Senators sting, stymie host Hornets

 

By PAUL BOGGS

Photo’s by Tim Gearheart

COAL GROVE — For the second consecutive week, a visiting Southern Ohio Conference Division II opponent took the sting out of the home-standing Coal Grove Hornets.

In the process, those SOC II squads produced nice bounce-back victories.

This time, the Portsmouth West Senators – on Friday night at LeMaster Stadium in Coal Grove – scored the final 14 points and pitched a second-half shutout, en route to defeating the Hornets 21-12 in a non-league tilt.

A week ago, it was the visiting Valley Indians handing Coal Grove a non-league loss (34-19), as Friday night’s affair with West marked the Hornets’ third straight home game.

The Hornets erased an early 7-0 deficit by scoring a dozen straight over a span of almost 11 minutes, but the Senators answered the Hornets’ second touchdown with a nine-play, 60-yard, four-minute drive to take the lead at 15-12.

The Senators shut out the Hornets for the final 31 minutes and 46 seconds, and went up 21-12 following the opening series of the second half – a six-play, 61-yard drive that spanned 2:09.

For the Senators, which raised their record to 2-1, their road recovery from Friday night was exactly what they needed – after a difficult turnover-filled home loss last week against Portsmouth (48-28).

“This was our first road game of the year with a young team, so you never know how your kids are going to react when they face adversity. We had a good hard-working week of practice, we played well tonight, and our kids did an outstanding job of persevering and bouncing back and coming back and getting this one,” said Portsmouth West coach Ben Johnson. “We’ve had some trouble holding on to the ball this year.”

Instead, it was the Senators sparking turnovers this week, forcing Coal Grove quarterback Cory Borders into three interceptions and only 24 yards on 3-of-8 passing.

Johnson said INTs were a point of emphasis.

“We talked before the game that we hadn’t had any interceptions yet this year,” he said. “We wanted to improve in our pass coverage.”

But actually, the entire West defense did its job, especially over the final 26 minutes.

The Hornets had just 48 second-half yards – with Coal Grove’s final five possessions resulting in the three interceptions, a turnover on downs after a 10-play drive, and a punt following a three-and-out series.

Meanwhile, West – with a 15-12 halftime lead – tacked on what turned out to be the only second-half score.

The Senators made it 21-12 just two minutes and 16 seconds into the third quarter – as William Journey’s gains of 23, 12 and four yards moved Portsmouth West from its own 39 to the Hornet 18.

Hunter Brown then took a well-executed inside counter trap to paydirt, scoring from 18 yards away.

The Senators punted on their next three possessions, including two three-and-outs, but their defense definitely didn’t allow the Hornets to have much of anything.

“We took the lead before halftime, which was huge to get momentum before halftime. We said if we shut them out in the second half, we have the lead and so that’s it. We came out after halftime and had a good drive and scored. The hard work that our guys put in with strength and conditioning showed as well,” said Johnson. “It doesn’t always work out that way, but the things we talked about at halftime, we came out and executed and got it done and got the win.

Despite the loss, which dropped his group to 1-2, Coal Grove coach Jay Lucas liked the fight and will his Hornets displayed.

He said it was simply a matter of the Senators making more plays.

“Our kids played hard, our effort was outstanding and we battled like crazy, but we just missed some plays that we needed to make tonight,” said Lucas. “We’re young and inexperienced and we’re playing good teams. We have to clean up some mistakes. When you are playing good SOC II teams like we have the last two weeks, they make you pay for those mistakes. West was opportunistic on a few plays there where they converted third-and-longs, things like that where they kept the ball. I’m proud of our kids, but we just have to step up and make a play here and there.”

They did make some plays early on.

Of their 192 rushing yards, 67 of those came courtesy of Austin Stapleton on the Hornets’ first touchdown – which answered the Senators’ initial score in a matter of only 49 seconds and two plays.

The extra-point attempt failed, but Coal Grove seized the lead following a nine-play, 84-yard, four-minute and four-second march, which Austin Stormes scored on a 3-yard toss sweep to the right.

Stormes broke free for a 40-yard dash to the Senator 18-yard-line, as Stapleton then ran for 12 yards on a fullback trap to the 1.

However, the Hornets’ only other play in double-digit yardage was a Borders pass completion for 11 yards to Justin Hicks.

Storms amassed 96 yards on 16 carries, while Stapleton amounted 94 yards on 15 totes.

Journey, who paced the Senators and all rushers with 112 yards on 23 carries, crossed from three yards out to get Portsmouth West on the board at the 6:57 mark of the opening quarter.

West went exclusively to the ground on an eight-play, 60-yard drive, as Caleb Hazelbaker kicked the extra point for the 7-0 lead.

Stapleton scampered his 67 yards right up the middle just 49 seconds later, then Stormes scored to make it 12-7 with the failed PAT pass attempt at the 7:46 mark of the second stanza.

The Senators took the lead for good on the next possession, as Journey converted a 3rd-and-3 with a 4-yard pickup – before quarterback Luke Bradford scrambled for 19 yards to push Portsmouth West to the Coal Grove 25.

On 4th-and-12 at the 27, Bradford rolled left and threw across his body to Brown, who made the TD reception to make it 13-12.

Bradford then made a spectacular play on the successful two-point conversion attempt, as he rolled right and threw back left to an open Journey in the end zone.

“On that particular drive, Luke (Bradford) made several athletic plays. Just being an athlete,” said Johnson. “He made plays outside the original design of the play. It was huge to see him step up like that.”

From there, it was all West, as Brandon Anderson intercepted Borders to stop the Hornets’ final series of the half.

Bradford and Ryan Sissel secured the other two picks.

“To West’s credit, they made some plays on three balls thrown, and on a lot of plays tonight, Cory (Borders) was on the move,” said Lucas. “West made good plays.”

West rushed for 215 yards on 49 carries out of primarily the I-formation, as Bradford completed 9-of-12 passes for 94 yards, including three to Brown for 35.

The Senators doubled up the Hornets in first downs, 20-10.

Coal Grove travels to South Point next week for the Ohio Valley Conference opener, while West also returns to the road – and returns to non-league action – next week at Wellston.

*     *     *

Portsmouth West 21, Coal Grove 12

West 7 8 6 0 – 21

Coal Grove 6 6 0 0 – 12

PW —  William Journey, 3-yard run (Caleb Hazelbaker kick), 6:57, 1^st (7-0 PW)

CG — Austin Stapleton, 67-yard run (run failed), 6:08, 1^st (7-6 PW)

CG —  Austin Stormes, 3-yard run (pass failed), 7:46, 2^nd (12-7 CG)

PW — Hunter Brown, 27-yard pass from Luke Bradford (William Journey pass from Luke Bradford), 3:38, 2^nd (15-12 PW)

PW — Hunter Brown, 18-yard run (kick failed), 9:44, 3^rd (21-12 PW)

Team statistics

PW CG

First downs 20 10

Plays from scrimmage 61 44

Rushes-yards 49-215 36-192

Passing yards 94 24

Total yards 309 216

Cmp-Att-Int. 9-12-0 3-8-3

Fumbles-lost 3-1 0-0

Penalties-yards 4-32 3-33

Punts-average 4-23.75 3-32.7

——

Individual Leaders

RUSHING —Portsmouth West: William Journey 23-112 TD, Mitchell Malnar 8-51, Hunter Brown 8-39 TD, Luke Bradford 9-18, Team 1-(-5); Coal Grove: Austin Stormes 16-96 TD, Austin Stapleton 15-94 TD, Joe Abrams 2-4, Cory Borders 3-(-2)

PASSING — Portsmouth West: Luke Bradford 9-12-0-94 TD; Coal Grove: Cory Borders 3-8-3-24

RECEIVING — Portsmouth West: Hunter Brown 3-35 TD, CalebJourney 2-37, Mitchell Malnar 2-21, Brandon Anderson 1-6, William Journey 1-(-5); Coal Grove: Justin Hicks 1-11, Austin Stormes 1-9, Joe Abrams 1-4

By PAUL BOGGS

Photos by Tim Gearheart

Video by Josh Wheeler

 

COAL GROVE – Indeed, it was a highly-successful homecoming for Coal Grove’s Jay Lucas.

Making his head coaching debut at his alma mater, Lucas’ host Hornets held the visiting River Valley Raiders without an offensive touchdown, amassed over 400 yards of offense themselves, and scored the game’s final 25 points en route to a 32-7 season-opening victory on Friday night inside LeMaster Stadium in Coal Grove.

The meeting against the Raiders, a former member of the Ohio Valley Conference with Coal Grove, was the Hornets’ 15^th all-time – as Coal Grove now owns a decisive 13-2 series advantage.

The two teams had played consecutive from 2002 thru 2013, with the Raiders only winning in back-to-back years of 2002 and 2003.

Last season, the Hornets shut out an extremely young River Valley squad, 47-0.

Before Friday’s game, Lucas’ father – longtime and legendary Coal Grove coach Dave Lucas – was honored with a sign renaming the street which runs in front of the high school as Dave Lucas Lane.

Jay was his longtime assistant, but now the roles are reversed with Dave assisting his son.

The father-and-son tandem spent the past two seasons at Wellston after originally coaching the Golden Rockets from 2000 thru 2002, with Jay getting hired there in 2017 for his first career head coaching job.

But, the younger Lucas was glad to once again occupy the Lemaster Stadium sidelines, with the elder Lucas calling his shots from the press box.

Jay, Dave and Jay’s son and assistant coach Jordan Lucas were recognized beforehand as three generations of the Lucas’ coaching at Coal Grove.

Jay said he was relieved once the game started, and praised his Hornets for how hard they played and how well they performed.

“I thought our kids played really hard. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t an emotional time for me, because it was the first one (game),” he said. “Coal Grove has always been home. I’ve been around here all my life. We had to make some adjustments when we did and I thought they executed well on both sides of the ball, and I was really proud of them. They (Raiders) are vastly improved from last year, but I was pleased with how we kept our focus for the entire game, especially throughout the delay.”

The Hornets scored the final 25 points in the final 37 minutes and 34 seconds, and withstood a 55-minute weather delay in the second quarter by dominating both sides of the ball following it.

Coal Grove gained 405 total yards, including 284 rushing on 52 carries.

The Lucas’ — long known for their ground-oriented trap-heavy ball-control and clock-consuming running philosophy — also aired it out on Friday for 16 attempts with nine completions.

Austin Stapleton struck for 115 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 19 carries, and Austin Stormes – on 10 totes and 53 yards with five receptions for 74 yards – scored on an 8-yard run with a minute-and-a-half left in the first quarter to give the Hornets the lead for good.

“Those two backs, we feel good about those guys. They can really do some damage from the backfield spot,” said Lucas.

Cory Borders, making his first start at quarterback for the graduated Nate Harmon, completed 8-of-14 passes for 117 yards.

His 6-yard completion to Jarren Hicks with five minutes remaining in the third quarter capped the scoring at 32-7.

Coal Grove outgained the Raiders by almost 300 yards (405-117), and stymied the injury-riddled Raiders to 33 rushing yards on 20 attempts.

The Hornets held a hefty 25-5 advantage in first downs, and forced the Raiders into four punts with three turnovers.

The second of two lost first-quarter fumbles, with 6:42 to play, produced the Hornets’ first touchdown.

River Valley quarterback Jordan Burns completed a swing pass in the end zone, but Justin Hicks hit Jared Reese and jarred the ball loose, as Logan Sizemore recovered.

Lucas spoke to the physicality of which the Hornets hit the Raiders.

“We feel like we have a good group on the defensive side of the ball,” he said. “The play that Justin made there set the tone and gave us momentum. We have some good skilled players, but Coal Grove has always been pretty physical. We were going to challenge them up front and see where they ended up.”

Where several Raiders ended up, unfortunately, was out of the game and on the sidelines.

River Valley, under second-year head coach Jason Peck and coming off a 1-9 season, was already a key man down with senior fullback and linebacker Colton Gilmore likely out for the year with an injury.

The Silver and Black turned even more black and blue with three other injuries in the contest – senior lineman Cole Thaxton, senior running back and strong safety Cole Young, and sophomore lineman Landon Dodrill.

The Raiders’ only score occurred just 15 seconds after Coal Grove struck first – when Young returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards untouched up the middle.

But the Hornets hit back with a 55-yard, 10-play scoring drive that spanned five minutes and 53 seconds.

Coal Grove mixed runs with Stapleton and Stormes, as Stormes scored from eight yards away with 1:34 left in the first quarter.

J.C. Damron made his second of two successful extra point kicks to make it 14-7, giving the Hornets the lead for good.

After an exchange of punts, the Raiders returned a punt 31 yards to the Coal Grove 17, but River Valley turned the ball over on downs inside the red zone.

The weather delay hit at the 4:17 mark with a torrential downpour, and when the contest resumed, the Hornets were ready while the Raiders were not.

Coal Grove drove 87 yards in only five plays on the first possession following the break, as Stapleton scored from 13 yards away with 2:52 left in the first half.

Stormes scampered for a dozen yards, a River Valley face-mask penalty pushed the ball to midfield, and Borders broke free for a 38-yard gainer on the previous three plays.

Lucas said it was important for the Hornets to make necessary adjustments.

“They had 11 guys inside the box, so we decided we had to adjust. Fortunately, we have some kids that can make some plays. We got the ball to them at the right time,” he said.

From there, the Raiders ran just 14 more plays from scrimmage, as the Hornets started the third quarter with a 9-play, 75-yard march which consumed the opening four minutes.

Stapleton scored from a yard away making it 26-7.

After a River Valley three-and-out, Coal Grove ended the scoring with another five-play drive, highlighted by Borders’ 32-yard pass to Justin Hicks – before his touchdown toss to Jarren Hicks.

The Raiders then went three-and-out two more times, sandwiched around a 17-play Coal Grove drive which featured nothing but running plays involving the backups.

The Hornets held the ball from the 10-minute mark until just 17 seconds remained.

Borders threw an interception on his final play of the night, but aided in rushing with exactly 50 yards on only five carries.

His counterpart Burns completed 5-of-15 passes for 84 yards, as Joe Abrams ended the Raiders’ last-best scoring opportunity – intercepting Burns at the goal-line with a minute-and-a-half left before halftime.

River Valley hosts Gallia Academy on Saturday night in that series finale, while the Hornets return home – and return to non-league action – next Friday night against Valley.

For this Friday night, though, it was a highly-successful homecoming for Lucas.

“We’re glad to be back and this team is finding its way,” he said. “I’ve been here a long time, and the expectation is to win. I know that, and I expect our kids to go out and play well. It was great to get the win, our kids really responded well, and I thought our kids got better as the game went on.”

*     *     *

Coal Grove 32, River Valley 7

River Valley 7 0 0 0 – 7

Coal Grove 14 6 12 0 – 32

CG — Logan Sizemore, fumble recovery in end zone (J.C. Damron kick), 6:42, 1^st (7-0 CG)

RV — Cole Young, 85-yard kickoff return (Trae Russell kick), 6:27, 1^st (7-7 tie)

CG — Austin Stormes, 8-yard run (J.C. Damron kick), 1:34, 1^st (14-7 CG)

CG — Austin Stapleton, 13-yard run (pass failed), 2:52, 2^nd (20-7 CG)

CG — Austin Stapleton, 1-yard run (kick failed), 8:00, 3^rd (26-7 CG)

CG — Jarren Hicks, 6-yard pass from Cory Borders (kick blocked), 4:58, 3^rd (32-7 CG)

Team statistics

RV CG

First downs 5 25

Rushes-yards 20-33 52-284

Passing yards 84 121

Total yards 117 405

Cmp-Att-Int. 5-15-1 9-16-1

Fumbles-lost 3-2 3-0

Penalties-yards 9-85 6-40

Punts-average 4-38.25 2-33

——

Individual Leaders

RUSHING —River Valley: Jordan Burns 7-3, Will Hash 5-1, Ryan Jones 3-10, Cole Young 1-8, Michael Conkle 1-8, Jared Reese 1-3, Team 2-0; Coal Grove: Austin Stapleton 19-115 2TD, Austin Stormes 10-53 TD, Cory Borders 5-50, Clay Ferguson 4-26, Trey Hunt 4-15, Chase Hall 4-5, Malachai Wheeler 3-10, Justin Hicks 2-9, Braylen Stuntebeck 1-1

PASSING — River Valley: Jordan Burns 5-15-1-84; Coal Grove: Cory Borders 8-14-1-117 TD, Clay Ferguson 1-1-0-4, Braylen Stuntebeck 0-1-0-0

RECEIVING — River Valley: Brandon Call 2-49, Cole Young 1-29, Will Hash 1-10, Jared Reese 1-(-4); Coal Grove: Austin Stormes 5-74, Justin Hicks 1-32, Malachai Wheeler 2-9, Jarren Hicks 1-6