Second-half shutout lifts No. 4 Martinsburg over No. 1 Morgantown, 24-7, in battle of Quad A titans
Trending
MORGANTOWN – Pony Lewis Field hosted a heavyweight bout on Friday night as two of the top teams in the state met on the gridiron for the first time since the 2025 Class AAAA state championship last December.
No. 1 Morgantown High (5-1) welcomed No. 4 Martinsburg (6-0) in a rematch of the instant-classic title game with both programs aiming for a season-defining victory in Week 7.
The Mohigans bested their opponents 10 months ago to capture the Class AAAA state championship, but the Bulldogs bit back on Friday with a 24-7 road victory to remain unbeaten in 2026.
Martinsburg gained 400 yards of total offense in the contest, led by senior quarterback Brian Dick, who accounted for 304 total yards for the visitors. Dick completed 17 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns, adding 109 yards and a third score on 17 rushing attempts. Senior wide receiver Boston Todd caught nine passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns.
Juniors Maddox Twigg and Lyric Blake each rushed 13 times for Morgantown, tallying 59 and 41 yards, respectively. Twigg punched home the Mohigans’ only touchdown of the evening on a one-yard tote in the first quarter and added 91 yards through the air on eight completions. Senior Rudy Carillo caught five receptions for 56 yards.
"I thought our kids played hard all night long," Morgantown head coach Sean Biser said. "They made a few more plays than we did down the stretch, and that was the difference."
Martinsburg began the game on offense and scored a game-opening touchdown on its first drive of the night, as Dick found Todd in the end zone from 7 yards out.
After pushing the ball to midfield to begin its first drive, Morgantown fumbled, and the Bulldogs recovered to take over on offense.
They marched down the field once again, eventually setting up with first-and-goal on the five-yard line. This time, it was the Mohigans who forced the ball free and pounced on it for a fumble recovery of their own inside the red zone.
Twigg led Morgantown 95 yards downfield, capping an impressive drive with the hosts’ only touchdown of the night from a yard out to knot the game at seven.
Neither team found the end zone in the second frame, but Martinsburg held the advantage at halftime, 10-7, after a 27-tard field goal by Andrew Dean.
Morgantown got the ball back with around 90 seconds left but elected to let the clock run and head to the locker room for the break, then received the kickoff to begin the third quarter.
"We didn't want to rush anything and decided to play it safe," Biser said. "If we had been a little further downfield, we could've taken a couple shots. We didn't want to give them the chance to get the ball back and have something bad happen, so we went into half."
To begin the second half, the Mohigans drove the ball to midfield but came up empty on fourth-and-eight after an 11-play drive.
The Morgantown defense responded, forcing a three-and-out, but the offense gave the Bulldogs the ball right back with a three-and-out of its own.
The visitors capitalized on the opportunity with a touchdown by Dick from one yard out following a 40-yard pass he completed to Zane Wipf to the one-yard line on the previous play. A missed extra point saw the score stand at 16-7.
Morgantown began the fourth quarter with the ball but punted after another three-and-out. The Mohigans gained 79 yards of offense in the second half.
The Bulldogs got the ball back and marched 70 yards in 13 plays for a touchdown, capping the drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Dick to Todd.
Todd converted a two-point conversion to extend the lead to 24-7 with 6:18 left in the game, and the Martinsburg defense matched the offense’s effort, giving Morgantown nowhere to go on its final drive.
"We'll respond the same as always," Biser said. "We'll go back to work on Monday and try to get better. That's what we do."
Morgantown will travel to visit Parkersburg South next week.
BOX SCORE
Martinsburg 24, Morgantown 7
MART 7 3 6 8 – 24
MORG 7 0 0 0 – 7
SCORING SUMMARY
MART – Todd 7 pass/Dick (Dean XP)
MORG – Twigg 1 run (Petsko XP)
MART – Dean 27 FG
MART – Dick 1 run (XP no good)
MART – Todd 14 pass/Dick (2pt conversion good, Todd 3 run)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Martinsburg – Dick 17-109-TD, McDonald-Gibson 11-58, Todd 5-28, Myers 2-10. Morgantown – Blake 13-59, Twigg 13-41-TD, Keeling 4-25.
PASSING: Martinsburg – Dick 17/23-195-2TD. Morgantown – Twigg 8/14-91.
RECEIVING: Martinsburg – Todd 9-100-2TD, Irving 2-40, Wipf 1-40, Ricketts 2-9, McDonald-Gibson 2-5, Myers 1-1.