punting only once and turning it over on downs once.
While Taylor led the way with 187 yards on 25 carries - he also had a 59-yard touchdown reception - he was not alone in gaining ground against the Bobcats.
Backfield mate Seth Moore added 87 yards rushing for the Red Devils while Casey Ritchie had a rushing touchdown, the Red Devils' first.
Overall, Calhoun had 309 rushing yards and 59 passing yards. It also had 16 first downs.
Calhoun jumped on top in the first period when Cole Ritchie's two-yard run capped a 12-play, 62-yard drive, setting the tempo for the rest of the night for the offense.
The first time Doddridge got the ball its offensive movement was stopped by the Red Devils' defense when Cole Ritchie knocked the ball loose and Casey Ritchie recovered. That play seemed to set the tone on the defensive side as the Red Devils added a pair of interceptions to go with that fumble recovery.
But the Bobcats did hang tough and late in the first half got on the board when a broken play allowed Lagasse to break around the end and score on a 35-yard run.
The Bobcats' jubilation was short lived though as Casey Ritchie and Taylor teammed up for a 59-yard scoring pass with :05 in the half giving Calhoun a lead it would never relinquish.
After that Taylor just seemed to pick and choose where he wanted to score from as he added touchdown runs of 12, 10, five and 60 yards.
Calhoun returns to action next Thursday with a home game against Spencer. Game time is 6:30 p.m. | 
