MORGANTOWN — This time there was no drama. Top-ranked Morgantown High cruised through the Class AAAA state football semifinals on Saturday night, inside Pony Lewis Field, with a 52-21 victory against No. 4 Jefferson.
The Mohigans will move on to Charleston for Friday’s noon state finals. The opponent: No. 3 Martinsburg, the two-time defending state champs, who defeated MHS, 34-6, during the regular season.
It’s the first time MHS has played for a state championship since winning the Class AAA title in 2005.
A week after surviving a double-overtime affair against Spring Mills, MHS (12-1) took care of business by scoring at least two touchdowns in each of the first three quarters.
MHS took the opening kickoff and methodically drove 57 yards in 10 plays, the final two on a quarterback draw from Maddox Twigg. Up 7-0, the MHS defense forced a three-and-out, but a short punt hit a Mohigans blocker for a turnover at the MHS 38. But instead of a “here we go again” moment, the defense stopped the Cougars on downs.
“That was a key moment there,” Morgantown head coach Sean Biser said. “If they go in and score there, things might’ve gone differently. But our defense was great all game, especially in the first half.”
After an exchange of punts, the Mohigans got the ball back at the Jefferson 46, and it took exactly one play for Twigg to find Jayden Smalls open on the right sideline for an easy pitch and catch score. Another Jefferson High punt led to another Twigg-to-Smalls TD connection, this one from 30 yards out, and early in the second quarter, the Mohigans were in control.
Or so they thought, as Tony Allen took the subsequent kickoff 92 yards to the house. Then Twigg tossed an interception, and the Cougars capitalized with quarterback Jackson Rockwell sprinting in from the 12, and suddenly Jefferson had made it a one-score game.
With just 2:15 on the clock, MHS took advantage of great field position after a poor punt to drive 25 yards in nine plays, scoring on Twigg’s two-yard buck with 21 seconds left. The Cougars chose to try to get one more score before the half, and the gamble cost them, as senior Keltin Blunt intercepted Rockwell at midfield. Twigg scrambled twice, setting up Aiden Petsko’s 37-yard field goal as time expired.
“Those two scores late in the first half were huge as well,” Biser said. “Maddox comes back from his mistake and makes plays, and then Aiden nailing that kick just gave us a chance to go into the locker room on a high, and kind of settled us down.”
Any chance the Cougars had seemed to dissipate quickly in the second half. The Mohigans defense turned the ball over on downs at the Jefferson 37, followed quickly by Twigg’s third rushing score of the day from the seven. MHS senior Carter Cooper then turned in a 65-yard punt return TD, and followed that up with a 10-yard scoring pass from Twigg, and this one was over before the fourth quarter began.
Twigg finished 8 of 11 for 172 yards and three touchdowns and added 14 rushes for 122 yards and three more scores. This brought the super sophomore’s season totals to 2,046 yards passing and 938 yards rushing on 125 carries. He’s got 41 total touchdowns on the season.
Biser admitted that, while he felt the same heading into today’s game as last week’s, his team seemed different.
“We had a great week of practice, and they just looked real sharp, real crisp during pre-game,” he said. “That doesn’t always translate into the game, but I think the Spring Mills game has helped us with our focus and preparation. We know we have to be ready to go on every snap. I thought we responded well when we made some mistakes, got the ball into the hands of our playmakers, and the defense was very sharp.”
When asked about this group, and what it means to the program to be playing in the state title game for the first time in 20 years, Biser admitted it was an emotional day.
“Today was the last time my sons (Jackson and senior Caden) will play together for WVU, and now we are heading to Charleston,” he smiled. “I’m so proud of the way our kids respond to what we ask of them, because we run a tough program, with very high expectations. The community has supported us all the way, and I have a great, great staff, and we’re just thrilled to get a chance to play for a title.”
Box score
Jefferson 0 14 0 7 – 21
Morgantown 14 17 21 0 – 52
SCORING SUMMARY
MHS–Maddox Twigg 4 run (Aiden Petsko kick)
MHS–Jayden Smalls 46 pass from Twigg (Petsko kick)
MHS–Jayden Smalls 30 pass from Twigg (Petsko kick)
Jef–Tony Allen 92 kickoff return (Antonio Roca Marti kick)
Jef–Jackson Rockwell 12 run (Marti kick)
MHS–Twigg 2 run (Petsko kick)
MHS–Petsko 37 FG
MHS–Twigg 7 run (Petsko kick)
MHS–Carter Cooper 65 punt return (Petsko kick)
MHS–Cooper 10 pass from Twigg (Petsko kick)
Jef–Ricardo Lewis 84 pass from Rockwell (Marti kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
PASSING: Jefferson–Rockwell 10-22-1 147 TD. Morgantown–Twigg 8-11-1 172 3TD.
RUSHING: Jefferson– Rockwell 16-12 TD, Anderson Roberts 6-22, Allen 2-0, Trevon Ledbetter, 4-9. Morgantown–Twigg 14-122 3TD, Zaiiden Lockett 2-23, Cooper 1-1 Isaiah Thompson 9-28, Matthew Hennige 2-1, Carson Keeling, 9-40.
RECEIVING: Jefferson–Lewis 3-91 TD, Allen 4-29, Jaheim Gidney 2-25 Carson Oehlerking 1-2. Morgantown–Cooper 3-54 TD, Tanzer George 1-7, Thompson 1-4, Smalls 3-107 2TD.
