Sports
Plenty On The Line In Battle For Parkersburg
By: Seth Austin
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Parkersburg will be divided Friday night as Parkersburg and Parkersburg South meet up to crown a king of the city.
“Everybody gets so excited for this game,” Parkersburg head coach Don Reeves said. “Every senior will remember this game.”
As of late, Reeves has his Big Reds squad on a roll winning two straight games. Two weeks ago, the Parkersburg bounced back from a devastating shutout loss to Huntington by beating St. Albans and last week they held off a comeback attempt by Riverside to get the win, 38-35.
“Coming into the year, we knew we were young,” Reeves said. “We’ve really gained some momentum.”
The Big Reds continue to get great production from Adam Lindamood and Chandler Hamilton who are the leading forces of a ground game averaging 186.8 yards per game. Aaron Roberts has also been impressive utilizing Parkersburg newcomer Kwante Johnson as a replacement while Matt Santer battles injury. Through two games, Johnson has four touchdowns. Roberts is expected to have Johnson, Dan Fox and Santer available in his artillery for Friday’s game.
Parkersburg South, on the other hand, enters Friday’s matchup on a two game losing streak. But against such strong competition as University, the fourth best team in West Virginia, and Friendship Collegiate Academy, an undefeated powerhouse from D.C., South coach Jon Bolen hasn’t been discouraged by his team’s play.
Despite losing in a 60-10 blowout to Friendship, the Patriots kept it close through halftime. After conceding a punt return touchdown, South only trailed the Knights 19-10. The second half was another story.
“I thought we played with them,” Bolen said. “We just had too many mental mistakes in the second half.”
The Patriots offense still runs on senior quarterback Tyler Bolen who has thrown for 1.015 and six touchdowns. Braxton Johnson and Jordan Quicho will need to continue to make plays for South’s offense to click on Friday night.
Coach Bolen is looking for his defense to step up. With Roberts and his big, athletic receivers looking to replicate what Friendship did last week, defense will play a big factor for the Patriots.
“We need to control the line of scrimmage and put the quarterback on is back,” Bolen said.”
When it comes down to it, Friday’s game will be a battle for the city of Parkersburg.