By Gaylen Duskey
realfang@citlink.net
It had all the earmarks of a classic. It was Calhoun's homecoming. It was a contest between two unbeaten teams. Northside Automotive chose it as its Class A Game of the Week and it was the broadcast statewide.
It was billed as a classic showdown between an offensive juggernaut: Calhoun, which was averaging 42 points a game and a defensive stonewall: Doddridge, which was holding opponents to a meager 18 points a game.
It had all the makings but while Doddridge's defense showed up, Calhoun's offense didn't.
And that in a nutshell is why Doddridge walked away with a 27-8 win Friday night ruining the homecoming game for Queen Brooklyn Manns and King Luke Moore.
But for a while it lived up to its billing as the two teams struggled mightily until Calhoun grabbed an 8-0 lead late in the first quarter.
The Red Devils, 2-1, scored when quarterback Logan Moore teamed up with Joseph Richards for a 39-yard touchdown. Moore ran in the extra points.
From there the Red Devils looked good, especially when they stopped the Bulldogs on downs deep in Calhoun territory.
Calhoun started a march which would have put it up by double figures with the clock winding down in the second quarter.
It didn't work out that way.
Instead Doddridge's defense rose to the occasion when Daniel Plaugher picked off a pass and ran 60 yards for the touchdown. The Bulldogs missed the extra point and Calhoun still appeared to be in good shape.
The Red Devils had the ball and started another drive only to have it fizzle out forcing a punt with time running out before halftime.
But this time Doddridge found some offense and moved the ball quickly downfield on a pass and a couple of runs before David Lipscomb hit Plaugher with a touchdown pass deep in the back of the end zone with 14 seconds remaining. The extra run by Lipscomb gave the Bulldogs a 14-8 lead and seemingly turned the momentum of the game around.
In the second half Calhoun's offense ground to a halt, or was grounded to a halt by Doddridge.
The Bulldogs, 3-0, didn't have a lot of offense in the second half but it had enough to move the ball and keep the Calhoun offense off the field. And when the Red Devil offense was on the field the Doddridge defense found a way to stop it.
Doddridge took a 20-8 lead midway through the third quarter on an eight-yard run by Lipscomb and capped off the scoring when Wyatt Ford broke through the line for a six-yard touchdown in the fourth period.
Calhoun had been averaging roughly 400 yards a game prior to Friday. But Friday Doddridge held the Red Devils to 221 yards total offense and nine first downs. The offense was evenly divided with 111 yards passing and 110 rushing. Moore led the way with 87 yards on 22 carries while hitting on six of his 15 passes. Two were intercepted.
Richards led the way with two receptions for 49 yards. Nathan Peck added two for 47 and Andrew Satterfield two for 14.
Calhoun will try to get back on the winning path next Saturday night when it travels to Parkersburg to play Parkersburg Catholic at Stadium Field. Doddridge, 3-0, will try to continue its winning ways next Friday at Wirt County.
| 
