WVSSAC Super Six Football Championships

'Jackets overwhelmed
Sunday, December 2, 2007
By KERRY PATRICK- The Parkersburg News & The Parkersburg Sentinel

Getting off the island, it’s about sink or swim. Wheeling Central Catholic swam, Williamstown didn’t.

Wheeling Central Catholic was as good as advertised in the championship game of the Class A state finals Saturday night, dismantling Williamstown 51-14 at Wheeling Island Stadium.

The Maroon Knights, who completed a perfect 14-0 season and increased their win streak to 33 games in a row, defeated the Yellowjackets in the championship game for the third year in a row and captured its fourth straight crown.

“Week in and week out, we’ve been ultrasuccessful,” Wheeling Central coach Mike Young said. “Part of it was from last year’s experience. We were in a situation where I felt we didn’t bring our ‘A’ game to the championship and Williamstown did.

“We played good enough to win, but one of the goals we set this time we were not coming here to lose, we were coming here to win and to win in the style we played all year. And that is what caused tonight to be what it was.”

At one point, Wheeling Central scored on six straight possessions to end the first half. Williamstown, on the other hand, did not cross midfield until the 8:55 mark of the third quarter. The Yellowjackets ruined the shutout when senior Greg Davis punched it from a yard out on that very same drive. The Maroon Knights had not even run an offensive play from scrimmage in the third quarter and already led 45-7.

“Wheeling Central is fast,” Williamstown coach Terry Smith said. “You can talk about blocking and tackling, but all I can think about these guys is that they fast.”

Quarterback Alex Peluchette was named the recipient of the Samuel A. Mumley Memorial Award for Wheeling Central after completing 6-of-11 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns. On the Williamstown sidelines, Davis earned the award for finishing with 41 yards rushing on 11 carries.

Williamstown ends the season at 11-3.

“It’s a disappointing ending to the season, but I thought we had a great season,” Smith said. “This is a group which really persevered and hung in there. I didn’t know what was going to happen with us we replaced 11 starters on defense and we ended up playing pretty well.

“It just seems like we have a bump in the road every year at the end of the year, but we will be back, hopefully.”

Wheeling Central did not flex its muscle until its second offensive series of the game. On third-and-7 from the Yellowjacket 49-yard line, Martin took the handoff from Peluchette on a sweep to the right side and galloped the distance for the touchdown.

Williamstown managed one first down a roughing-the-passer call on the next series, but was forced to punt. The Maroon Knights took over on their own 27 and on a simple screen pass, Gordon weaved his way around would-be-tacklers and sprinted into the end zone standing up for a 73-yard touchdown score.

A problem on the snap to center on the first touchdown and a missed extra point kick on the second score left the Maroon Knights leading 12-0 with 1:38 remaining in the first quarter.

The Yellowjackets again executed one first down before the Maroon Knights forced Williamstown into a punting situation at its own 43. The snap from center sailed high over punter Cory Hart’s outstretched arms, and the Williamstown senior was forced to cradle the ball deep in their own territory.

Again lightning struck for Wheeling Central as Martin scampered 16 yards for the touchdown. The pass failed and the advantage was 18-0 barely one minute into the second quarter.

Williamstown methodically moved the ball into a third-and-one situation at its own 39, but a fumble on the exchange between quarterback Drew Townsend and Davis at fullback gave possession back to Wheeling Central.

It was a familiar tune as the Maroon Knights took advantage of the short field. They only needed one play from scrimmage as Peluchette threw the bomb to Justin Lang. The 38-yard pass play plus Michael Duplaga’s point after increased the margin 25-0.

The Maroon Knights struck for two more touchdowns in a span of 2 minutes to go in front 38-0 at halftime.

With the game in hand at 51-7 in the fourth quarter, Williamstown reserve running back Joe Palm added a 16-yard score with 31 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

“At halftime, it wasn’t like we were down,” Smith said. “I’m not sure anybody thought we could win, but we were going out there to play hard. They never hung their heads.”