MORGANTOWN – The No. 4 University High School football team scored 13 unanswered points in the final 8:04 against Fairmont Senior on Friday night to come away with a 37-28 victory at Mylan Pharmaceutical Stadium on Baker’s Ridge.
The victory comes after UHS (4-1) dropped a 42-35 contest on the road against Wheeling Park last week, and gives the Hawks their fourth win of 2025, matching their win total of the 2024 season.
University junior quarterback Harrison Helbig accounted for four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing), throwing for 240 yards on 18 completions in 31 attempts. Three different UHS receivers caught touchdowns as juniors Kaleil Lewis, Hayden George, and Kyle Weaver each found the end zone on the other end of a Helbig toss.
Lewis also came up big on defense with an interception of Fairmont Senior quarterback Anthony Smith with five minutes to go and the Hawks leading 31-28. They would score again following the turnover and keep that lead for the rest of the contest.
“After they (Fairmont) scored the go-ahead touchdown, Marcos Kniska came over to the sideline and told everyone we weren’t going to lose this game, and I’m proud of the resiliency of our guys tonight,” UHS head coach Eric Snyder said. “I thought we were better than we were last week, and we fought hard tonight. We kept telling them all week just to keep getting better, and that hard work showed tonight.”
UHS struck first as Helbig found Lewis on a short completion, and the wideout did the rest, taking the ball 41 yards to open the scoring with a touchdown.
The Polar Bears (3-1) answered with a touchdown pass from Smith to Gabe Kubasky after converting a 4th and 1.
But the Hawks scored two more times before the end of the first half as Helbig tossed his other two touchdowns to Weaver and George, who, like Lewis, made great efforts after the catch to find the end zone and give UHS a 21-7 lead at the break.
Fairmont Senior opened the second half with a scoring drive that was capped by Tarran Boda’s 28-yard touchdown run, and after a UHS punt, tied the game at 21 as Smith found Kubasky for another score, the duo’s second connection of the night.
After a missed field goal by UHS that gave Fairmont Senior the ball back with a chance to take the lead, Hawks’ defensive lineman Roman Konchesky forced a fumble that UHS recovered. Brady Goodenow then added a field goal to extend the lead 24-21.
However, the Polar Bears returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, stealing the lead away 28-24.
“They burned us pretty good on that one,” Snyder said. “But we learned from that and put the ball where we wanted after. We tried something together as a team, and it just didn’t work for us on that play.”
After driving into Fairmont Senior territory, Kniska helped the Hawks snatch the lead back with a tough 28-yard touchdown run in which he broke multiple tackles, refusing to go down without finding the endzone. That gave UHS a 31-28 lead with 5:35 remaining.
Fairmont Senior got the ball back, and on the third play of the drive, Lewis came up with a huge interception for the Hawks and returned it 22 yards to the 13-yard line.
Helbig then added his lone rushing score of the game to give UHS a 37-28 lead that they saw through for a big victory over the top-ranked team in Class AAA.
“We were sloppy at times tonight, and I think our guys know that,” Snyder said. “The good news is we sit 4-1 and still have a lot to improve on, which makes coaching fun. We want to implement those improvements and see them reflected in games.”
University will travel to Butler (Pa.) next week.
BOX SCORE
Fairmont Senior 7 0 14 7 – 28
University 7 14 0 16 – 37
SCORING SUMMARY
UHS – Lewis 41 pass/Helbig (Goodenow PAT)
FS – Kubasky 22 pass/Smith (Smith PAT)
UHS – George 9 pass/Helbig (Goodenow PAT)
UHS – Weaver 32 pass/Helbig (Goodenow PAT)
FS – Boda 28 run (Smith PAT)
FS – Kubasky 20 pass/Smith (Smith PAT)
UHS – Goodenow 25 FG
FS – Boda 90 kickoff return (Smith PAT)
UHS – Kniska 28 run (Goodenow PAT)
UHS – Helbig 13 run (PAT missed)
RUSHING: Fairmont Senior – Boda 14-95 TD, Hrapchak 7-32, Carillo 1-(-2), Smith 7-(-15). University – Kniska 14-81 TD, Helbig 18-10 TD.
PASSING: Fairmont Senior – Smith 11-35-172 2TD INT. University – Helbig 18-31-240 3TD.
RECEIVING: Fairmont Senior – Kubasky 5-101 2TD, Hrapchak 3-38, Carillo 2-24, Boda 1-9. University – George 7-95 TD, Weaver 6-61 TD, Lewis 2-52 TD, Brown 2-31, Kniska 1-1.
