By RON GREGORY
Sports Editor
CHAPMANVILLE – Arch rival Logan put dealt a lethal blow to Chapmanville Regional High School’s dreams of an undefeated football season, Friday, September 23, as the visiting Wildcats scored a miraculous come-from-behind victory over CRHS at Tiger Stadium. In the end, however, it was also another in the continuation of hostilities between the two teams that boiled over after the contest was settled.
It was a packed house in muddy surroundings as downpours of rain throughout recent days left the natural grass surface at Tiger Stadium a virtual swamp as the game kicked off at 7:30 p.m. before a large crowd. Misty rain and even bigger rain drops fell throughout the evening but, at least until the end, did little to dampen the spirits of Tiger fans. Chapmanville came into the game ranked third in Class AA a spotless 4-0 record. Logan, meanwhile, was fourteenth in Triple A.
Chapmanville was also gunning for a fifth straight football win over their Logan County brethren, in a series that stood dead even at 5-5 coming into the contest.
In the end, Logan prevailed, 22-21, a disappointing ending for the Tiger faithful who remained on hand until the bitter and sloppy end. By the conclusion of the game, it was often difficult for reporters and the public address announcer to determine which players had carried the ball and who had made stops because most uniforms were covered in pure, layers-deep mud, obscuring the numbers.
The Tigers won the pre-game toss and elected to receive to start the game. The kick by Matt Southers was clearly affected by the muddy turf. He slipped and finally hit the ball, which was taken by Chapmanville at the Logan ten after it failed to travel the required ten yards.
Led on the field by junior quarterback Brandon White, Dustin Smith carried the ball for nine yards on the first play of the game. Tyler Cox then gave the Tigers a first down at the 24. With 10:55 flashing on the clock, Smith gave Chapmanville a first down at the 12-yard-line.Two carries by Cox and one by Smith set up a fourth and five for the Tigers.
An offside call against Logan with 8:26 showing brought the Tigers to a first and goal at the three. Fourteen seconds later, Cox scampered in for the first score of the evening. Max Spradlin’s point-after kick made it 7-0, Tigers.
Spradlin’s ensuing kick was fielded by Brant Williams, who brought it to the Wildcat 37. Joe Street then took the ball on what was to become a memorable evening for the Logan senior. He picked up five yards on the first carry and another to at the 9:02 mark. Quarterback Khaleel Reynolds, who was forced into service earlier in the year when the starting play-caller for Logan was injured, then misfired on a pass and Brian Craft came on to punt.
A great kick by Craft was downed at the CRHS nine-yard-line. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty did little to help the Tiger drive and Dustin Conley came on to punt with 4:59 showing. His kick sailed straight out of bounds at the Tiger 32, giving Logan great field position.
With 3:23 on the first quarter clock, Street carried the Wildcats to a first down at the 17. After a short gain by Street, David Toney scampered in from 15 yards out. The point-after kick by Craft was good and the game was tied at 7-7 with 2:20 showing on the scoreboard.
Cox brought Souther’s kick to a Tiger first down at their own 43. After White kept the ball for a two-yard gain, Tiger Head Coach George Barker called a timeout with 1:28 showing. When play resumed, White handed the ball to Harts Creeker Dylan Wiley, who streaked 55 yards up the field for the second Tiger touchdown of the evening. Spradlin’s kick made it 14-7 with 1:17 left in the first.
Spradlin’s kick was then taken by Williams to the Wildcat 38.A long gain by Toney was followed by a run by Street to the Tiger 15 as time ran out in the first period.
After Street picked up three yards to start the second quarter, Toney ran in for a 12-yard touchdown with 11:07 remaining in the half. Craft’s kick knotted the score at 14-14.
A nice kick return by Wiley was negated by a holding call against Chapmanville, giving the Tigers the ball at the 27.
Chapmanville methodically worked the ball down the field as the showers increased but eventually faced a fourth and ten with 1:44 remaining on the first half clock. Barker elected to go not only for the first down but for the end zone as White connected on a play-action pass to a wide-open Brady Cox in the end zone and it was 20-14. The play covered 21 yards, with several Tiger receivers slipping away from Logan defenders to be open in the end zone. Spradlin’s kick made it 21-14 with 1:07 flashing.
The squib kick that followed by dropped and then picked up by Street on the muddy field. He eventually ended up at the Wildcat 42. A pass interference call at the 20-second spot gave Logan a first down at the Tiger 26 but they could get no further and the half ended with the home team ahead, 21-14.
The second half was a series of mental and on-the-field errors, many undoubtedly caused by the field conditions. Still, it appeared that Chapmanville was going to escape with the win until the closing minutes of the contest.
Included in the miscues, that helped result in a scoreless third period, was Caleb Belcher recovering a Logan fumble and Street jumping on a Tiger mishandled ball. Trevor Payne also picked off a Reynolds pass early in the fourth quarter.
Payne’s interception gave the Tigers the ball at Logan’s 28 just inside the 11-minute mark and CRHS fans hoped for the score than would drive the final nail in the Wildcat coffin. But the drive stalled when a White pass fell incomplete on fourth down, as Barker opted not to try for a field goal on the rain-soaked turf.
The winning Logan drive was set up by two major Tiger mistakes. An offside penalty went against Chapmanville on a fourth-and-one play a pass interference call against Cox on a third-and-18 gave Logan an automatic first down at the Tiger 41.
Four plays later, Reynolds connected for the touchdown pass that would cut the lead to one.
Reynolds fired a 21-yard touchdown pass to Street’s younger brother, Brynden Street, with 1:23 remaining in the game. The score brought the Wildcats to within 21-20 and Craft trotted on the field as Logan Coach Gary Mullins appeared determined to try for the extra-point kick, hoping to eventually send the game into overtime.
All of that strategy ended when officials whistled the Tigers for being offside, however. That brought the pigskin to the one-and-one-half-yard-line and Mullins decided it was time to toss caution aside and go for the win.
Mullins sent the offensive line back onto the field and, after calling timeout when he looked at the Tiger defense, the Logan coach had Reynolds turn and hand the ball off to Street, who jumped high into the air. At first, it appeared he was repelled by the CRHS defense but Street bounced off the initial hit and powered in to give Logan the 22-21 victory.
The Tigers, of course, did get a final shot at the ball but Cox was intercepted by Toney two plays later with 38.6 seconds on the clock. With three timeouts in their pocket, Chapmanville forced Logan to kneel in the victory formation three times before securing the win.
The victory gave Logan the Logan County championship, since the Wildcats defeated Man earlier in the season. Apparently, the desire to have the Logan County championship trophy is what led to the dissension that followed the game.
Bad blood between the two schools, located eight miles apart, has already led to cancellation of the boys basketball games and baseball games between the two. Mullins was not so sure, after the dust settled, that the football rivalry might also need to be suspended.
Following the post-game hand shake, which appeared to go without incident, a few Logan players began to slide along the Wildcat sideline. This brought protests from Chapmanville fans who remained in the stands and a reminder from some of Barker’s prominent admonition to his own team, “Never dance in another man’s house.”
While Tiger fans became indignant, Barker was no happier. He began to whistle toward the Logan players and then demanded the celebration stop, calling it disrespectful on the Tiger home field.
Mullins and his staff, meanwhile, made it clear they were perturbed that the county championship trophy was not being handed to them as a result of the victory.
A Chapmanville player then raced back onto the field and had to be restrained. Some Tiger player players were heard to say, “if they want to fight, we’re ready to fight.”
Within moments, heated words were exchanged between members of the coaching staffs of the two schools.
Mullins said his team simply “wanted and believed we should have been given the trophy.” If that had happened, he said, he felt his team members would simply have gotten on the bus and gone home to the county seat.
“We were just waiting for the trophy,” Mullins said later. “That’s all that our kids were doing. Four years ago, they beat us right here and we got the trophy and took it to them. That’s what you’re supposed to do. You map up when you lose and you go take the trophy and it’s over.”
No explanation was immediately offered as to why Chapmanville officials did not have the trophy on hand, in case of a Logan victory. Obviously, if the Tigers had won, the trophy would have remained in Chapmanville’s possession.
Mullins said he told his players to “just get on the bus and celebrate the win. Don’t let what happened later take away from the great night we had; enjoy being 4-1.”
An obviously disappointed Barker, a graduate of the old Chapmanville High School who coached at Logan before returning to his alma mater, said “little things” cost his team the win. “The offside penalty and the pass interference penalty killed us,” said Barker.
The coach was also disappointed that his defense could not stop Street when it had to. “He’s a good football player,” Barker said of Street. “We didn’t finish the play and it was like that for us all night long. They scored three touchdowns and we should have made the tackles on all three touchdowns. We made initial contact and had the play stopped but let them get away.”
White was one-of-three passing for 19 yards and one touchdown. He carried the ball three times for zero net yards.
Smith had 17 carries for 55 yards and one fumble. Tyler Cox added 16 carries for 53 yards and had a kick-off return for 24 yards. He was zero-for-one passing with an interception. Dylan Willey had two carries for 55 yards, scoring the touchdown while Devin Wiley had a two-yard kickoff return. Brady Cox had a pass reception for 19 yards and the score.
Defensively, Woody had eight solo tackles, three assists and three quarterback sacks to lead the Tigers. Payne was credited with seven tackles and one interception return for eight yards. John Toler had seven tackles and one assist.
Smith had four tackles, two assists and one interception for six yards. Tyler Cox had three tackles and two assists; Chase Queen, three tackles and one assist; and Erik Siljeholm, three tackles.
CRHS was penalized nine times for 60 yards while Logan was flagged three times for 13 yards.
Next up for the Tigers is perennial Class AA power James Monroe, who visits Tiger Stadium this Friday evening for homecoming. Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m.