West Muskingum scored on its first three offensive possessions while Marietta couldn’t finish drives as the Tornadoes left Don Drumm Stadium with a 33-2 victory Friday night.
Ty Shawger scored the first two touchdowns for West Muskingum, which improved to 2-0 and will play its home opener against Shroder next Saturday.
Shawger caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Anton to open the scoring at the 3:09 mark in the first. Later, he ran into the end zone from a yard out to make it 12-0 with eight minutes left in the second.
Anton threw his second TD pass of the night with 3:30 remaining in the first half when he connected with Slater Sampsel on a 58-yard scoring strike. Keegan Karns caught the two-point conversion.
The score was 20-0 at halftime after the Tornadoes’ fourth possession resulted in Anton getting intercepted at the goal line by Junior Smith.
That gave Marietta some momentum as Smith blocked a punt midway through the third quarter. The ball squirted out the back of the end zone for a safety to get the Tigers on the board. The punt was set up by Weston Davis’ sack on third-and-15.
Smith also had a big fourth down pass breakup in the end zone, but the Tornadoes later added another touchdown on Dylan Padgett’s 14-yard scamper to make it 27-2 with 6:27 left in the game.
Shawger added the exclamation point to his big night with a 30-yard TD rush in the final minute of the game.
Jakel Shelton led the MHS offense with 18 carries for 84 yards. He also forced a fumble on defense.
Seth Britton added 32 yards on eight carries while Bryce Dotson rushed five times for 27 yards.
The Tigers are 0-2 with a trip to Athens slated for next Friday.
Morgan 28, Warren 24
VINCENT — Morgan won the turnover battle and held on to defeat Warren 28-24 and improve to 2-0 on Friday night.
Warren, which slipped to 1-1, lost two fumbles and picked off once.
Four different players accounted for Morgan’s four first-half touchdowns and the defense pitched a second half shutout.
The Raiders opened the scoring when Kole Searl caught a 15-yard TD pass from Logan Niceswanger.
Warren led on two separate occasions. Thew Warriors scored twice in the final four minutes of the first quarter — first on Tanner Pepper’s 41-yard TD reception from Trent Taylor then moved ahead 14-7 when Pepper found Ethan Holbert for a 36-yard TD catch.
After Morgan’s Wade Pauley opened the second quarter with a 1-yard TD run, Warren took its last lead with 9:55 still remaining before halftime on Jason Williams’ 2-yard TD run. Williams finished the game with 141 yards on 12 carries.
Morgan pulled ahead to stay on Niceswanger’s 1-yard TD run followed by Carson Copeland’s 6-yard scoring burst.
Warren’s Sam Perdue capped the scoring with a 27-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.
Frontier 21, Miller 20
CORNING –A late score and two-point conversion from Lucas Cox lifted Frontier in a 21-20 triumph on Friday night in Corning.
Down 20-13 with Miller threatening to go up two possessions, the Cougars stuffed the Falcons at the 15 with 2:30 remaining.
Earlier in the drive, Miller was even closer, breathing down Frontier’s necks at the 1. A false start knocked Miller back to the 6, and a pair of stands (including a sack on fourth down) set the stage.
From there, FHS drove 85 yards for the go-ahead score. It was Cox with 47 seconds remaining who put the final nail in MHS’s coffin. Cox galloped for 108 yards on 24 carries, while William Benson followed him with seven for 53.
Logan Dougherty contributed on a trio of Falcon scores and gashed FHS for 128 rushing yards of his own. The win marks Frontier’s first on the year (1-1), as the Cougs go home to face Beallsville at 7 p.m. on Friday in New Matamoras.
Roane County 30,
St. Marys 20
SPENCER, W.Va. — A dramatic finish saw Roane County capture a 30-20 victory on the brand new turf at County Stadium on Friday in Spencer. The visiting St. Marys Blue Devils got off to a rough start, as three first-quarter turnovers (including a 25-yard pick six from Matthew Shaffer) got the homestanding Raiders out to a 24-0 advantage. Briar Begler and Skyler Delk picked up where they left off a year ago, as they pounded SMHS on the ground. Combined with Shay Harper, RCHS’s three-headed monster ran for nearly 250 yards on the game.
However, Ripley Viking turned SMHS Blue Devil Joey Ramsey came alive in the second half, clipping off 143 yards in the half. Touchdowns from quarterback Luke Powell to Chance Cox and Ramsey cut into the advantage late in the game, but the comeback was cut short. A Begler fumble with the Devils down 10 with 3:40 left saw the visitors in desperation mode, but Powell and company couldn’t deliver deep in Roane territory, as a Powell pass on fourth down from the 34 fell out of reach. Ory May, Colton Paxton and Jacob Greathouse made key defensive plays throughout the contest. May and Paxton recorded sacks, while Greathouse snagged Powell’s second interception.
Eastern 41,
Symmes Valley 12
REEDSVILLE — Eastern improved to 2-0 with a 41-12 victory over Symmes Valley Friday.
Brody Yonker threw for 96 yards and rushed for 63 more while accounting for three touchdowns. Rylee Barrett led all rushers with 83 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown. Gavin Smith rushed for 37 yards and had a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown. Cooper Barnett had the other touchdown catch.
Brandon Oldaker led the Eagles defense with 11 tackles, including five tackles for loss. Eastern’s D recovered three fumbles in the contest.
Eastern will travel to Fairfield Christian next Friday.
