Keyser wins the battle, and the war at Greenway

Posted: Sunday, September 13, 2015 10:15 am
by Mike Mathews

Frustration was on the prowl in the Keyser locker room at halftime Friday night at Greenway Avenue Stadium. The head coach admitted it. One of the team leaders admitted it. The fans that packed the visitor’s side of the stadium probably would have admitted it, too.

It didn’t feel like the Golden Tornado should have been losing to Fort Hill by more than two touchdowns at the break. But they were, 28-12, because of a blocked punt and two long runs by Brayden Brown, one an electrifying 92-yarder.

So, for the Tornado, there was only one thing to do: Play harder in the second half.

They did exactly that behind a dominating front line, and not even the heroics of Brown, who accounted for 290 (16 carries for 243 yards, 3 receptions for 47 yards) of Fort Hill’s 383 yards of offense, could stop them on their way to a 48-41 win,

“Fort Hill is tough, was on a 29-game win streak, and they were making the big plays in the first half,’’ said Keyser’s Cody Rodeheaver, who ran for 174 yards and three touchdowns. “The big plays helped them out. If we could have stopped them it would have been a much more lopsided game. But my hat’s off to them.

“I, honestly, came in to the locker room with my head down and my boys picked me up. They got me back up and we came out hungry. We came to eat.”

Fort Hill had outgained Keyser 209-106 in the first half, but 154 of the yards came on two runs by Brown.

“I was frustrated by the blocked punt right off the bat and things we had worked on but didn’t execute the way we should have,’’ Keyser coach Sean Biser said. “We had miscues here and there, and right before half we had some miscues on offense that were frustrating because I?thought we were right there with them, and yet we found ourselves down by two scores.

“The blocked field goal right before half was huge. It kept us in the game and gave us a little momentum going into the half.”

Erik Willis blocked the 47-yarder on the final play of the half, and Keyser outgained Fort Hill 214-20 in the third quarter, getting back into it with an 8-yard touchdown run by Deavonta Johnson and a 50-yarder by Amonte Turner.

Keyser took its first lead at 34-28 in the first minute of the fourth. Luke Hamilton tied it 34-34 for Fort Hill, and a wild game got a little wilder a few seconds later. No one could have predicted what would happen next in what turned out to be a 35-point fourth quarter.

It included an onside kick, Zak Kerns, and an end zone.

With Keyser’s offense seemingly unstoppable, the Sentinels attempted the onside kick with 9:11 left. But it bounced squarely into Kerns’ hands, and as several Sentinels raced past him, the Keyser senior took off for the end zone. Never touched, he gave the Tornado the lead for good at 41-34.

“I saw them line up in their formation and I’m thinking they are onside-kicking it,’’ Kerns said. “Catch it, and you’re supposed to fall on it. I caught the ball and there was a hole, and I took it and ran.

“I wasn’t thinking about doing it. It was a spur of the moment thing. I guess they just expected me to fall on it, so it worked out.”

The play brought just about everyone wearing black and gold in a filled stadium to their feet.

“It was one of the most amazing plays in football I’ve ever seen, to be completely honest,’’ said Rodeheaver. “It was unreal. It was a surreal moment and a defining moment in his life I’m sure. That was awesome.”

After a Fort Hill punt, Keyser went 76 yards in only five running plays, with Rodeheaver racing 40 yards up the middle for the touchdown with 3:21 to go.

Keyser had 403 yards of offense, all on the ground. Of the 25 second-half carries, 24 went for positive yardage. Brady Ours had a 39-yard run, Rodeheaver the 40-yard TD and Amonte Turner the 50-yard TD.

“Our line — center Jared Smoot, guards Dylan Edgar and Cole Weaver, tackles Darren Bishop and Gage Canan and tight end Jacob Biser — did a heck of a job coming off the ball and executing our schemes we were working on,’’ said coach Biser. “And also in believing in each other. You have to believe in the guy next to you. You can’t do it all yourself. You have to depend on your teammates and that’s what they did.”

Fort Hill scored in the final seconds after Nathaniel Graves completed 4 of 4 passes for 49 yards, including a 21-yarder for a TD?to Brown, but time ran out on the Sentinels, who lost end Kaleb Harden and fullback Raen Smith to injuries. Harden left by ambulance, and while no official word on his condition was available immediately after the game, Fort Hill coach Todd Appel was relieved, saying he had received positive, good reports.

“We’re young this year, and when people go down, we don’t have a lot of experience,’’ Appel said. “And they got thrown into the line of fire tonight. It turned out to be a war of attrition, and they won tonight. Keyser was the better team tonight.

“We’ll watch the film and work hard to get better. That’s what we have to do. Get better.”

If records were made to be broken, then streaks were too. Perhaps now everyone, fan and foe alike, might take the time to appreciate Fort Hill’s record winning streak a little more. It might be one streak that won’t be broken.

Twenty-nine in a row obviously means two state championships, and how many state champions have there been in our neck of the woods in the last, say, 20 years? We can count them on one hand.

Twenty-nine opponents took their best shots, but came up empty. Then came Friday night.

Biser summed it up simply, and matter-of-factly, streak or no streak.

“Anytime you can come down here and compete with a program like Fort Hill’s, I think you’re on the right track,’’ he said.