The West Virginia football all-stars routed the Ohio all-stars 24-3 in the 2011 Rudy Mumley-OVAC Charity Classic July 24 at Wheeling Island Stadium — the second consecutive victory for the Mountaineer team with Magnolia’s Mark Batton as head coach.

The Mountaineers won the toss and elected to receive the opening kick and they did not waste time, returning the kick to the Mountaineer 25. After two runs by Phil Acrie of Linsly and a quarterback sneak by Kyle Pytlak, also from Linsly, play moved to the 36 yard line.

Pytlak found a wide-open Marcus Clifford of Wheeling Central, who outran Ohio defenders for a 64-yard pass and catch for a touchdown. Morgantown’s Nick Romito added the extra point to put WV up 7-0 with 10:11 to go in the first quarter.

The Buckeyes’ opening drive started at the 22 with runs by Garrett Price and Chris Smelley, both out of Bridgeport, who took the ball to the 28 for third down and four to go. Then came the first of many big plays from former Blue Eagle standout Sam Shepherd as he stopped the runner in the backfield and forced a punt. After a nice punt by River’s Tanner Wright, West Virginia took over first and 10 from their own 26 yard line, which was followed by short runs by Joe Musick and Pytlak.

Pytlak dropped back to pass and found former John Marshall Monarch Logan Martin for a first down at the Buckeye 31 yard line. After Musick carried the ball for a short gain, Acrie was stopped in the backfield by Niko Otto out of Indian Creek and other Buckeye defenders. A third down pass attempt fell incomplete but, on fourth down, it looked like it was going to be a bigger lead for West Virginia. However, Clifford dropped a pass in the end zone.

After an incomplete pass on first down, runs by Curt Smelley of Bridgeport and a QB sneak by Zack Kinnick of St. Clairsville took the ball to the Ohio 47 for a first down. Kinnick was sacked on back-to-back plays, first by Ryan Lazear from Brooke and then by Shepherd.

After a punt, the Mountaineers took over at their own 14. Acrie was stopped in the backfield once again by Otto and, after a delay of game call, Pytlak was intercepted by Casey Bain of Martins Ferry, who returned the football to the 23. Three runs by Chris Smelley took the ball to the 16 and brought the first quarter to an end.

On the first play of the second quarter, Wright kicked a 33-yard field goal for the Ohio squad, making the score 7-3 West Virginia early in the second frame. Acrie received the ensuing kickoff and returned it just shy of mid-field at the 48 yard line.

Musick received the ball on a screen, but hit in the backfield on second down to place the ball at the 38. Josh Tollivere from Bellaire pressured Pytlak into making a bad throw that turned out to be a penalty for intentional grounding against West Virginia. That brought up fourth down with the ball on the 25 yard line.

After a West Virginia punt, the Buckeyes took over at their own 24. However, they went three-and-out and were forced to punt the ball right back, giving the Mountaineers possession at the Buckeye 47. After a loss of two, Jordan Angalich out of Bishop Donahue found Musick, Shane Koper out of Oak Glen, and then Musick again to take the ball down to the 21 yard line.

It was the Ryan Lazear from there, as he followed fellow Brooke graduate Billy Perkins and the outstanding West Virginia offensive line on three straight plays up the middle to take the ball to the Buckeye four. After an Acrie run took the ball to the three, it was Lazear again who pounded his way into the end zone for a touchdown and a Romito PAT, making the score 14-3 West Virginia and 3:45 left in the second quarter.

Ohio’s ensuing drive started at their own 31. After Corey Fickiesen of Frontier found Ellis Brown out of Shadyside, West Virginia’s ball-hawking defense came up with a big play as Weirton Madonna’s Chris Eloi intercepted a pass at mid-field and the Mountaineers took over first and 10 at the 50 yard line.

After an Angalich pass was complete to Musick at the 39, Acrie carried the ball to the 35. But, on the next play, the Ohio defense of Tolliver, Otto, and John Eckroth out of Steubenville Big Reds hit Acrie in the backfield for a loss to the 41. West Virginia was forced to punt and Ohio took over at their own 18 yard line.

Fickiesen found Union Local’s Bernie Thompson to move the ball to the 25. Fickiesen then bobbled the snap, costing Ohio big time, as Shepherd sacked the Buckeye QB back inside the 10 yard line. Fickiesen then found Thompson one more time to end the half with the Mountaineers leading 14-3.

During halftime ceremonies, Bria Cross of Wheeling Central was crowned this year’s Queen of Queens.

On the Buckeyes’ first drive of the second half Jeff Kidder from Parkersburg South recovered a fumble near mid-field. On Ohio’s next drive, Lazear stripped the ball from the runner and ran it all the way back to the Buckeye seven yard line to set up Musick for a seven-yard TD run on the next play. Romito added the extra point to make the score 21-3 in West Virginia’s favor with 6:42 to go in the third. The score remained the same after three quarters of play.

In the fourth, Kidder intercepted a pass at the Mountaineer 41. On the West Virginia drive, Mike Rose out of Martins Ferry recovered a fumble at the Buckeye 40 yard line. But, the Ohio all-stars couldn’t do anything with it. Late in the game Romito kicked a 36-yard field goal to end the scoring West Virginia 24, Ohio 3.

In addition to Shepherd, other local players in the game were Magnolia’s Traeh Keller and Matt Riggs, Davie Sivert from Valley, Boone Kehrer from Tyler Consolidated and Tanner Wright from River.

Dave Bruney of Martins Ferry was the Ohio head coach for this game.