By Gaylen Duskey
realfang@citlink.net
Jake Boice carried the ball 10 times for Parkersburg Catholic Friday night
at Mount Zion.
Why is this important?
After all the 5-7, 140-pound freshman only gained 17 yards on those carries.
But the number of carries is what is important since Boice doesn't get the
ball that often unless (1) the Crusaders have a lot of injuries, (2) PCHS is
way behind or (3) the Columbia Blue and White is winning big. Forget options
A and B.
Boice played a lot of mop up ball in the second half after the Crusaders had
opened a 40-0 lead (which became the final score) against Calhoun. The fact
he played that much was an indication PCHS had the game well in hand. And
PCHS did.
Boice and his bench buddies got the call early in the third quarter after
Zach Romine's touchdown had run some time off the clock and given the
Crusaders all the lead they would need.
A portent of things to come may have been seen early in the contest when
PCHS' defense stopped Calhoun on the game's first series then took the punt
back for a touchdown as Mitch Davis scampered 42 yards untouched.
Following that Calhoun played quite well as PCHS tried slugging it out with
the Red Devils. But when slugging it out didn't work the Crusaders turned to
the air. And that worked.
First Payton Sturm caught a 60 yard scoring pass from the talented Daniel
Collie for a score to put PCHS up by two touchdowns.
Following Calhoun's failure to recover the ensuing kickoff - whether the
onside attempt was on purpose or not - the Crusaders quickly cranked out
another score with Davis going the final 20 yards.
Then the roof caved in for Calhoun.
First Collie made a spectacular run zig-zagging back and forth across the
field avoiding probably more tackle attempts than there were tacklers as he
ran past some of the Calhoun players twice. His 58-yard scoring run gave the
Crusaders a 27-0 lead.
Collie continue his onslaught with his second pass completion of the night -
this one for a 71-yard touchdown to Davis - making it 33-0 at the half.
Romine's score at the end of a drive - the Crusaders only legitimate drive
of the night - in the third quarter capped the scoring.
Calhoun moved the ball some but was hamstrung by three turnovers - two pass
interceptions and a fumble - and an errant snap on a punt attempt which
killed whatever offensive momentum it was able to build.
Cory Metz led the Red Devils' offense with a game high 93 yards on 22
carries.
Calhoun, now 1-3, travels to top-ranked Class A Williamstown for the
Yellowjackets homecoming Friday night while 2-2 PCHS is home to unbeaten
Wirt County Saturday night.
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