WHEELING - The Buckeyes pounded the Mountaineers.
Ohio's running game - led by Buckeyes Local's Josten Dear and Cambridge's Dashaun Lewis - proved to be the hammer, while the West Virginia defense was the nail as the Buckeyes beat the Mountaineers into submission with a 33-14 victory in the 67th annual Rudy Mumley OVAC All-Star Charity Football Classic Sunday night at Wheeling Island Stadium.
"It couldn't have went any better," Conotton Valley and Ohio head coach Eric Schumacher said. We had success offensively and defensively, and we knew coming coming into the game that they had some athletes we were worried about but our kids stepped up. They did a fantastic job. They played their hearts out tonight."
Article Photos
East Liverpool’s Marky?Thompkins makes a leaping catch for a first down Sunday night. Thompkins also intercepted a pass in the game as Ohio won the game, 33-14. (Photo by Aaron?Petchal
Ohio finished the game with more than 300 yards on the ground, while West Virginia was limited to less than 100 yards of offense. Dear and Lewis each finished the game with more than 100 yards on the ground, and both runners ran the ball 24 times the game.
Dear racked up 152 yards and a touchdown, while Lewis tallied 118 yards and three touchdowns. For his fine performance in the game, Dear was named the game's MVP.
The Buckeyes' win snapped their two-game losing streak in the series. Ohio now leads the overall series, 42-24-1.
"It was fun, and just like the last game I am happy we won," East Liverpool's Marky Thompkins said. Thompkins also played in the 33rd Annual Penn-Ohio Stateline All-Star Football Classic back on June 29 at Springfield High School in New Middletown. Ohio defeated Pennsylvania, 19-7, in that contest.
And just like he did in the Penn-Ohio Game, Thompkins played a key role in the outcome of the OVAC Game. Thompkins intercepted a pass in each game, and Sunday night his 14-yard reception in the first quarter set up Ohio's first score of the night - a 3-yard run by Dear.
Thompkins not only played receiver and defensive back Sunday night, but he also returned kicks and punts and he served as Ohio's holder.
Thompkins was joined on the Ohio side Sunday night by Edison's Kyle Minger. Minger was a late addition to the Buckeyes' roster. Minger also played defensive back in the game.
"It was fun for the most part," Minger said about his experience.
Three Oak Glen Dylan Davis, Lucas McDowell and Jeff Hissam - represented the Mountaineers in the game. Davis played on the defensive line, McDowell played on offense, defense and on special teams - where he served as the Mounatineers' holder - while Hissam served as a wide receiver and a kick returner.
Offensively, McDowell tallied 16 yards on the ground, and Hissam caught one pass for eight yards.
The Buckeyes scored the final 20 points of the game to erase a one-point deficit at halftime.
In the second quarter, Lewis scored on a 1-yard run, and this time Martins Ferry's Richie Padyjasek converted the extra point putting the Buckeyes up 13-0. Padyjasek's first conversion attempt sailed wide.
Ohio was out in front, but the lead quickly slipped through the Buckeyes grasp.
Leading by 13 points, the Ohio defense forced West Virginia to punt, however, the punt was muffed by Thompkins and the Mountaineers recovered on the Buckeyes' side of the field.
West Virginia got on the scoreboard on the ensuing drive when John Marshall's Aaron Fonner hooked up with Wheeling Central's Erik Gompers on a 17-yard scoring strike. Wheeling Park's Matt Carter converted the PAT making the score 13-7.
The Mountaineers final big play of the night came on the Buckeyes' next drive when Wheeling Park's Vondell Bell intercepted an errant pass by Indian Creek's David Kemp, and Bell raced 32 yards down the sideline to tie the score. Carter's extra point gave the Mountaineers a 14-13 advantage.
Ohio advanced the ball past midfield on their fine drive of the first half, but opted to punt the ball on a fourth-down play. West Virginia ran the final seconds off of the clock, and the Mounatineers headed to the locker room leading at the half.
The second half belonged to the Buckeyes.
Ohio scored 20 unanswered points in the second half to pull away from West Virginia. All 20 points came in the third quarter.
Lewis opened the scoring in the quarter with his second 1-yard score of the night. The 2-point conversion run was stopped short of the goal line, but the Buckeyes regained the lead at 19-14.
The Mountaineers attempted to drive down the field and regain the lead, but Thompkins intercepted a pass by Wheeling Park's Lee Peluchette to give the Buckeyes the ball on the Mounatineer's side of the field.
Lewis extended Ohio's lead when he ran in from 8-yards out, and Padyjasek's once again converted the extra point making the score 26-14.
Another stop by the Buckeyes' defense forced another punt by the Mounatineers. This time, Shadyside's Matt Hammond broke the through the line and blocked the kick to give Ohio the ball deep in west Virginia territory.
The Buckeyes put the game out of reach when Buckeye Local's Jordan Piergallini recovered a Dear fumble in the end zone to give Ohio a 32-14 lead. Dear was on his way to paydirt when the ball got knocked out. After a scramble for the ball in the end zone, Piergallini came out of the pile with the ball in his hands for Ohio's 'fifth touchdown of the night.
Padyjasek's converted his third extra point of the night out of Thompkins' hold to put the Buckeyes up 33-14.
"It's going to be fun. It's going to be fun," Schumacher said about he is going to look back on his experience of coaching in the game. "I'm going to look back and realize how good of kids we had. They did a tremendous job coming in and learning an offense in a week and even a new defense, and just to be able to look back on that and to see how they succeeded and how they put it all together out here on the field is just something that will stick with me for a good while."
