MORGANTOWN — It was supposed to be a simple quarterback sneak, designed to pick up a couple of yards and a first down.
It ended up being the play that basically told the story of top-ranked Morgantown High’s 56-0 victory against No. 16 Buckhannon-Upshur on Friday inside Pony Lewis Field.
“I really don’t know how that play broke loose,” MHS quarterback Maddox Twigg said of his 33-yard touchdown run. “I was just looking to get the first down, but I saw their linebacker shot hard to the right side, so I went left. The line just split that left side open and there was a seam, and I somehow ended up in the end zone.”
In the first round of the state playoffs, the only thing that seemed to stop the Mohigans (10-1) was the end zone. Their eight touchdowns came on nine possessions. MHS did not punt in the game. The only drive that didn’t end up with points was a turnover on downs with the backups in the game.
“It’s always great to move on,” MHS head coach Sean Biser said. “At the same time, there’s always things to fix and work on, but I thought we gave a pretty complete effort on both offense and defense. This time of year, it’s a good thing to have someone to play next week.”
MHS will host No. 8 Spring Mills next week. The day and time will be decided on Sunday. The Cardinals (7-4) beat Musselman, 31-21, on Friday night.
Twigg kept his name in Kennedy Award contention with, possibly, his most efficient game of the season. He completed 12 of 15 passes for 175 yards and two scores. He rushed two times for 41 yards and two more scores. He did not play a single down after MHS had built up a 42-0 halftime lead.
Through 11 games, Twigg has passed for 1,730 yards and 19 touchdowns, while adding 706 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground. He’s also got a touchdown on defense with a pick-6.
“He just keeps improving and got the ball out where it needed to go tonight,” Biser said. “He made some good throws and then the run on the sneak, he came over and told me the guy shot to the other side, so he made a good read there.”
Buckhannon-Upshur (2-9) was held to just 80 total yards on offense, as the Mohigans pitched their third consecutive shutout and fourth of the season. MHS defensive back Brenden McCutcheon added to the scoring with a 50-yard interception return that gave the Mohigans a 28-0 lead with 7:26 left in the second quarter.
That is the developing story with MHS, which defeated Spring Mills on the road, 21-0, in the fifth week of the regular season.
“Defense is what wins you championships,” Biser quickly pointed out.
Well, this is what the MHS defense has done over its last three games: The Mohigans have given up an average of just 109.7 yards per game, and the starting defense hasn’t had a single point scored against it since losing to Martinsburg on Oct. 10.
“The way our defense is playing, it makes it so much easier on offense,” said Twigg, who also doubles as one of the Mohigans’ safeties. “It’s great to go out and score points, but I’ve always loved playing defense more. The big thing for us is our defense has really come together and stepped it up to another level down the stretch. They’re playing so hard right now. We’re not giving up a bunch of yards or big plays. They’re hitting pretty hard, too.”
Three straight shutouts isn’t a bad thing, either.
“Honestly, you could ask anyone on our staff, and no one really cares about shutouts,” Biser said. “I will say we’re getting great effort from our defense. It’s more of a complete effort we’re seeing right now. But, shutouts, we really don’t care about that. All we care about is getting the win.”
MHS racked up 425 yards on offense with receiver Tanzer George catching seven passes for 106 yards and a touchdown. Running back Isaiah Thompson rushed for 54 yards and a TD on six attempts. Carson Keeling had a 6-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and MHS reserve quarterback Chantz Lenhart scored on a 3-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Box score
Buckhannon-Upshur 0 0 0 0–0
Morgantown 14 28 7 7–56
SCORING SUMMARY
MHS–Maddox Twigg 8 run (Aiden Petsko kick)
MHS–Tanzer George 36 pass from Twigg (Petsko kick)
MHS–Carter Cooper 37 pass from Twigg (Petsko kick)
MHS–Brendan McCutcheon 50 interception return (Petsko kick)
MHS–Isaiah Thompson 17 run (Clifton Shreve kick)
MHS–Twigg 33 run (Shreve kick)
MHS–Carson Keeling 6 run (Shreve kick)
MHS–Chantz Lenhart 3 run (Shreve kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: B-U–Dawson Tenney 15-22, Elijah Wilkins 13-27, Chance Morgan 3-8, Forest Gatlin 1-1, Cooper Antolini 1-0. Morgantown–Thompson 6-54 TD, Twigg 2-41 2 TD, Keeling 5-43 TD, Cooper 2-10, Matthew Hennige 2-14, Kooper Sainato 7-42, Lenhart 2-5 TD.
PASSING: B-U–Tenney 3-10-1 22. Morgantown–Twigg 12-15 175 2TD, Hennige 3-6 41.
RECEIVING: B-U–Gatlin 1-14, Morgan 1-9, Antolini 1-(-1). Morgantown–George 7-106 TD, Cooper 4-60 TD, Jayden Smalls 2-36, Thompson 1-12, Landon Cook 1-2.
