No. 2 Morgantown High uses strong ground game to earn 49-20 victory over No. 9 Spring Mills
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MORGANTOWN – In 2024, Spring Mills defeated Morgantown High School 14-7 in the Class AAAA quarterfinals, ending the Mohigans season.
Since then, MHS (4-0) has won its last two contests against the Cardinals. Last season, in the 2025 Class AAAA quarterfinals, with a 34-33 win in double overtime, and again on Friday night with a solid 49-20 triumph.
"We definitely didn't play to the best of our ability tonight," MHS head coach Sean Biser said. "Not too happy with the performance, and we will look at the film and see what we have to fix."
The Mohigans imposed their will on the ground, gaining 307 yards on 29 carries and scoring all seven of their touchdowns.
Juniors Maddox Twigg and Lyric Blake combined for 265 yards and six scores on 22 carries.
Spring Mills (2-3) gained only 89 yards on 29 rushes as a unit, but found some success through the air with the connection between quarterback Chaz Milburn and wide receiver Douglas Mayer. The pair connected seven times for 189 yards and three long touchdowns. Milburn finished the night completing 20 of his 27 passing attempts for 267 yards and three scores.
But the Mohigans held their opponents to 5-for-15 on third down and used early momentum to build a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
After a three-and-out to begin the game, MHS forced the Cardinals to punt, blocking the attempt. Junior Brooks King scooped the ball and rumbled to the Spring Mills 22-yard line.
That set up Twigg and Blake to each run for a chunk of yards before Blake found the end zone on a nine-yard run.
Twigg doubled the lead on a short touchdown run of his own to end the opening quarter after another stop by the MHS defense.
Spring Mills used a lengthy drive that lasted nearly 8 minutes before MHS got the ball back after a stop on 4th-and-5 from the 12-yard line. Once again, Twigg led MHS down the field and scored on a 2-yard tote to extend the lead.
"Maddox does a great job running the ball," Biser said. "We let him play both sides of the ball tonight. He's been great in practice and seems to be back to 100%."
Blake added his second touchdown midway through the third quarter, and Twigg punched one home from close range again to extend the lead to 35-0.
"He (Blake) made some really nice runs tonight and had some nice cuts," Biser said. "Our offensive line was doing a great job. They were running some different stunts and twists and things, and our guys did a great job picking them up."
The Cardinals avoided a shutout as Milburn found Mayer for a 63-yard catch-and-run, the first of their three touchdown connections.
MHS answered with another touchdown, this time by Carson Keeling as we entered the final frame.
That's when Milburn found Mayer again for a 57-yard strike. Spring Mills then recovered an onside kick and scored another touchdown on the very next play as Milburn found Mayer for 50 yards.
"You know, I think we let up a little bit mentally," Biser said. "And hats off to them (Spring Mills). Their number five (Mayer) can make some plays, and the quarterback (Milburn) has a good arm. They caught us in a blitz and made us pay for the first touchdown. We'll get those things fixed, and we just need to focus on getting better."
Blake capped off the night with his third touchdown late in the fourth.
Morgantown will travel to Wheeling Park next week for a contest at Wheeling Island Stadium.
BOX SCORE
Morgantown 49, Spring Mills 20
SM 0 0 6 14 – 20
MHS 14 7 14 14 – 49
SCORING SUMMARY
MHS – Blake 9 run (Petsko PAT)
MHS – Twigg 9 run (Petsko PAT)
MHS – Twigg 2 run (Petsko PAT)
MHS – Blake 4 run (Petsko PAT)
MHS – Twigg 2 run (Petsko PAT)
SM – Milburn 63 pass/Mayer (2pt no good)
MHS – Keeling 3 run (Petsko PAT)
SM – Milburn 57 pass/Mayer (2pt no good)
SM – Milburn 50 pass/Mayer (2pt good)
Blake 1 run (Petsko PAT)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Morgantown – Blake 13-162-3TD, Twigg 9-103-3TD, Keeling 6-52-TD, Carillo 2-8. Spring Mills – C. Williams 20-77, Richards 5-8, Milburn 3-3, Richards 1-1.
PASSING: Morgantown – Twigg 3/6-59. Spring Mills – Milburn 20/27-267-3TD.
RECEIVING: Morgantown – Carillo 1-46, Nicola 1-15, George 1-(-2). Spring Mills – Mayer 7-189-3TD, Blunt 2-21, Curry 2-21, Long 4-14, Wang 1-5, D. Williams 1-5, C. Williams 2-1.