By Dave Helmick
TuckerCountySports.Com
PARSONS – The Mt. Lions hosted PVC rival East Hardy on Friday September 9th. Tucker County held off the Cougars late in the game to secure a big win over East Hardy 14-13.
East Hardy got the ball on offense to start the game. The Cougars drove the ball down inside the Tucker County 10 yard line, but the Mt. Lions Trenton Wilfong intercepted an East Hardy pass to end the threat. The first quarter would end with the game scoreless 0-0.
The second quarter would start with a Cougars score on a 1 yard touchdown run. The PAT kick was good to give East Hardy a 7-0 lead with 11:11 left in the second quarter. The Mt. Lions would get on the scoreboard later in the second quarter as Ethan Rosenau connected with Maddox Anderson on an 81 yard touchdown pass. The 2 point conversion was good on a pass to Levi Bennett to give Tucker County the lead 8-7 with 5:26 left in the second quarter. The Cougars would fumble on their next drive, but the Mt. Lions could not sustain the drive. The second quarter ended as the East Hardy pass was intercepted by Blaike Adams to keep the score at 8-7 Tucker County at the half.
In the third quarter the Mt. Lions received the kick and went to work on offense. Tucker County drove the ball down to the East Hardy 7. A Rosenau to Anderson touchdown pass was then called back on a illegal procedure penalty that put the Mt. Lions in a long yardage situation. Tucker County then failed to convert as the fourth down pass was intercepted with 8:35 left in the third. The ball went back to the Cougars on the turnover on downs. East Hardy started their drive and went to work. The third quarter would end as the Cougars were driving the ball as the score remained the same 8-7 Mt. Lions.
Early in the fourth quarter East Hardy capped off a 93 yard 20 play drive with a 10 yard touchdown run. The Cougars then elected to go for the 2 point conversion instead of kick the extra point. The Tucker County defense stepped up and stopped the Cougars on the conversion to keep the score at 13-8 East Hardy with 11:16 left in the fourth quarter. The next Mt. Lions possession would result in an Rosenau interception to give East Hardy the ball back. The Tucker County defense then stepped up again to force a Cougars punt to get the ball back for the Mt. Lions.
The home team then went to work on offense as Rosenau took the snap and rolled right and threw a pass to Wilfong in the endzone. Wilfong caught the pass to complete the 9 play 78 yard drive with a 31 yard touchdown reception. The 2 point conversion failed to make the score 14-13 Tucker County with 4:15 remaining in the game. The Cougars next drive ended with another turnover as Adams intercepted the pass for the Mt. Lions with 2:22 left in the game. Tucker County then failed to move the ball and they were forced to punt the ball back to East Hardy. The Cougars took over with 2:02 remaining and no timeouts. East Hardy moved the ball down the field, but the Tucker County defense would come up with another big stop. On a fourth down play Tucker County Senior Hayden Smith got a sack to seal the game with 8 seconds left. The Mt. Lions ran out the clock and picked up a big win over East Hardy by the final score of 14-13.
Ethan Rosenau led Tucker County with 15 of 22 passing for 239 yards passing. Maddox Anderson had 3 receptions for 104 yards receiving and Trenton Wilfong added 3 catches for 62 yards receiving. Blaike Adams chipped in with 3 receptions for 40 yards and Will McCallister had 19 yards receiving and 17 yards rushing. Dom Mullenax led the Tucker County defense with 11 tackles and Jared Reall had 8 tackles for the Mt. Lions. Tucker County was outgained in total yards 342-249, but the Mt. Lions won the turnover battle 4-2.
Tucker County(3-0) will have a bye this week. The Mt. Lions will return to action on September 23rd at home against Berkeley Springs for a 7pm kickoff. For the link to the broadcast and more info go to TuckerCountySports.Com.