WVSSAC Super Six Football Championships

Thomas ends prep career on high note
Sunday, December 2, 2007
By JIM BUTTA- The Parkersburg News & The Parkersburg Sentinel

Anyone who has followed high school football in the Mountain State this fall has heard of Parkersburg’s Josh Jenkins and Matt Lindamood.

Following his performance in Saturday’s Class AAA championship game at Wheeling Island Stadium, the name Andy Thomas will join them.

“He (Thomas) is a champion,” PHS head coach Bernie Buttrey said following his team’s 22-15 come-from-behind victory over St. Albans. “We’re 27-1 with him at quarterback, he’s a three-time state wrestling champion and a national wrestling champion.

“All the kid does is win. Those are the kind of guys I want to be around.”

Playing his final game for the red and white, the senior signal-caller rushed for 30 yards on 11 carries and made numerous stops on defense.

But it was his arm which proved to be the difference against a Red Dragon defense bent on stopping Lindamood, who came into the title game with 2,384 yards rushing and 34 touchdowns on 290 attempts.

“They (St. Albans) were determined to not allow him (Lindamood) to run,” said Thomas, who completed only 5-of-8 attempts for 51 yards — two which went for touchdowns.

“Matt’s not used to having people stop him like that,” added the quarterback. “They were ready for the run. You’ve got to be able to throw the ball to win a championship.”

And Thomas was prepared.

After watching the Red Dragons (12-2) jump out to an 8-0 lead on Gabriel King’s 2-yard run and a blocked punt for a safety, Thomas led the Big Reds (13-1) on an 11-play, 58-yard drive which culminated with a 20-yard scoring toss to junior Wes Ankrom.

Parkersburg, which came into the championship game as the No. 3 seeded team, elected to go for the two-point conversion and the tie and Thomas made the decision a sound one when he found sophomore Stephen Roush in the back of the end zone.

Those would be the final points of the half, but not of the game

Thomas and company took the second half kickoff at their 34 and put together a 9-play, 66-yard drive to take the lead for good.

Lindamood, who finished with 88 yards on 23 carries, was the primary workhorse on the drive, rushing the ball six times for 46 yards — the final one resulting in a 1-yard touchdown. This time, senior Tyler Warner came on for the point-after to make the score 15-8 with 6:51 left in the third quarter.

Three plays, and a punt later, Thomas was back in business as a short punt gave the defending state champions possession of the ball at the SA 39.

Runs by Lindamood and Tyler Humphrey put the football at the visitors’ 22 with a third-and-6 situation.

However, Thomas once again ended any hope of a St. Albans’ stop when he found Joey Shafer for a 12-yard gain and a first-and-10 just outside the SA 11.

A pair of 3-yard runs by Thomas and Lindamood placed the ball at the 5 with a third down. Thomas again went to work, this time finding Roush on a 5-yard scoring toss to up the margin to 21-8 with 38.3 ticks left in the third.

Warner again connected on the PAT and it appeared as if the game was safely in hand.

However, someone forgot to tell the Red Dragons.

On its next possession, St. Albans put together a 13-play drive that not only ate up more than five minutes of the clock, but culminated in a Derek Bodie 9-yard scoring pass from T.J. Feazelle. Tyler Hizer added the PAT and PHS again found itself in a battle.

A battle that looked as if it might go into extra frames when the Red Dragons stopped the Big Reds at the SA 46 and took over at their own 25 after a 21-yard punt by Thomas.

With only 4:57 showing on the clock, St. Albans marched down the field and reached the Big Red 30, where it faced a fourth-and-3 with less than a minute to play.

This time, the Red Dragons’ Feazelle attempted to confused the defense, but there was Thomas and senior linebacker Matt Littleton to stop the St. Albans’ quarterback a yard shy of the first-down marker and return the ball to the Big Reds with 41 seconds left in the game.

“You’ve got to give them (St. Albans) a lot of credit,” said Thomas. “They came to play and they gave us everything we could handle.”

But in a town where cards seldom come up aces, Thomas did.

“He’s a winner, he’s a champion and I’m glad he plays for us,” said Buttrey.